The China Trip

Thursday the 21st
America Bound Panda

Panda officially has his American visa! Tomorrow morning we leave the hotel at 7 a.m. to begin our 30 hour trek home. We cannot wait to see our Ladybug!!

Today the Duke and I ventured out on our own as our guide was at the consulate waiting for Panda’s visa to be issued. We successfully completed a grocery trip for Panda plane snacks and ordered some more cheese tea at the tea house.  We unsuccessfully grabbed a snack for Panda at a Chinese Pizza Hut. Let’s just say we had to call our guide to come bail us out of that one...

Our guide took us to lunch at a regular of his near his apartment. I had a craving for more Chinese muscles! I love how they cook them here. We walked into the front which was filled with tanks for various sea creatures - muscles, fish of all sorts, turtles, snakes, etc. You order based on what you see, and there’s a man with a net that grabs it out of the tank and transports it to the kitchen. We ordered 3 lbs of muscles, shrimp, some local veggies, and some kind of fish. They brought them to the table as soon as each one was cooked, and you eat family style. So delicious! I’m still not used to the entire fish being served, head and eyes in tact. Our guide was explaining that the head and tail are the parts the Chinese like the best. His son always calls dibs on the eyes! Panda ironically seems to prefer pizza, but dutifully ate a few bites of fish. Then we headed to our guide’s apartment for some “good” tea. Not those old common leaves they serve at the restaurants. We so enjoyed getting to see a Chinese apartment and experience some amazing Chinese afternoon tea.

After returning to the hotel, we’ve been packing and preparing. Please pray for us all  during these next couple of crazy days! Pray for Panda to sleep and enjoy the flight and for us all with the jetlag. And pray for our trip through customs - aka Panda becoming an American!!

Tuesday and Wednesday, the 19th and 20th
Consulate Appointment

Tuesday morning at 10 am we had our appointment at the U.S. Consulate.  It was our first experience at a Consulate, and I may or may not have felt a little like Jason Bourne. Which is ridiculous bc we spent our entire time in the “adoptions” section with 7-10 other American families with seemingly millions of kids running around screaming, trying to figure out exactly what we were supposed to be doing. About as far from a Bourne-esque experience as you can get actually. Panda had no interest in playing with the other kids- he seemed fearful actually.  Poor baby. I’m sure it wasn’t easy being the small one in the orphanage.

We had our Panda’s Chinese passport and packet all ready to go, took a number, spoke to a few people, took an oath, and did a quick interview about the adoption process. No pictures as no phones allowed in the consulate. Gosh it felt good to be on American soil for a little bit, even though it was quick. Walking out, it was powerful thinking that the next time we step on American soil, our son will become a U.S. citizen! Throughout this process this week the adopting families are usually side by side with the Chinese citizens trying to get their immigration visas to the U.S. It’s a grueling process that our guide explained takes around 8 years.  Watching so many people come beside us trying to obtain the same thing we are for our son, but knowing how fast ours is happinging in comparison, sure is eye-opening. May God bless them on their journey.

That evening we went on a river cruise, as Guangzhou’s metropolis is lit up in amazing ways at night.   It was absolutely beautiful! The ship itself was 3 decks, the bottom deck where we were served a Chinese buffet for dinner.  It was so different than a buffet at home - there was no line, direction of traffic movement, etc. It was just a free for all! Elbow your way in and fill your plate with what you can reach!  And then a juggling act wrapped up the evening.

This morning we planned to head to the park. Panda has been having a blast playing in the room, and we thought letting him loose in a park would be a sight to behold! First stop the mall as he doesn’t have any shoes yet that fit him. But they didn’t really have much for feet as small as his (3-6 month size). After scouring the stores, we found one pair that would function for his park trip! We stopped off for some “cheese tea” that our guide has been dying for us to try. It’s the trendy thing in China, as perhaps a latte would be in America. We have had to resist trying it until our stomachs were back to their old selves, which was only just these past couple days. It was actually delicious, and I hope to get another one before we leave Friday! It’s a sweet salty tea with a layer of some sort of sweet cheese on top! So unique.

