Adoption Trips

Today was our day to begin the next leg of the paperwork chase. The chase for a SIN, OHIP and eventually Citizenship Card.

The day began with filling in the application for V's parental leave online at the HRSDC website, then for a Social Insurance Number and for C's Ontario Health Insurance Program card. We then made our way to the Mississauga West HRSDC office to present our SIN application for C.

The agent said there was no guarantee that the Canadian Name on her Record of Landing would be used on the card. She said she was explaining that the Canadian name was backed up by an adoption order and certificate that showed her name had been changed at adoption. She said if there were issues she would give us a call so that we could come back in. 4 to 6 weeks before we get the card and know if the name we gave here at adoption has been used.

Next it was off to the OHIP office in Oakville. There we were asked to show proof that her name had changed and presented the adoption order. The form was completed and the temporary card issued in half the time of the HRSDC visit. 2 weeks until we get the card.

V decided we should go to the Mandarin Chinese buffet for lunch as today is Daddy's birthday and our first change to celebrate C's 1st birthday that was on March 2nd. After lunch we went to the Dairy Queen to get a cake for Daddy and C.

We made it to Toronto on time at 2pm on Friday. Customs and Immigration went smoothly and we were out of the airport on our way home to B by 3:30. We arrived home to B, S and Nana waiting at the living room window waving to us as we parked the van.

It has taken a few days but I think we are finally over the jet lag and are only suffering from the effects of having to tend to C who is ill with a cold and kept us (V mostly) up for a good portion of Friday and Saturday night.

C has switched allegiance from Daddy to Mommy leaving Daddy to make up for two weeks with B. B is behaving very well and has shown a few minor signs of jealousy but for the most part has not made a fuss over C being on the scene. He will not let her play with his bikes and he insisted on eating rice cereal like her at dinner last night. A few times he has asked to be held by Mommy or Daddy while we were holding C and he frequently asks to see C when she is sleeping in her crib.

Today we got back to a bit of our normal routine and went to church and lunch as usual. The folks at church presented C with a big Teddy Bear to welcome her home which was much appreciated by both V and I. Their congratulations and well wishes are a wonderful way to come back to the real world here at home.

By now most of the group that traveled is home resuming their lives. Some made it home Thursday, some like us on Friday, a few yesterday and at least one today. The last family should be home sometime early this week

We are up and almost done packing. I woke at 5am and went back to sleep as it was just too early to get up. V woke sometime after 5 and had completed her morning routine by the time I woke again at 6:15am. C is still sleeping, unaware that another change in her life is about to take place.

So the plan is to get C up, feed her and get down for breakfast at around 7:30am before the groups of Chinese youth who are staying here storm the buffet.

Yesterday I was at the omelet station and all was quiet in the restaurant when all of a sudden a couple of hundred teenagers stormed into the restaurant, devoured the buffet, and left again 20 minutes later. I felt like I was going to be crushed in the swarm and it really was like a swarm of insects rushing at me.

V is rushing me now so next post will be from home.

This is it. Probably the last night we will spend in China for at least a decade.

We hope, life permitting, that when the kids are 11 and 13 respectively we will have the resources and time to bring them back to China to visit their family in HongKong and see their home towns.

Children's Bridge has begun something called homeland visits for adopted children to visit their home towns and connect with a piece of their past that in our opinion can not be replaced with talks and memory books. Our guide Mary has led one of the early homeland visits and said that the children who were 10 -12 appeared to have gained much during their visit and asked some very intelligent and thoughtful questions about China and their beginnings.

We had our last dinner out at the Sichuan restaurant around the corner. Same meal as a few nights ago but we were up sold a pot of Jasmin tea that was 5 yuan more expensive than a 500ml bottle of beer. That said dinner was 79 yuan and we threw in a tip of 8.95 yuan so that we could empty our pockets and wallets of small Chinese change.

