So sorry that we didn't blog yesterday - the jet lag hit me hard around 5 PM and I couldn't do much of anything except take care of Hannah. I'm still not sleeping much - pretty much waking up at 3 AM every day and lying in bed until 6 waiting to start the day. I'm sure I'll adjust to the time change 2 days before we come home and I'll be in the same boat for another 2 weeks. Whatever....let's talk about the amazing Hannah En Ming!! She continues to surprise and delight us and we're proud to report that we can get her really giggling up a storm with our expert "tickle monster" skills. Thanks to all the kids back in Cold Spring who gave us a lot of practice over the past few years. Yesterday, we traveled to the Security Bureau of Guangdong Province to finalize our adoption. On the way, our guides discovered that the Bissinger family picture that they took on Tuesday did not make it onto our paperwork. Instead, the papers had a photo of a different couple who had adopted a little boy. We were a little nervous that this was going to delay everyone else but one of the guides literally got off our bus in the middle of traffic to go fix the problem. She did and met us at our destination no problem or Mei Wan Ti as they say here. We were a little early for our appointment so our other guide, De, took us to the supermarket in dowtown Guangzhou to buy formula and candy for the orphanage visit tomorrow. This was an experience. I have never in my life seen so many human beings crammed into one store all trying to shop as quickly as possible. A claustrophobic's nightmare. Imagine Shop-Rite on a Sunday afternoon and then quadruple the amount of people and turn the air conditioning off. Lovely. We got out with formula AND a little cool teething rattle (Go Rob!!) and then it was back on the bus. The traffic, by the way, is completely nuts in the city - no rules to speak of - everyone just drives when and where they feel like. Not for the faint-hearted. Did I mention no car seats for the babies? Yeah, we're now doing a lot of walking. Once we arrived, the scene at the Security Bureau honestly resembled a large DMV. Oficers were seated behind a long counter with digital signs over them and digital signs with numbers for who was next. The only weird difference was that everybody there was adopting a Chinese baby, so the room was packed with a very different demographic than your average American DMV. Bizarre. We were in and out of there in about 15 minutes thanks to our guide who is an older man who is obviously afforded a lot of respect as Rob and I were allowed to cut a LOT of people in line when all our papers were in order. This is clearly the kind of thing we've paid the agency for and I have to say when you're carrying a squirmy toddler in a sultry room, it's well worth the expense. So, with no fanfare at all, Guan En Ming officially becomes Hannah En Ming Bissinger and it's back on the bus! I gotta say - everyone should adopt a baby - it's a trip in more ways than one! We are settling into life at the White Swan and starting to establish a sleep schedule for Hannah. She's been sleeping great through the night (about 10 hours - wish I could do that!) but her naps have been kind of all over the place so we're trying to make sure she's in the room most days around noon to rest. We're so impressed with how good she is in terms of going with the flow. She actually loves going out for a stroll and now walks over to her stroller in the room and points to it a lot. I guess the 2 days of BabyBjorn didn't grab her. I'm ok with that in this heat, though. It's incredibly humid here, so you sweat profusely every time you leave the hotel. We had a very funny dinner last night - ordered scrambled eggs and white rice for Hannah and when the rice was put down in front of her, the reaction was as if someone flipped the "extrovert" personality switch. We were laughing so hard because not only did she finally let us feed her from a spoon(Yea!) but she started to "talk" to us nonstop and became very animated for the rest of the evening. The kid LOVES rice. Who knew? I know, I know, she's Chinese, duh, but we just hadn't gotten around to ordering it til then. Now we know. We finally Skyped Riley and Grandma and Grandpa succesfully with video and everything! It was so great to SEE Miss Riley Jane if only on Rob's laptop. Hannah cried the whole time because we had to wake her from a too late nap so they could all see her and she was not too cool with that idea. It was more than worth it - we can't wait to do it again tonight. Today we did a lot of walking around Shamian Island and also the lower part of Guangzhou. The island that our hotel is on became a British and French concession after they defeated the Chinese in the Opium Wars and so it's full of old decaying colonial buildings some of which are quite beautiful. Check out the pix we've posted. After crossing the footbridge and walking around Guangzhou, we're so grateful to be on this much quieter and manageable island with our new baby! You'll be able to see a real difference in the pictures. Hannah continues to fight off her head cold and I'm beginning to think the air conditioning in the hotel is aggravating it. Anytime we're outside in the heat and humidity, she's fine. We go back to the room and her little nose runs, she starts coughing and her breathing gets phlegmy. We have the thermostat in our room set at its warmest but I think it's the dryness that's getting to her. We've been giving her an extra bottle of formula to keep her hydrated because that's all she'll drink. I clocked her today and she downs that 8 ounce bottle of VERY warm formula in about 90 seconds!! She continues to eat well and she is just so adorable that we truly are having a good time but still cannot wait to be home. It's going to be a loooong 9 days. Tomorrow we go to Hannah's old digs - I will blog again once back from our journey to Dongguan Children's Welfare Institute.