Turns out our whole mall trip was a moot point. We got to the park, found a beautiful grassy knoll to sprawl out upon, got a ball out to play with, and realized with Panda’s reaction that he had never been  in the grass before! Or around trees and bushes. He was actually totally freaked out by it. Duh, mom and dad! So we spent a good hour getting him comfortable enough to allow us to set him down in it, but touching it with his hands in order to crawl was completely out of the question. The sunlight also seemed to be a bit much for him, so we called it a day and headed back for lunch.  Even though he didn’t play, the trip with all its grassy glory and sunlight wiped him out and he slept for hours when we got back to the room. First nap he’s taken since the plane trip here.

His visa should be issued tomorrow assuming all goes well! Then Friday morning we begin the long trek back home. It’ll be about a 24 hour trip. Please pray all goes well with Panda and the flight and customs. Apparently one wrong move (like opening the “brown envelope”) will send us right back on a flight to China to the US consulate to obtain a new one. No pressure.

Love you all and can’t wait to be back in the US of A!

Sunday and Monday, the 17th and 18th
Mr. Independent

Our Panda has become quite independent as he becomes more and more comfortable that we are sticking around for a while.  He has learned to say “da!” for “down” when we are in the hotel room so he can crawl around and explore his new toys. His all time favorite toy at the moment is the box his formula came in. He loves filling it with his little toys and then taking them all back out again.

He is getting a lot more mobile. You can tell he isn’t used to crawling around much or cruising around furniture bc of how exhausting it is for him. Each day he does more, building up his little endurance.  He is usually drenched in sweat by the end of playtime, but is definitely building strength as playtimes continue to get longer and more adventurous. I could seriously watch him play all day long!  He is the most happy-go-lucky kid, and his face lights up with the simplest victories. Beyond precious.

Sunday we got the incredible opportunity to visit a Chinese Protestant Church service. To our surprise, it was bilingual and the Cantonese was translated into English. It was a message about the birth of Christ - Matthew 2. It was amazing to witness Jesus being praised by people on the complete other side of the world from us - “from every tribe and language and people and nation”- very powerful.   The service was similar to the one we attend in the States - a few songs led by a worship leader and a few other guitarists, the congregation read the passage out loud together (in Cantonese) and then the pastor spoke about the passage. I’ve noticed the Chinese people seem very matter-of-fact in their speech and story telling, so it was interesting to hear a Chinese pastor teach about the birth of the Christ. Panda behaved very well for the service. He’s good at picking up on the social situation. He’s become pretty loud lately with his cute little giggles and babbles, but knew to stay quiet during the service.

Afterward, we went shopping in a local “whole sale” shopping mall, as we were hoping to purchase some pearls. It was an experience for sure! Very different than an American mall. Darker, emptier, unfamiliar smells coming from every direction. Our guide was explaining how people only shopped certain stores based on feng shui and superstitions. So we had to go to the stores on a particular side of the mall - they were much more alive than the rest of the building. It made me wonder why the venders bothered to rent space elsewhere when no one would shop there. It was fun learning from our guide as we passed storefronts what was in style and for whom in China.

Monday morning we headed to the Guangzhou Zoo - one of the big tourist spots in the city. Even with that being the case, it was almost empty! Nothing like the zoos we are used to. Panda was less than impressed with the animals, but enjoyed riding in the stroller for small periods of time. We got to feed the giraffes, and he would rather have stayed behind the fence! But he didn’t cry, just opted out of any sort of participation. I can’t blame him. He’s likely never seen an animal in person, let alone a giraffe that close.

After the zoo our guide took us out for a traditional Cantonese Dim Sum lunch. It was so much fun! He ordered for the table seeing as we can’t read Cantonese, nor would we know what to order if we did!  I took a picture of the table like a tourist before they served all the food - I loved the little hot tea cups we had.  That was the only option for something to drink - black hot tea in the smallest cups. . Panda sat between the Duke and I squealing in excitement at the anticipation of his next meal. Seriously squealing - it’s his new thing when he’s really pumped about what we are doing. It was so loud no one could hear him anyway. ;)

Tomorrow is our consulate appointment! Wahoo! They will interview us and Panda, and then there’s a 2 day wait for Panda to receive his visa. Praying all goes smoothly and we can leave as planned Friday.

Friday and Saturday, the 15th and 16th
Panda the Adventurer!

Friday we flew out of Xi’an to Guangzhou, about a 3 hour flight with an hour drive on each end. Our little Panda rocked the entire trip like the little champ that he is. I can’t even describe the look on his face during take off. The pure shock, then checking our faces and noticing the smiles, quickly shifting to excitement and then giggles. Oh my goodness it was so much fun experiencing travel through his eyes! He ended up sleeping through half of it and just enjoyed the other half. His favorite was when the flight attendant would make an announcement over the speaker. He could not figure out where her voice was coming from and thought that it was the funniest game he’d ever played.