We are waiting for a gentleman to drop by around 8 pm with a scroll we commissioned with C's name on it in colourful roman characters depicted in items of a Chinese theme like Bamboo. Once he comes and goes we will give C a bath, talk to B on the phone and finish up our packing. The bags have to be out in the hall at 9am for the porters to take down to the bus. We need to be on the bus at 10:30am to go to the airport for our 1:55pm flight direct over Santa's house to Toronto.

A group of us sat in the hall drinking a brew after the kids had gone to sleep. This was a bit of a surprise for the German guy in 1801 who turned the corner from the elevators to find 5 Canadians having a party in front of his door. He jokingly squatted down on the floor with us and ordered two beer before retiring to his room.

It's after 11pm now and we need to get to bed sometime soon to be up and down for our breakfast by 7:30 or so. This may be the last post from Beijing. See you in Toronto.

B, Mommy and Daddy will be home tomorrow to tickle you. We love you and miss you very much.

Tonight was our farewell dinner with Mary our guide and all of the families who have traveled to GuangXi to be united with their wonderful children. It is a tradition of sorts that the dinner feature Beijing's most famous culinary treat - Peking Duck. For those who have never had the dish, it is like making tacos with a steamed flour wrapper, duck meat, onions, cucumber and Chinese Hoisin sauce. The group of 20 families presented Mary with a few gifts and a card.

After dinner a few goodbyes were said between families as some of us leave in the wee hours of the morning to travel back to Canada or to visit family in other parts of the world on the way home. We are glad to see them leave. It means we are one step closer to leaving.

Prior to the dinner Mary handed out the Chinese passports with the Canadian entry Visas in them and she gave us our records of landing forms to be presented at immigration when we arrive in Toronto on Friday. Group photos were also taken with the same results we had in 2003 - lots of crying babies.
We just got back to our room after dinner when Freda, our guide on our trip with Brandon, called from the lobby. She and her husband had come over to see us. We had been going to meet for lunch tomorrow but work gets in the way and she has another group coming in to Beijing that she has to meet. It was good to see her and meet her husband. C would not go to her but we got the photo below to preserve the occasion.

Again we skipped the scheduled tour today as we had done it in 2003 and decided to go shopping instead. We three awoke at about 8am and went down for breakfast.

At 10 or so we took a cab, or the cab took us (no meter running and a flat 20 yuan charge), to the Pearl Market. After spending about 15 minutes looking for children's clothes we went up to the 4th floor to buy some pearls for C. A nice little pair of pearl stud earrings for 65 yuan and a little bracelet for S and we left for the nearby toy market.

We didn't find anything that interested us at the toy market so we headed up to the pedestrian mall on WangFuJing DaJie. We had lunch at Mickey D's so that we could get a place to sit and feed C. We shopped a couple of local department stores looking for clothes and toys. Finally just before we left V ducked into a gift market and made a few deals for a fridge magnet, a wooden model of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and 2 radio controlled flying saucers. One for B and one for J.

Tonight we go for our Peking Duck dinner and group photo before families start heading back to Canada in the early hours of tomorrow.

Tonight's call from home was short and bitter. B woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning at 6:10am. Considering that one side of his bed is against a wall that must have hurt.

He was in a foul mood when he called us and would barely say hello to his mother and would not joke around at all with Daddy. Daddy asked him to hold up his fingers to show hold old he was. He held up 3 fingers and Daddy told him after he went to bed 3 more times Mommy, Daddy and C would be home. Then B changed the number of fingers he was holding up to 2.

Then daddy made the mistake of mentioning that C saw him on the computer. B remembered that his computer has been moved upstairs and he was mad. He wanted it back and started bawling. He actually left the room headed to his grandparents room to get his computer back from Daddy. That was basically the end of the call. Nana convinced him to say goodbye before he hung up on Mommy and Daddy but that was about all she could convince him to do.

After Nana changed his clothes before going to the babysitter to play with his friends, we watched him on the web cam for 5 minutes or so. Grampy noticed the data access light flashing on the camera and told B that Mommy and Daddy were watching. B waved and seemed to say hello to us.

Good news is we have 2 more sleeps after tonight before we get on the plane to come home.

