We made it! The long plane ride was uneventful with both girls sleeping through most of it! We arrived to the airport around 7 pm but by the time we got out, it was pretty close to 8:30 pm (customs... AAARGH!). Nicole was happy to meet her Aunt Emma and Uncle Chris and 2 of her new cousins. Her cousin Sydney (age 7) even got into the spirit and wore her special Chinese dress to the airport so Nicole would feel more at home! Alex was thrilled to be home and in her own room again. Both girls had a bath and went to bed with no issue. The downside is, that it is now 5 am and we have all been up since 2 am!! I am on my 3rd load of laundry, have had 2 cups of coffee and am about to head out to the grocery store. John will get Nicole's OHIP # as soon as I'm back - our thought process is that it is going to be a LOOONG day so we might as well be productive!
We do want to thank everyone for following and supporting us on our journey. We are so touched by the phone calls, emails, comments etc that you have sent. As many of you are aware, John and I have often compared this journey to jumping off a cliff without a parachute! We feel so supported by you all and look forward to introducing Nicole. As we landed last night, I couldn't help but think that her life has now been forever changed (for better or worse, jury is still out...). It is so strange to think that this little girl who lived on the other side of the world 2 weeks ago, is now sitting in our house! Thank you all so much!!
Friday, 20 July 2012
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Bye Bye Beijing!
Our last day in Beijing was busy, fun and a little sad as well. We started the day at Tiananmen Square. I always find it fascinating as there is so much history in that particular spot. The significance was lost on Alex but she did think that it was pretty neat to walk on bricks that were over 600 years old (hence the picture).
I am also pleased to announce that this historic square was also the spot where Alex totally mastered the art of the stand up toilet! I won't get into details but it was a monumental feat indeed! Nicole was completely bored by the whole thing and took the opportunity to take a snooze. We were able to get a family photo before she dozed off.
In the afternoon, our group had a goodbye party which consisted of a Chinese Meal and magic show. A good time was had by all... as with our last group, we have made some life long friends. Although we haven't been together that long, you somehow feel bonded.
Tonight we are packing up and getting prepared for the long trip home! While we are looking forward to getting home, we are a little sad to leave. This has been such an adventure... from Hong Kong to Nanchang to Beijing and of course getting our little Nicole!! Alex has learned so much about her birth country and has started to understand her own story. It is very strange to think that 5 years ago we were here having just got her and wondering how Alex would turn out and now are doing the same thing for Nicole. There is a saying that it very cliche in the adoption world but very fitting...
"An invisible Red Thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break"
Our little family sure isn't your ordinary nuclear family, and the road to get here has been long and certainly not easy but in retrospect has been worth it. I only wish that flights to China in July were a little less expensive!!
I'll write in a couple of days to let you all know how much, ahem... fun we had on the long flight home and then will update the blog to give medical updates on Nicole because frankly our daily lives are quite dull!
So until then, goodnight from China!!
I am also pleased to announce that this historic square was also the spot where Alex totally mastered the art of the stand up toilet! I won't get into details but it was a monumental feat indeed! Nicole was completely bored by the whole thing and took the opportunity to take a snooze. We were able to get a family photo before she dozed off.
In the afternoon, our group had a goodbye party which consisted of a Chinese Meal and magic show. A good time was had by all... as with our last group, we have made some life long friends. Although we haven't been together that long, you somehow feel bonded.
Tonight we are packing up and getting prepared for the long trip home! While we are looking forward to getting home, we are a little sad to leave. This has been such an adventure... from Hong Kong to Nanchang to Beijing and of course getting our little Nicole!! Alex has learned so much about her birth country and has started to understand her own story. It is very strange to think that 5 years ago we were here having just got her and wondering how Alex would turn out and now are doing the same thing for Nicole. There is a saying that it very cliche in the adoption world but very fitting...
"An invisible Red Thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break"
Our little family sure isn't your ordinary nuclear family, and the road to get here has been long and certainly not easy but in retrospect has been worth it. I only wish that flights to China in July were a little less expensive!!