I was relieved to see that his attachment to us continued even with others around speaking his language. Bonding and attachment was one of my biggest concerns and the thing I prayed most about. I love seeing how God answered that prayer in such a miraculous way!

We arrived at our new hotel right around bedtime and ordered room service while Panda got a bath. It was another fairly good night for him - we allowed him to bring food to bed with him. I wonder if that’s the trick....

Saturday morning we woke and had an awesome hotel breakfast. Panda even allowed us to put him in the high chair for the first time - finally feeling comfortable enough to sit alone during mealtime! We then headed out for his immigrant medical exam. They did a full body exam, and then drew blood to test for TB. They wouldn’t allow us in there for that part, so we just sat outside the room listening to him scream. So heartbreaking. At least with Ladybug I’ve always been able to hold her through it. It took him a while to calm back down, and he wouldn’t allow me to cuddle him afterward. I had brought along a lollipop for just such an occasion, so I pulled it out and had to show him what to do with it. (He obviously didn’t know what candy was) He just wanted to hold it and cry, so we let him. Once he calmed down he built up the nerve to give it a try, and oh my goodness was that cute!


Tomorrow is uneventful. We’ll just be shopping and killing time waiting for our stuff to process. The Duke and I are feeling better and better with each day. Looking forward to coming home soon!
Enjoy the pics - the first is of Panda’a first French fries. Our guide thought that was hilarious. “He’s American boy now!”  He was quite the fan.

Thursday, December 14
Wild Thing

I’ll tell you what, Panda is feeling right at home with us!  He was hamming it up today and having a blast!  Blowing kisses at passing ladies, pretending to feed me and then pulling it back and laughing, pretty much anything that’ll get a smile out of someone. He even took a bath willingly. I think he’s starting to realize that most of what we do is all about him, and he’s digging it.  He’s becoming less and less worried about food and more distracted with his newfound playing.  He still needs food in his hands most of the time, but more than once today I saw him drop food to pick up a toy. He’s already feeling confident his next meal is on its way.

Last night was the first night he went to bed without crying, and it was amazing. He slept all night so peacefully. Tonight (I’m writing this post in the middle of the night between Thursday and Friday) he cried himself to sleep again and is pretty restless, switching back and forth between checking if mom is still here and if dad is still here.

We went to see the Terracotta warriors today, which was such a cool experience. China has such an incredible history! Once we hit the museum part of the tour, Panda began his silent protest, so we quickly headed back to the hotel. He’s such a champ and tags along with most of what we do, but lets us know when enough’s enough!

We fly out Friday afternoon to head to Guangzhou for all of the US side of things. It’ll be Panda’s first plane ride! Eeek. Praying for things to go smoothly!

My China quote from today, “No no! This is not good! You can not do this. You must follow regulation. This is our job. You cannot break regulation. You must wait. Oh no. Not good.”    When I grabbed a roll from the buffet for Panda assuming it was 6 pm bc they set out all the food for the 6 pm buffet. It was only 5:45. I created quite a scene.




Wednesday, December 13
Acceptance

Last night was particularly rough, as Panda cried long and hard. There was absolutely nothing we could do to console him. He eventually cried himself to sleep. But then he slept all night long and into the morning, waking up as a whole new Panda! He really needed to just let it all out, and now it is looking like he is beginning to not only accept his new situation, but love it. He woke up with all smiles for mama and even crawled across the bed to me! It’s really the first big movement we’ve seen. The past two days he’s been in shock and just sits like a blob. Adding to all of the excitement, he began to speak by mimicking English words we say to him.  He has the cutest little voice! Today we got a lot of “mama” and “daddy” and “lights” and “pretty”. He doesn’t yet understand the concept of a name (I’m assuming bc they don’t call the kids by name in the orphanage?), so he’s struggling to understand what mama and daddy mean. But he keeps practicing the words all the same, probably bc it gets such a great reaction from us!