The morning was sort of a dud but the afternoon picked up when we went to the Silk Market and realised we were right back in the middle of our 2003 stomping grounds.

We found the Wong Colonel restaurant, so called by me because the signage resembles KFC but it is a Taiwanese noodle shop. We found the other of the two Starbucks we frequented and the hotel we stayed at the last time. Now we know why we have been shipped to the sticks. The Jinlun Toronto Hotel on Jianguomenei Dajie is under going extensive renovation in preparation for all of the guests they will have during the 2008 Olympics.

We went to the 7 floor Silk Market and bought some clothes for C including a dress for her Baptism on May 14th. The staff were very aggressive calling out to me and grabbing me saying looka looka you want silk tie, you want begga (hand bags) and one student of the Yoda asking me "shoes you want". I laughed my way through the market and had V asking me to stop making her laugh with my wise cracks thrown at the clerks. Funny they never touched V but had no trouble laying hands on me. Maybe they thought I was that famous fat guy from China.

The beggar at the corner of the Silk Market who followed us all the way to the side walk in front of Starbucks was just as aggressive. We know better than to give money to the beggars or we would be swamped by others.

A Cafe Americano and a Chocolate Frappacino for 48 yuan was expensive compared to the other fare in China but we had to have a good coffee at least once on this trip. It's no Tim's but its better than the crude we drink in the hotel each day.

We continued down the street careful to stay on private property where the panhandlers and beggars dare not tread to the China World Trade Center. We returned to the food court next to the ice rink and V and I took turns eating while the other entertained the future 2022 Pairs Skating Gold Medalist. She loves to be tossed in the air so I figure pairs skating will be her thing.

C had a full 6oz bottle of formula for the 2nd time in a row which we hope means her comfort with us has grown and that she is adjusting to the formula well. We can only hope she packs on the pounds because she needs them.

While C is light she is a comparative monster to the 2y6m child in our group. He is only 8.1kg and for his age is way under weight. Developmentally he still can not speak. He was kept back for further tests yesterday but was eventually cleared. His new parents will need to work hard to help him gain back what has been delayed.

Our other little darling who needed further tests is not doing as well. V and I can only pray that the round of independent examinations her new parents have asked for will disprove the initial assessments at the clinic and she will be well enough to continue on to Canada. We fear this will not turn out well for her and if her condition is independently corroborated she will undoubtedly have a horrid life in a orphanage and in a country that to this day is full of prejudice and disdain for the handicapped. We are so thankful to God that C is well and with us.

We had a horrid time getting back to the hotel tonight. Seems neither of the two taxi drivers we approached could read so our business card with the hotel address in Chinese did us no good. The security guard at the taxi stop could not read either. Finally the concierge told the 2nd cab driver where we wanted to go and we made it back in no time.

unfortunately V could not read the simplified text on the card so she could translate to traditional text and then into Cantonese and then into Mandarin for the drivers. Darned Mao and his simplified writing system!

Having made the decision not to revisited TianAnMen and the Forbidden City we all slept in and did not hit the dreaded buffet until after 8am this morning.

We left the hotel around 10:30am to go to a favourite shopping centre from our 2003 trip. Rush hour was not over yet so we inched our way north on the 3rd ring road towards SunLinTun Li to the YaShow shopping plaza. Things there were not as we remembered and we did not find as many bargains as we did in 2003. We scored a few deals but nothing like what we anticipated. Back into the taxi and back to the hotel arriving shortly after noon on a much faster south bound 3rd ring road.

Since noon we have been lazing in the hotel room while C gets a nap. At 3pm we hope to go to the silk market with the group if the plans our guide made are still on track.

We had a lazy afternoon at the hotel. Just could not find the energy to go out.

A friend of a friend called to say she would pick up a package to go to the pearl market in the morning and after dinner we called Freda our guide from 2003. She is currently engaged with a tour group, adoption we assume, but we will meet for lunch on Thursday.