I'll write in a couple of days to let you all know how much, ahem... fun we had on the long flight home and then will update the blog to give medical updates on Nicole because frankly our daily lives are quite dull!
So until then, goodnight from China!!
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
The Ups and Downs of Silk Worms
If you had asked me 24 hours ago about silk worms, I would have stated the obvious... they make silk. I know now that the average Joe worm makes a single strand of silk up to 1.3 km long AND that there are only 2 types of silk worms in China! I am filing this information in my "relatively useless but could be good for Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit" file. In re-reading this last sentence, I just realized that I am pretty sure that Jeopardy just got cancelled and I very rarely (OK never) play Trivial Pursuit.... Anyways, we visited the silk factory today and learned how to make silk. It was actually really interesting... Alex was particularly taken by the whole process and wanted us to buy her some silk worms so she could try and raise them! I made up a whole story that The Canadian Government wouldn't allow them in the country unless they were quarantined for 60 days, which is funny enough the lifespan of the average silk worm (another silkworm fact I learned). I am sure that there is a degree of truth in the story just maybe not all. Either way, she had fun learning to stretch it into a duvet. Maybe a career option down the road?? To avoid confusion, I am referring to Alex not me... I am not a huge fan of physical labor!
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the Pearl Market and yet more bargaining!
Nicole continues to adjust really well, it's hard to believe that we have only had her for 10 days. We are all getting used to people leaning in to see her in the stroller and staring. I am glad however, that she is too young to notice. A friend of mine told me over the last few months that once we met Nicole that we wouldn't even notice the cleft anymore... and she couldn't have been more right. Nicole has such an easy going, smiley personality that it is hard to believe that there is anyone who wouldn't be absolutely delighted by her.
Tomorrow is our last full day in China, hard to believe that 2.5 weeks has gone by so quickly. We are all looking forward to coming home and Alex is excited to show off her new sister. She did tell some new friends from our group tonight that we were going to come back in a few years to adopt another! I am pleased to report that John is recovering nicely after the Heimlich Maneuver was administered... Good Night!
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the Pearl Market and yet more bargaining!
Nicole continues to adjust really well, it's hard to believe that we have only had her for 10 days. We are all getting used to people leaning in to see her in the stroller and staring. I am glad however, that she is too young to notice. A friend of mine told me over the last few months that once we met Nicole that we wouldn't even notice the cleft anymore... and she couldn't have been more right. Nicole has such an easy going, smiley personality that it is hard to believe that there is anyone who wouldn't be absolutely delighted by her.
Tomorrow is our last full day in China, hard to believe that 2.5 weeks has gone by so quickly. We are all looking forward to coming home and Alex is excited to show off her new sister. She did tell some new friends from our group tonight that we were going to come back in a few years to adopt another! I am pleased to report that John is recovering nicely after the Heimlich Maneuver was administered... Good Night!
Monday, 16 July 2012
Panda Bears and Acrobats
Today was incredibly busy! We had the morning to ourselves, so we hopped into a cab to the Silk Market... a wonderful market filled with knock offs, Chinese souvenirs etc. It is all bartering and is so much fun to see how low you can get them to go. John and I have a whole good cop/ bad cop routine down and this morning we added a 3rd actress to our system... Miss Alex. Of course, being the only Caucasian couple with 2 Asian children kind of makes us targets but what do you do. Alex now knows the terms "opening price and lowest offer" and the power of walking away! She even started waving her hands at people saying "too much"! She might be a good negotiator one day. Nicole did her part and had the good sense to stay quiet in her stroller so we didn't lose our focus!
We made the afternoon a little more kid friendly and joined our group on a tour to the Beijing Zoo. It is an awesome zoo and we got to see the Pandas that they brought in for the 2008 Olympics. It's hard to believe that 4 years has passed
since!
Alex was thrilled to see the Pandas. I made a personal decision that if there is an afterlife and we have any choice as to what we can be, I am going to come back as a Panda. Honestly, there is so much fuss over them and they barely move, eat all day and are still considered adorable! Who wouldn't want that???? Nicole had her 1st Popsicle (John's idea...). I guess either way, Nicole will be spending so much time in an orthodontists office in the coming years, what's a few cavities to fill? She did enjoy it though - as she does with most food.