He has been playful and silly and laughing and talking. Soooo much fun. We’ve even gotten a few fits today! Haha! His fits are hilarious. We got a few in the museum today. He will throw his head back and go dead weight, and then starting pushing away with his feet. Basically he ends up on his back on the floor giving us the angriest look. But he doesn’t make a sound. It’s just a silent protest! I’ll include a picture of one. ;)

He is bonding so well with us- better than we ever expected by day 3. A major answer to prayer. He absolutely craves undivided attention and physical contact, both of which we are more than happy to provide!  He won’t speak in front of anyone but the Duke and I. And now his face lights up when the Duke picks him up too. He has such a sweet face! Everyone else still gets the eye when they talk to him. A very good sign that he’s distinguishing us from strangers.

The kid can eat like nothing I’ve seen! His favorite seems to be scrambled eggs. He has all of his teeth, but doesn’t chew. (He’s never really had solid food to chew) but he’s a fast learner. He was mimicking my chewing at lunch today thinking it was a game, so I figure it won’t be long until he sees the benefit and starts doing it all on his own. Thank you all for your prayers! God has been blessing us majorly.

first bathtub bath. Not a hit!

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Tuesday, December 12
Sight seeing

Most of our business here in Xi’an is complete, and now we are just waiting for our Panda’s Chinese passport to process. Once we get that (most likely Friday) we will fly to Guangzhou to begin the US immigration side of things. Everything thus far has gone really smoothly. Our guide is incredible and really on top of things.

As for Panda, he is still a bit in shock. He’s eating though, and that’s a huge step. The days are getting better as he seems overall happy with us. The nights are getting a little more ugly as he has begun the grieving process. It’s healthy for him to cry as he realizes his whole life is changing, but so sad at the same time. We just hold him and rock him until he’s all out of tears. Then he sleeps for a few hours and it begins again. Poor little baby. He still doesn’t speak or really move his body much, but he will in time. We know what he’s capable of from watching videos of him in the orphanage, so as soon as he’s ready, he’ll be is old playful self again.

He’s the cuddliest little baby I have ever come into contact with. He wants to be held day and night. When we set him down for a second, he either cries or starts this twitching thing that he does when he’s stressed. I’m so proud of him for crying to communicate his needs. That is huge for a child from an orphanage! He’s doing great.

He still doesn’t know how to play, but we are trying to teach him. In fact, he’s pretty much scared of toys. He just wants to be loved on and spoken to. Toys can come later. :) he has started to find his smile. It’s the most beautiful sight!! I’ve always wondered since we began this process what his smile  would look like and what would make him laugh. Every time I pick him up today I get the biggest smile - his face just lights up. Even if I’ve been holding him for hours and sit him in the chair next to me to mix his bottle, and I pick him right back up. He still has this look of surprise and bliss that I picked him back up!

Be praying for our nights, and that he would feel comforted soon. Also be praying for mine and the Duke’s health. I don’t know if it’s jetlag or something we ate, but it isn’t good.  I’m trying to post a video with some of our first smiles, but I’m having trouble. It seems to only be uploading as a pic.

Monday, December 11
Official adoption day

This morning we headed back to the adoption office early to finalize little Panda’s adoption. It was such an incredible moment seeing his new name on the forms. He is beyond precious to us already, and we love him dearly. It feels like he’s always been ours.

He is still in shock and doesn’t move almost at all or talk. He finally ate this morning for breakfast, and we were so relieved! I was getting concerned he would become dehydrated if it continued any longer.  Although we are having to feed him bc he still won’t really move his arms.  (Not unusual in this situation while he recovers from the trauma of leaving the orphanage with strangers.) He has begun to cry sometimes. - basically if we make the mistake of setting him down. It doesn’t matter if we’re still in the same room or even right next to him. And so the Duke and I just take turns actually getting things done while the other holds him. This evening he cried for quite a while at bedtime (this is good) as he is finally starting the grieving process. Praying the little guy adjusts quickly and soon grows to love his new life.

Things we have learned about our Panda these past 24 hours:
Likes-
holding food in his hand (even when he isn’t eating it. Just knowing it’s there brings him a lot of comfort.)
Bread
His elephant we had sent him in a care package in May.
Car rides
Being held
Sleeping
Trying new foods

Dislikes-
His crib!!
When mom thinks it’s a good idea to take away his pizza crust he’s been holding for 2 hours before bed. Big mistake, mom!
Pretty much any taking away of what he’s holding. He will hold it until he falls asleep (in or bed mind you!) last night and nap time today it was food, tonight it’s a car.
Cold food or drink

All in all, a good day. He’s hit the big 4- eye contact, allowing physical contact, crying and eating/drinking. All of those mean he’s handling the change like a champ. We are so proud of him!