We went to a local Sichuan restaurant that received good reviews from the folks in the room next to us. Food was good and we found something that C seem to love. Basically it was egg and vegetable soup with lots of steamed rice added similar to chicken and rice soup. V compared the mixture she made from the rice and soup we ordered at dinner to Teochew (northeast Canton prov) congee (rice porridge) a variation of the much thicker congee found in the other areas of Canton province and even in Nanning and Beijing. A big tureen of soup, that we hardly put a dent in, two heaping bowls of steamed rice, a plate of Chinese broccoli, a very spicy Kung Bo chicken dish with lots of dried red chili and a 1/2 litre bottle of TsingTao beer (cold this time. it's been served room temp every other time) cost us 59 yuan or 8.75 C$. Service was good and business slow at 6:30pm so we left a huge tip of 7 yuan or 1.04 C$.

After dinner it was a trip to the Hypermarket to retrieve 4 of my shirts and 2 pairs of pants that we left to be cleaned yesterday. 48 yuan for 6 pieces or 7.11 C$ and a 1l bottle of Coke for 4.55 yuan or .67 C$. No wonder you can make a crib and sell it at profit for 83 yuan or 12.35 C$.

Then back to the hotel to put C to sleep before 8pm. B called at 8:55 and he seemed much happier today. We joked with him and daddy promised to tickle him when I get home this Friday. I am literally and emotionally looking forward to it.

Below:

The medical is done! 18 of 20 were passed with some needing antibiotics for ear infections and syrup for colds. 2 others need some further tests and were as of 1:30pm China Standard Time still at the clinic. C passed without medical issue. Head 43cm, length 72cm and weight 7.2kg.

It was noted by Dr. Lucy Chen (same Dr. same clinic same exam room as B) that she is low on the weight scale but she suggested that C would catch up quickly once home and in a regular routine.

We got to see what our taxes have bought in Beijing and what our embassy staff do with their allowances that come form our taxes. They eat Greek food on the patio of the Greek restaurant down the street from the clinic. The embassy is four buildings taking up all but the southeast corner of two blocks in the embassy district closest to the airport. There is another embassy area closer to TienAnMen Square and the People's assembly. The Aussies have the southeast corner of the area.

C is sleeping on the bed and mommy and daddy are getting some instant noodles for lunch. After lunch and nap we may go to a local clothing market to do some shopping.

Here is a previously unpublished (at least on this blog) of some of us on Gotcha Day,March 14, waiting for our darlings

So we did the Jade market and V got her green jade bangle that she has been waiting for 2.5 years to buy. She spent so much that now V says I have to eat instant noodles for the rest of the trip because we can't afford food.

We continued on to the Great Wall and C and mommy waited at the bottom while daddy made it up to the 'hero' level. That's about halfway to the top of the mountain.

Next it was a lunch at a combination friendship (i.e. government run souvenir) store and restaurant. Quite good in the opinion of most we think.

Tonight we went to dinner with three other couples. The food was good, the price reasonable but the service was lousy.

Tomorrow the folks whose children came from the other orphanage need to be on the bus by 7:30am to go to the clinic for medicals. Those from BeiHai, including us, can sleep in as our bus does not leave until 9am.

Below:

Two pics of V and C at the Great Wall. The editor could not decide which shot to use.

Well today started extra early. V asked me what time it was in the we hours of the morning and thinking it was 5:35am we got up. When I finished my shower it was only 5am.

We were all awake before the wake up call.

We leave at 8:30am for the Great Wall and stop to shop for jade on the way. V has passed on 2 birthday and 1 anniversary gift waiting for this day so she can reward herself with a green jade bracelet. She has a red one now but green is the preferred colour.

We are off to the buffet again :o( I know it's hard to believe but you can get tired of bacon and eggs everyday.

The afternoon went by rather slowly. T did the necessary paperwork to get a Canadian record of landing for C so she can enter Canada as an immigrant and he provided the necessary photocopies to get a Chinese exit visa in her Chinese passport so that she can leave China. The Chinese passport that was supposed to be delivered before leaving Nanning and then was supposed to be delivered by 2:30 or so today arrived at 3pm.