Alex also wanted me to post a picture of her with live and growing bamboo...
Tonight we went to see the Chinese Acrobats, the girls were both mesmerized by them... It really was awesome to watch, although seeing the acrobats hold themselves up on ropes or poles with one hand and contorted their bodies into pretzel like positions really makes one think about the years of intense training it must take to become one of these performers. Of course, now I am tired just thinking about it and am going to go back to daydreaming about my next life as a Panda Bear!
We made the afternoon a little more kid friendly and joined our group on a tour to the Beijing Zoo. It is an awesome zoo and we got to see the Pandas that they brought in for the 2008 Olympics. It's hard to believe that 4 years has passed
since!
Alex was thrilled to see the Pandas. I made a personal decision that if there is an afterlife and we have any choice as to what we can be, I am going to come back as a Panda. Honestly, there is so much fuss over them and they barely move, eat all day and are still considered adorable! Who wouldn't want that???? Nicole had her 1st Popsicle (John's idea...). I guess either way, Nicole will be spending so much time in an orthodontists office in the coming years, what's a few cavities to fill? She did enjoy it though - as she does with most food.
Alex also wanted me to post a picture of her with live and growing bamboo...
Tonight we went to see the Chinese Acrobats, the girls were both mesmerized by them... It really was awesome to watch, although seeing the acrobats hold themselves up on ropes or poles with one hand and contorted their bodies into pretzel like positions really makes one think about the years of intense training it must take to become one of these performers. Of course, now I am tired just thinking about it and am going to go back to daydreaming about my next life as a Panda Bear!
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Busy couple of days in Beijing!!,
Well, after a 24 hour hiatus... I'm back! We have internet but as we only have an ipad with us, only have access to WiFi in the lobby. QWe arrived in Beijing around noon yesterday. Nicole survived her first flight with no troubles, and even found the time to do a little light reading on the plane.
On our arrival in Beijing, we met up with around 15 other families, all Canadian who had adopted children of various ages (range from 13 Mths to 13.5 years old). It was very nice to see that the children all appeared to be quite well adjusted to their new families. We had a quick picture and than traveled by bus to the Summer Palace. Being Saturday afternoon in the summer, it was packed with people but beautiful nonetheless.
Today, we visited the Great Wall. This was a huge source of excitement for Alex who was absolutely blown away by the magnitude of it. It was very hot and of course we climbed it around noon because as everyone knows, it's way more fun to do strenuous climbs in the hottest part of the day! The girls were troopers, Alex was insistent that we climb as high as we could in the time we had... John carried Nicole who was really not impressed with the heat and crowds on the way up but emotionally turned herself off by falling asleep on the way down! Of course, I kept reminding John that carrying dead weight in extreme heat was a character building experience! I am not sure he agreed with me...
Tomorrow we visit the Beijing Zoo. There are Pandas there! In the evening we are going to see the Chinese Acrobats. My only hope is that it doesn't give Alex any ideas about twirling plates on sticks!!
On our arrival in Beijing, we met up with around 15 other families, all Canadian who had adopted children of various ages (range from 13 Mths to 13.5 years old). It was very nice to see that the children all appeared to be quite well adjusted to their new families. We had a quick picture and than traveled by bus to the Summer Palace. Being Saturday afternoon in the summer, it was packed with people but beautiful nonetheless.
Today, we visited the Great Wall. This was a huge source of excitement for Alex who was absolutely blown away by the magnitude of it. It was very hot and of course we climbed it around noon because as everyone knows, it's way more fun to do strenuous climbs in the hottest part of the day! The girls were troopers, Alex was insistent that we climb as high as we could in the time we had... John carried Nicole who was really not impressed with the heat and crowds on the way up but emotionally turned herself off by falling asleep on the way down! Of course, I kept reminding John that carrying dead weight in extreme heat was a character building experience! I am not sure he agreed with me...
Tomorrow we visit the Beijing Zoo. There are Pandas there! In the evening we are going to see the Chinese Acrobats. My only hope is that it doesn't give Alex any ideas about twirling plates on sticks!!