Hannah was super crabby today, of course, because it was picture day. I really think that a new tooth must be breaking through her gums because she is drooling like crazy and the boogies are flowing! We received all of her final adoption paperwork today including the adoption certificate with our family picture on it and her official finding ad, history and immunization record. Everything is in order to go to the American consulate tomorrow and magically turn her into an American citizen! We are excited that we can start packing to return home. Rob did buy a new leather carryon bag which he plans to keep for future business trips. It's very nice and he clearly loves it - I love that he got it for 30% off an already low price! We will stuff it full of all the souvenirs for the trip home since Hannah is allowed a carryon too! It was wonderful to speak to Riley this morning and hear all about her first day at school! She said it was boring but she was excited to name all of her friends that are now in her class. I can't wait to walk her to school on Monday!! Hard to believe that in less than 48 hours, we will be in the air headed to Newark Airport!! I've never been so happy to be going to New Jersey! We're posting pictures of the travel group(sorry dads, somebody had to take the photos) and also the eagerly anticipated "Red Couch" picture which went surprisingly well thanks to Charmaine's genius idea of handing each baby a piece of cracker just before all the moms walked away. Hannah proceeded to feed everyone and only Claire cried. The girls names are (left to right) Jaiden, Lily, Isabella, Hannah, Kimberly and Claire. Hannah is the eldest at 19 months and there is some debate as to who's really the youngest - Isabella or Claire. Remember - these birthdays are assigned based on doctor guesses. They are all beautiful. Well, I will try to blog one more time before we get on the plane - probably from Hong Kong. Say a prayer we can fit everything into our luggage - we bought a lot more than we planned to. Bye Bye White Swan!
scheduled trip to the "mall" and walk around Guangzhou which is exactly what we did. I was proud of the fact that we just set out map in hand and found the intended destination - Hualin Temple. It turned
out to be the birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism and was, in fact, very peaceful and beautiful despite its proximity to one of the busiest marketplaces for jade and spices in the city. We saw "the 500 ahtars" - all gold statues filling an enormous hall and buddhas that many Chinese were burning incense for and praying. Really interesting and the incense smelled wonderful. Hannah loves strolling so even after she woke from a short nap, we were able to explore other small labyrinthine paths in the city. We had a great time and will tell our tour guide none of it. He would probably be upset with us for venturing so far from the hotel without an escort. We did receive a lot of stares being the only white people around pushing a Chinese baby in a stroller but we'd better get used to that as I'm sure the same thing will happen to us in small town America. It was a thrill to explore the city's neighborhoods and I'm glad that we got a feel for "real China" as opposed to the tourist version that exists here on Shamian Island. Hannah continues to be a peach and hates going down for her nap, but she wouldn't be a Bissinger girl if she didn't. Right Riley? We're gearing up for a very big day tomorrow. We have a travel meeting (HOORAY!!), a group picture and the taking of the famed "red couch picture"(a tradition in the adoption community of taking a picture of all the babies in your travel group in traditional Chinese clothing on the red couch in the White Swan Hotel) , and finally, a cruise on the Pearl River with dinner included to celebrate the end of our trip! Very exciting. On our minds the most, though, is Riley's first day of 1st grade!!! We miss you so very much Riley and hope you have a fantastic first day!! We love you and will see you in only 3 more days!!!
rudimentary check up including a squeaky frog to check her hearing. They of course did height, weight, head circumference and checked the ears, throat and lungs. That was about it. Hannah was crabby throughout but then, who really enjoys going to the doctor? She fared much better during the last of our souvenir shopping today (she really likes that stroller!). Rob got everyone's comments on the blog printed out in the business center of the hotel! So great to finally read everyone's reactions as we've been able to post on our blog but haven't been able to see it. Very strange but we hear it looks great! Thanks for all of your wonderful comments and wishes - we can't wait for you to meet this new baby of ours who is already so loved! The rest of the day we spent hanging out and playing in the room and at the pool. We finally ordered takeout from a place called Danny's Bagels and Hannah loved her first bagel as well as the bites she nabbed from my chicken parm sub! Pretty great bagels in China - who'da thought? We're posting a picture of an elementary school class that passed us on our way back from the medical exam. Interesting t-shirt for a school teacher, huh? The picture also gives you some idea of how close the traffic likes to get to the pedestrians (which in this case happen to be tiny children). Oddly enough, you hardly ever see people writhing in agony on the side of the road from hit and runs. Hannah continues to be in constant motion and is getting extremely vocal. I wonder if the babbling is in Chinese that I don't know but I am glad that she's making conversation at least. She let me hold her hand while walking for the first time today! Big deal for me because she finally trusts me enough to depend on me for something. We were at the pool and we spent a LONG time just walking to the water, dipping our feet in, then walking away, and repeat ad nauseum. Fine with me. She really LOVES the water too! Big fit when we had to leave. Well, we're off to dinner at Lucy's. Enjoy the pix!! 4 more days and we're home!!!