Paperwork complete we all decided to take a taxi ride to the China World Trade Center to visit the ground we covered with B 2.5 years ago. Not much has changed in that time. Most of the same stores are still there and C got to see her first ice rink watching as little girls got their figure skating lessons. She danced on the spectators benches to the music and was lifting one leg and laying on daddy's arm spreading her arms out in what appeared to be an attempt to mimic the girls on the ice. Daddy smells a gold medal in 2022. Anyone know where the Olympics will be that year.

Tomorrow is a 6:30am wake up call as we are off to the Great Wall. This is the only organised trip we plan to take part in this time as the sigtseeing is the same as it was in 2003. If some of the parents decide they want to go to the zoo we will go too but otherwise our sightseeing ends tomorrow.

C is fast asleep in her crib and Mommy and Daddy are waiting for B to call. Mommy has been fidgiting since 8pm waiting for the 9pm call.

Below:

Playing in the crib with the bunny Nana gave C

Clowning on the bed with mommy.

Daddy's girls

Last night was not as bad as we anticipated. C slept from the time we put her down until 6:45am or so and then she just sat in the crib and waited for us lazy bones to get up.

We have done the breakfast buffet yet again (mommy got a glimpse of B on the webcam before he went to bed :o) ) and completed the visa photo session on the first try. C loves to have her picture taken.

She is sleeping now and we are being bad waiting for one or the other of us to go do some photocopies for the visa application and immigration paperwork for Canada.

We also need to go get some water as we are approaching zero and find a local laundry that will not charge us an arm and a leg to clean our clothes. I know North Americans assume there is a laundry on every corner here but that is of course a stereotype developed from the most common form of business conducted by the early Chinese pioneers to the west.

So now that blogger is working again....

We have made it to Beijing. We left Nanning 35 minutes late but arrived on time in Beijing so someone must have over shot his fuel consumption limits.

C would not sleep on the plane so she got to bed at least 2.5 hours late. She will be cranky in the morning when she goes for her visa photos after breakfast.

We talked to B again this evening and he seems to be in a funk again. It breaks our hearts that he is upset with us. We miss him so much.

The outside temp was 15c when we got to the hotel and the inside temp was at least 25c. We have the air conditioner on full blast but it is doing little to cool the room down. It is likely to be an uncomfortable night as we can not open the windows. They face the main street and people in Beijing love to hear the sound of their own car horn. You need three arms to drive here. 1 for the wheel, 1 for the shifter and 1 for the horn.

Today was the trip to the orphanage. This was a trip to forget. A trip that was in every way possible the opposite of B's trip to his orphanage 2 years 4 months ago.

We drove to BeiHai 200 km away from Nanning where we are staying. We arrived shortly before noon and were taken to McDonald's for lunch because we all wanted more time at the orphanage and did not want a big sit down lunch at a Chinese restaurants. One of the group had suggested we have something quick. A couple of us suggested we have nothing at all. In the end the 'quick' lunch took over 90 minutes.

After lunch we drove to the orphanage. On the way there we spotted a mall which V identified as the mall where C was found. See the picture below.

We arrived at the orphanage and V and I had the honour of delivering a photo album from a mother in Pennsylvania to the director. The album contained pictures of her child she had adopted from the orphanage in 2000 I believe. The director seemed genuinely happy to see the pictures. This was the high for our visit.

We visited the play room on the 1st floor for the older children as well as for the toddlers and infants. The kids get 1 - 2 hours of play time with the nannies each day.

Now for the low. C was reunited with her favourite nanny on the second floor of the orphanage. The nanny was waiting for her and started waving to her as I carried her up the stairs to the second floor and her little face lit up like a 1000 watt bulb. V took C to see the nanny who practically took her from V's arms and started playing with her. V started to tear up when she saw how much C liked being with the nanny. A senior person instructed the nanny to give her back to V and told all of the nannies to leave the area. C wailed when the nanny left. The nanny did not listen very well and snuck around to the other end of the 2nd floor and was watching C. Of course C caught sight of her and the wailing got louder. Neither V or I could console her so we left the orphanage with the intention of going back to the bus.