Friday, 13 July 2012
A Bitter Sweet Day
Today we went to visit Nicole's Foster Mother. It was the strangest experience I think that we have ever had. What we didn't realize when we asked to meet her is that it isn't encouraged by the orphanage and if the family insists, they charge an astronomical fee. Our translator arranged a secret meeting through an orphanage worker (for a small fee of course, but only about a third of what the orphanage fee would have been). We picked up the woman in a van about a block away from her home and drove to a remote spot nearby. She was clearly thrilled to see Nicole, who went right to her. She refused to even look at John or I or even Alex. We had researched some questions to ask so we weren't caught off guard and had written them down...even our guide looked surprised! Clearly they didn't know us!
We learned essentially what we already knew, that Nicole had been a very healthy baby with no concerns other than the cleft. We thanked her numerous times for taking such good care of Nicole, which was really the primary purpose for the visit. We were able to take some quick pictures of her (which I am not going to post as I suspect that she could lose her job if any authority found out). I felt so sad for her as she got out of the van and said goodbye to Nicole for the last time. I looked back as we were driving away, and she was watching the van go... I can only I imagine what was going through her head as this funny little girl who she had raised as her own for the last 18 months was being taken by strangers to the other side of the world.
The pics below show where Nicole was abandoned (on the front steps of the centre for the physically challenged) and of the orphanage, the others are of the city where Nicole lived up until Sunday. A very bitter sweet day indeed!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
We learned essentially what we already knew, that Nicole had been a very healthy baby with no concerns other than the cleft. We thanked her numerous times for taking such good care of Nicole, which was really the primary purpose for the visit. We were able to take some quick pictures of her (which I am not going to post as I suspect that she could lose her job if any authority found out). I felt so sad for her as she got out of the van and said goodbye to Nicole for the last time. I looked back as we were driving away, and she was watching the van go... I can only I imagine what was going through her head as this funny little girl who she had raised as her own for the last 18 months was being taken by strangers to the other side of the world.
The pics below show where Nicole was abandoned (on the front steps of the centre for the physically challenged) and of the orphanage, the others are of the city where Nicole lived up until Sunday. A very bitter sweet day indeed!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Large Ferris Wheels and Dancing Waters
Now that the excitement of getting Nicole has passed, I feel that I am boring you with details of our day to day activities. However, I am bound to family members to send pictures! All continues to go well, Nicole is proving to be a formidable opponent for Alex, and is no longer letting Alex drag her around... her little temper usually shows itself in the form of stamping feet or crying. In the next minute, she is smiling and happy, in my mind this could be a dangerous combination going forward! All kidding aside, it is good to see that she is a strong willed woman, she will join a long line of them as a member of our family!
Today we went on the worlds 2nd largest Ferris Wheel (it was the largest until Shanghai built one 5 meters taller). It was pretty neat! That was followed by a large dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, Alex ate the whole meal with chopsticks and used her first "stand up" toilet! We then went to see the Fountain Festival which is also called Dancing Waters, a whole water show put to music.
Tomorrow we are going to the town where Nicole was found and have arranged a visit with her foster mother. I find myself strangely indebted to this woman and am curious to see what the day brings! A demain!
demain!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Today we went on the worlds 2nd largest Ferris Wheel (it was the largest until Shanghai built one 5 meters taller). It was pretty neat! That was followed by a large dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, Alex ate the whole meal with chopsticks and used her first "stand up" toilet! We then went to see the Fountain Festival which is also called Dancing Waters, a whole water show put to music.
Tomorrow we are going to the town where Nicole was found and have arranged a visit with her foster mother. I find myself strangely indebted to this woman and am curious to see what the day brings! A demain!
demain!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
From McDonalds to Great Wall wine and back again
The good news of today (from Alex's perspective) is that we found a McDonalds. To her defense, she has tried all sorts of new food on this trip ranging from octopus, anchovies (the actual fish),oysters and numerous varieties of Noodle soup. We tried to convince her to eat eel last night but that is where she drew the line.