Sunday, December 10
Gotcha Day!!!!

It has been a crazy past 48 hours of travel. We are a bit jet lagged, but absolutely loving China! It is such a welcoming, peaceful country. We woke early this morning to one of the largest, most extensive breakfast buffets I’ve ever seen. We leave our hotel this afternoon at 3 pm to meet at “the office” to see our Panda Bear for the first time!!! We will then bring him back to the hotel and try to feed, bathe, and play with him before bedtime. Please be praying for us all!

We are as ready as we can be to meet our baby boy. We have his toys all lined up, snacks and a sippy cup ready to go, and the hotel had a sweet crib all set up for us. We added a stuffed elephant and fuzzy blanket, and I’m pretty sure it’s ready to hold our sweet baby this first night! It’s one of those things that’s helping this surreal experience feel like it’s actually happening! It’s hard to believe that in just a few hours he will be in our arms. Oh my goodness. Wow.

I will update ASAP once we get him!

~~~Update~~~

Our Panda is with his parents!!
We got caught in traffic on the way to the office, so our little Panda Bear was already there waiting for us. We stepped off the elevator and he was sitting in a chair next to his nanny from the orphanage, all bundled up and waiting. She immediately picked him up when she saw us and handed him to me.  What an amazing moment. Our guide grabbed the camera and began taking videos and pictures that we will share! It took Little Panda a few moments to warm up to the Duke, as he most likely hasn’t been around men before. But I assure you, by the end of the night he was all about Daddy!

We worked our way through some paperwork to help tomorrow’s actual adoption to go smoother and quicker. He didn’t cry, but watched what was going on very carefully. He is incredibly observant. You could tell right away that if he does have a hearing impairment, it’s mild. He looks to be so well cared for. He was in an amazing orphanage with amazing nannies. They gave us an entire packet on him, most of it like a monthly journal on his life. How precious and special. We will have to figure out how to get it translated so we can read through it.

We stopped on the way back to the hotel to purchase the same brand of formula he is used to, and then brought him straight to the hotel room. He came to life in the car and began moving around and watching all of the excitement out of the window. He even forgot he was terrified for a moment and said, “baba” clear as a bell.  Everyone quickly turn to look at him and he panicked, not speaking again.

We got to the room and ordered him some congee and rice, hoping a little meal before bed would be comforting. I’m sad to report he ate and drank nothing. Poor baby is still pretty shell shocked. He really enjoyed hearing us read him books, so that was some great bonding time.

We peeled off the layers to give  him a quick sponge bath - he had 3 heavy layers on! Poor kid was happy to have them off. In China, they are absolutely terrified children will catch a chill, so lots of layers is normal, even in the summer. In fac, the minute we got in the car, our driver turned the heat on full blast “for baby.”  We put on some Christmas dinosaur jammies and Christmas socks we had brought, and they actually fit perfectly. (Both 12 month size) I’m not going to lie, he’s the cutest little guy I’ve ever seen!!

Then came bedtime. The nanny had told us he is put in his crib at 6 p.m. to just sit and bedtime was at 8. So maybe that’s why he didn’t want to play or move around when we got him back to the hotel around 6? It was his sit and chill time? Well anywho, we weren’t sure if the crib would be comforting to him or not. We wouldn’t eat or drink, so it was clear he needed comfort. We finally set him in there around 8:30 and we got to finally hear him cry! Needless to say I picked him back up and held him in our bed. He preferred that, but continued to cry silently. I’ve never seen a 2 year old cry silently, and it just broke my heart. He layed in our bed letting tears just fall, but never making a sound. He seems to be calmer when held, so we basically have held and cuddled him all night. (Not easy as he’s as wiggly as a little worm!) but if he wasn’t held or cuddled, he’d wake up confused and sit up to stare at us. Probably trying to remember where on earth he is! But as soon as I would put my hand on his face, he’d lean into it and fall asleep sitting up. The kid really loves physical attention! This is going to work out well. (Ps- except for kisses. He’s so confused and freaked out every time we kiss him!)

It’s now 5:30 am and he’s still fast asleep next to me. There is still so much to tell, but little time. We have a full day today and need to leave the hotel by 8 am. I will update when I can!