Another nanny caught us in the courtyard and talked to us. V leaped the language barrier when she asked one of them in Cantonese what language they were speaking to each other. They said they were speaking GuangXiese which V says is so close to Cantonese that she has no problem understanding them. So she had a great deal of conversation with the nanny who cared for C when she 1st arrived in March 2005 as well as with the director and some other staff.

We were able to determine that C's best play mate is in our group. Bad news is she will be going to Alberta when we get back home so there is no chance that they will continue to be friends.

It also is apparent that C was spoiled by these folks. They doted over her the whole time she was at the orphanage today. They all came to see her including the director and play with her calling out yan yan (her nickname). She has shown us already that she does not like to be told she can not do something and gets quite upset, throwing things, and crying. Daddy and her will make a great pair and their is sure to be fireworks when we both get our backs up.

So after the visit we went to all of the 'finding' places for the children. Everyone except us got pictures with their babies at the site of the 'finding'. We were first and told by our guide it was not a good idea to take C back to the finding site for a picture. It might upset the locals. So our picture is of the mall Guo Tone Cow Mut Jung Sum at the corner of a street called 'east of beibay rd' and 'liberation road'. There is another of me standing in front of it but I will need to retrieve that one from one of our other travelers who took it on his camera. V and C listened to the guide and stayed on the bus.

We left BeiHai at 4:30 and arrived back at the hotel at 6:50. The kids were all over tired and all wanted off the bus. We fed and changed C and then the battle to get her to sleep started. Finally I prevailed and at 8:40 she went to sleep.

B called at 9 as we watched him on the webcam. God it is good to see him. I can't tell you how our hearts ache for him. We are half way through this trip in twelve hours when B puts another coin in his Lenten box and has only 7 more to go before Mommy and Daddy come home.

At the prompting of Nana, B said, when asked what he was going to do today, that he was coming to China to get Mommy, Daddy and Cassy. He is here is our hearts.

Tomorrow we have nothing to do but get our bags packed and outside the room at 1pm for the porters to load up and send to the airport and for us to get our butts to the bus at 2:30pm. We fly to Beijing leaving at 5 and arriving at 8:20. This will be the warm up for C and her 13 hour flight to Canada next Friday.

Goodnight B. Mommy, Daddy and C love you and miss you very much.

Today we visited the Qing Xiu Shan Park in Nanning to see the sites including the 1000 year old Dragon and Elephant Pagoda below, well it is almost 1000 years old. It was torn down during WWII when the local gov't thought the Japanese might use it as a landmark to perform their bombing runs. It was rebuilt in 1985 but it is not a true relpica of the original. Modern construction techniques have been used.

The budha to below is in a temple used by three religions; Budhism, Daoism and Confusionism.

V was trying to buy a traditonal Zhuong marriage ball for C as we think, based on her papers, that she is at least 1/2 Zhuong minority. China has 50+ minority groups that make up 7% of the population. The majority are Han Chinese like V. The marriage ball is given by a girl to a boy at a special matching festival held once a year. The boy takes it home and 3 months later goes to the girl's home to see if her parents will allow the marriage. Our driver had 5 balls in his bus. Looks like he is very popular. V wants to use it as a Christmas Tree ornament.

Elizabeth, one of the other two time mothers in the group, graciously bought a 1st birthday cake for the girls. So at 7 tonight we met in the elevator lobby of our floor and had a little party.

We talked to B tonight at the appointed time and I have to say we are not impressed with the quality of the telephone transmissions to this territory. Line keeps breaking up and echoing.

We really miss B and wish we could go home tomorrow but we still have 10 more days to go before we get on that plane to TO.

C*****, one of the little girls who traveled to receive baby number two into their family, heard me call C by her nickname and said " no call her C**** call her blue bear ". How could she know B's favourite bear is blue bear? That was one mean coincidence.

Those are the biggest eyes and the longest lashes I have ever seen. I just want to kiss her again and make her smile.

We got her picture book (family photos) and the disposable camera we sent to her back in January. They were returned by the orphanage but not her pink bear. Luckily we brought backups. Unfortunately she has taken no interest in teddy bears. Totally opposite to her brother.