We were walking through a supermarket today and am pleased to advise that I found Great Wall wine... For those of you reading from Alex's adoption group, you will laugh at this. This a wine we enjoyed with our travel group 5 years ago and have all been trying to find since!
Today we went to visit a Buddhist temple and a local park. The culture is so fascinating and it is really neat to see Alex taking it all in. I should add that it is about 45 degrees celsius here! Nicole continues to delight us. She sleeps solidly through the night and is very good natured. We have started calling her Mo as her hair cut kind of makes her look like one of the 3 stooges! Luckily she doesn't understand a word we say or she might be offended!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
We were walking through a supermarket today and am pleased to advise that I found Great Wall wine... For those of you reading from Alex's adoption group, you will laugh at this. This a wine we enjoyed with our travel group 5 years ago and have all been trying to find since!
Today we went to visit a Buddhist temple and a local park. The culture is so fascinating and it is really neat to see Alex taking it all in. I should add that it is about 45 degrees celsius here! Nicole continues to delight us. She sleeps solidly through the night and is very good natured. We have started calling her Mo as her hair cut kind of makes her look like one of the 3 stooges! Luckily she doesn't understand a word we say or she might be offended!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, 9 July 2012
Princess Alex and other things
Well, we now have hard proof of what we already knew... Alex is a Chinese princess and we have pictures to prove it!
Yesterday was spent in a Chinese police station (no... I was not arrested). Just some documentation for Nicole's passport. This morning we visited a local temple which dates back to 623 AD. As Alex aptly put it (very loudly) "Wow, that's older then Grandma!" For the record, she didn't specify which one.
Nicole continues to adjust very well. She slept solidly through the night and continues to show her sunny disposition. She seems to have a stubborn streak and wants to walk on her own without holding hands. Luckily we are used to stubborn children! Alex continues to dote on her and is very protective of her. We were in a grocery store and a lady behind us was staring at Nicole, Alex turned around and glared at her and let me tell you if looks could kill.... Alex gets her fair share of stares and people wanting to talk to her and touch her (one lady started patting her back). We notice that a lot of men stare as well. We are probably being a little overly paranoid, and try to be polite while also keeping her close. We are also becoming excellent traffic dodgers! Crossing the street here is like playing a human game of Frogger!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Yesterday was spent in a Chinese police station (no... I was not arrested). Just some documentation for Nicole's passport. This morning we visited a local temple which dates back to 623 AD. As Alex aptly put it (very loudly) "Wow, that's older then Grandma!" For the record, she didn't specify which one.
Nicole continues to adjust very well. She slept solidly through the night and continues to show her sunny disposition. She seems to have a stubborn streak and wants to walk on her own without holding hands. Luckily we are used to stubborn children! Alex continues to dote on her and is very protective of her. We were in a grocery store and a lady behind us was staring at Nicole, Alex turned around and glared at her and let me tell you if looks could kill.... Alex gets her fair share of stares and people wanting to talk to her and touch her (one lady started patting her back). We notice that a lot of men stare as well. We are probably being a little overly paranoid, and try to be polite while also keeping her close. We are also becoming excellent traffic dodgers! Crossing the street here is like playing a human game of Frogger!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Day 2 in Nanchang
Today it became official, I think. As we did with Alex, we had the family picture for the government, signed a lot of documents (in Chinese so who the heck knows what we signed) and met with officials.
Nicole is fitting in really well, she slept through the night and we are discovering she has a wonderful, easy going personality. Alex gets her laughing very easily and she loves to giggle. She has a very good appetite and we are "testing" her to see how she eats. She more or less seems to have it figured out, including wiping her own mouth (John was very pleased to see that). Alex continues to be entranced with her little sister.
We are now off to sign more documents but thought I would update to include more pics.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Nicole is fitting in really well, she slept through the night and we are discovering she has a wonderful, easy going personality. Alex gets her laughing very easily and she loves to giggle. She has a very good appetite and we are "testing" her to see how she eats. She more or less seems to have it figured out, including wiping her own mouth (John was very pleased to see that). Alex continues to be entranced with her little sister.
We are now off to sign more documents but thought I would update to include more pics.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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