The people here all speak Cantonese but will only speak with their close friends and relatives. They insist on speaking to Virginia in Mandarin. Obviously she was having trouble understanding what was said as you can see below.

There has been a minor change in our itinerary. We will visit the orphanage on Thursday and the national park on Wednesday. The reverse of what had been planned.

C is down for a nap now after having her biggest meal with us yet; 4oz of formula. We also were able to coax smiles and laughs out of her for the first time today.

C slept through the night. She went to sleep at about 7:30pm and we had to wake her at 6 this morning. She is not much of an eater yet but this is to be expected as she is likely suffering from some anxiety about separating from her nanny at the orphanage.

She says daddy a lot. She wants daddy to hold her and this morning to walk with her while she held his hand. She is a good walker and took at least 10 steps on her own in the hotel room.

She just started to warm up to mommy as you can see in this picture. Too bad I forgot to set the red eye flash. Mommy soothed her to sleep and put her down on the bed. She is over there now making little pig sounds like B does when he falls asleep.

This morning we are going back tot he civil affairs office to sign the papers and this afternoon to have them notarised.

Tomorrow is a big day when C gets to go back to BeiHai for her last visit for a while and we will try to find the mall where she was found.

C has been sleeping for about 90 minutes now. We got her to eat some cracker and a 1/3 bowl of milupa rice cereal then she wanted to cuddle with daddy and started yawning.

We put her down in the crib provided by the hotel and she went to sleep after playing for a little while with a spoon and then her feet and finally her blanket which is pressed against her lips. I caught her standing at the end of the crib peeking on daddy while mommy lay sleeping in the bed beside her. Next thing I knew she was down and sleeping.

Per a yahoo group for BeiHai babies it seems that pressing a favorite rag, face cloth or blanket to their lips is a habit the babies carry on for a long time post adoption. They also seem to like the soft tags in clothes for some odd reason. Neither V or I paid close attention to what the nannies were wearing at the Civil Affairs office today. I am thinking maybe the nannies where silk when holding the babies so they are accustomed to a soft shiny fabric being close to their face. We will have to be more attentive on Wednesday.

In this mornings paperwork session V had a closer look at the information provided about her finding and the name of the mall where she was found is clearly stated. We will have to see if we can find it when we visit the orphanage.

B just called so I have to go.

We are back from the welfare offices with our little darling. She slept almost immediately but now she is showing us her lungs are strong.

She can take steps on her own but right now she seems to only want to be held.

We have to go off to get a photo done for the official documents then she is ours for the night.

Officially we have her on a trial basis until we sign the documents in the morning.

Okay application forms complete.

C's English name was spelled wrong on all forms (the r in her first name was typed as an n) and our street address and postal code is incorrect as well. They will need to be corrected by the officials before the notarisation in the morning.

V overheard some folks saying they were going to the Walmart before we go to the Civil Affairs office. Now she wants to go to kill the time. So we are off to find a taxi.....

Well it's raining and only 9 degress this morning. A far cry from the 20 degrees it was when we arrived last night. It will be cool and raining tomorrow as well. Wednesday should be better for our trip to BeiHai. The forecast high is 21 degrees.

We have had our buffet breakfast. The thousand year egg congee was most delicious with most of our Chinese comrades commenting how good it is. I will start breakfast with the congee in the morning instead of ending with congeee as I did today.

In 20 minutes we will head down ot the lobby again to meet up with the group, adjourn to a conference room and complete the Chinese end of the adoption application procedure.

After the paperwork we will likely go to a large shopping centre so some of the families can pickup last minute supplies like strollers and diapers.

V is very exited this morning and can't wait to get the mornings itinerary out of the way so we can leave for the Civil Affairs office to get C.

We are in Nanning, capital city of the GuangXi Autonomus Region, akin to our Canadian Territories but in the west not the north, and about 3 hours drive from C's orphanage.

The picture to the right will change tomorrow with the addition of C who will be united with us at 3:30pm local time (2:30am EST) tomorrow.

Today we visited a silk factory and refrained from buying any of the wonderful products they had there. We bought many in 2003 in Shanghai.

We took a 3 hr 40 minute flight on Hunan Airlines from Beijing to Nanning arriving at the hotel at 6:15pm.

V is catching up on her zzzz's while I post this.

Tonight it's off to the local market to get some bottled water and snacks, then a group meeting at 9pm and a phone call from B at 10 or 10:30pm.

Tomorrow we meet after breakfast to prepare our paperwork for tomorrow afternoon and at 3pm leave to go to the civil affairs office to be united with C. So pictures of C will be posted tomorrow night.

Tuesday we need to go back to the civil affairs office to complete the paperwork and to the notary's office to make the adoption legal.

Wednesday we drive 6 hours round trip in a bus to visit the orphanage in BeiHai.

Thursday site seeing and shopping.

Friday we get the Chinese passport for C and fly back to Beijing.

So we went to the Summer Palace and to lunch with the majority of folks from the group of 19 families traveling with us.

We re-found a shopping mall we went to three years ago where there are lots of clothes and shoes etc to be purchased. We will go there again once we get back from Nanning with little C.

Tonight we have to have all of the luggage we will leave in Beijing outside our door by 9:30 for the porters to pickup and put in storage. Baggage limit from Toronto to Beijing was 140 lbs each. The limit from Beijing to Nanning is 44 lbs each. So since we brought about 190lbs from Toronto we need to leave behind a few bags of stuff.

Tomorrow we leave at 9am for a visit to a silk factory and then we head to the airport for our 1pm flight to Nanning.

Having severe internet challenges today. The DNS here in the hotel is flaky and I have resorted to looking up IP using www.network-tools.com and building my own internal list of host names I use frequently.

Talked to B last night and he is doing fine without us. Just asks every once in a while where we are. And was saying hello daddy to the airplanes flying overhead yesterday.

We miss him very much.

Today is a day to shop or maybe go to the Summer Palace.

The area around this hotel is bleak. No where near as nice as where we were 3 years ago. There are no shops to speak of and absolutely no restaurants so we will be stuck paying high hotel prices for meals unless we taxi up to JungWenMei road where we were before.

Tomorrow we fly to Nanning and Monday we are united with little C.

We made it to China 10 minutes behind schedule.

Nothing eventful to report except that the family from Moncton lost all their checked luggage just like we did in 2003 . It was a dull long flight that took us from Toronto up over James and Hudsons Bays , over Baffin Island and Ellesmere island , over the pole and down through Russia and Mongolia to Beijing.

The food was suprisingly good.

The 5 star hotel we are in is in the middle of no where and the rooms are not the cleanest I have ever been in.

Going to get some sleep. Got none on the plane. A small boy traveling with us kicked our chairs all the way here.

One thing to note we are 13 hours ahead of Toronto time.

We received the mint money on Monday. Mom and Dad arrived on Tuesday. We got our passports and notice of coming back on Thursday.

Seems like we are not running around enough for this trip but as V said we have everything we need and we know what to take.

We got a little heat from the adoption agency for sending a package to the orphanage. That's a no no.

One family for our group left Friday and is traveling via HK on the way to Beijing.

A large group leave Wednesday.

We leave Thursday at 10am with another large group.

Finally one family is going direct to Nanning and will meet the rest of us there on Sunday.

Hopefully B will not cry too much when we leave. We plan to say goodbye and leave him at C's (babysitter) while we go to the airport. He can play with the kids all day and he won't miss us until he comes home.

Nana Grampy and B are to call us every morning (night in China) so that we won't miss him too much.

If any one else wants to call the numbers are below. B will be calling us at 8am EST each day unless otherwise noted so the line wil be busy during those times. There are 13 hours difference between EST and China Standard Time.

We get C on March 13

Hotel Beijing 011 86 10 67731234

Mar 10, 11, 17(9am), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (9am), 23

Hotel Nanning 011 86 771 2830811

Mar 12, 13, 14, 15, 16