Goodbye Beijing

Tonight we say goodbye to Beijing. Our flight to Guangzhou is at 9:15 tomorrow morning. We are all ready to move on to the next phase which brings us one step closer to home! I am feeling much better and have not had a temperature all day however my dad has been suffering all day from a head cold and the dreaded diarrhea. He had a fever throughout most of the day but it is back to normal…for now. Aiden also seems to be starting to have the dreaded diarrhea as well. My mom refuses to catch any of it but she just realized that she had been sharing some of her drinks with Aiden. And who can resist kissing that sweet boy!!!

Today my mom and I went to the Hongqiao market. I had a great time haggling with the vendors which is kind of out of nature for me. My mom is usually the haggler and always manages to get the best bargains. Upon entering the market, I guess I quickly snapped into the game. The place was not crowded at all and we were just magnets as we walked by each booth. One of the first vendors we lingered at was quite aggressive and actually cornered me in his booth and then grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go of me so that I could leave. All in all it was fun though with everyone saying “hey lady…just looking” instead of “hey lady, come look”!

I am definitely ready to leave Beijing…we all are. I will always remember this city fondly as the place where I finally met my beautiful son. I know in my heart that he is just perfect and was meant to be mine. So, so long Beijing but a part of you will always be with us….

Long Corridor

Montezuma's Revenge

Sorry I haven’t posted sooner but I feel like I have been on my death bed the past two days. We went to the Summer Palace on Monday and I was feeling achy. Then my stomach started churning occasionally and from there it went downhill quickly. I had a somewhat mild fever Monday night and then Tuesday morning I felt a little better and went down to breakfast. I decided to not go on Tuesday’s excursion because I was still feeling weak and I didn’t want anyone else to get it. By Tuesday night my fever jumped to over 103 degrees. I thought I was going to get a “special tour” of a Beijing emergency room. I probably should have gone – it was one of the few times in my life I have been that sick. It’s bad enough to be sick at home but really frightening to be that sick in a different country where you do not speak the language. Needless to say, it was a long night. I stayed in the room today too and have had a mild fever all day today as well. I do feel much better and most of the vomiting and diarrhea has ceased. I am hoping that no one else gets it and that my fever returns to normal soon. We are supposed to fly to Guangzhou Friday morning and we do NOT want to miss that flight!!! We should get Aiden’s passport tomorrow and then have to apply for his visa in Guangzhou. His American Consulate appointment is November 2nd. We cannot afford any delays and are anxiously waiting our return to the United States!!!

The Summer Palace was a beautiful place other than the bathrooms (I’ll include a photo). The lake there was very pretty and the buildings beautiful. The grounds also had what is known as the “longest corridor”. And it was long! There was also a longevity rock (boulder) and what is known as the “bankrupt” rock because it bankrupted the emperor who moved it there. I had already taken a photo of the bankrupt rock before our guide “highly recommended” that we not photograph it because it is thought to bring bad luck. So I am now blaming the bankrupt rock for my recent illness - I think I will delete that picture NOW!

My parents went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City yesterday. There was a lot of walking and climbing stairs so I am glad I opted to stay in the room with Aiden. He was a really good boy while momma was in complete misery. I’ll admit I have already done the one thing I hoped not to do as a parent – I parked him in front of the DVD player all morning and replayed the same videos over and over again. Poor kid! At least it kept him entertained and he kept me entertained dancing to the videos!

Today we all stayed in and did not go on the tour. I had my second favorite meal since I‘ve been here – Ramen noodles this afternoon (the Fruity Pebbles I had this morning were not a big hit with my stomach). I believe they went to Beihai Park and saved the shopping trip for tomorrow so that I could hopefully go. It’s one of the things I was looking forward to – SHOPPING! I briefly thought about dragging myself out this morning, fever and all, just to go shopping. I hope and pray that I feel up to going tomorrow. And I definitely hope that I am better before Friday morning because the airports have thermal heat sensing devices to detect people with fevers. They are taking the swine flu very seriously here.

Wish us lots of luck over the next few days because we are really looking forward to moving on to Guangzhou and then home. Home sweet home!!!

Ahhhh...

So we finally were able to switch rooms after going back and forth with the front desk and housekeeping. It is a world of difference! It is not cold in here by any means but it is at least comfortable. And it is quiet...really quiet. Our room before was on the 9th floor facing the main road and the morning sun. We had to open our windows to try to cool it down so you got a lot of the smog and you could hear honking all night long. We finally got our guide involved to get our room moved. We are only just across the hall but it is so much better! We are all a little less cranky! And we are feeling rambunctious and going to try to cook hot dogs and baked beans in the hot pot tonight! Wish us luck – we are sick of eating McDonald’s and Subway.

Friday we went to the Lama Temple. It was beautiful! People go there and light three incenses and then make their prayers. I felt like we were invading at times but it was neat to see. After we got back, my dad and I went and picked up McDonald’s for dinner. There were several street vendors out trying to sell their goods, anything from jewelry and fruit to adorable puppies that were certainly not old enough to leave their mother. I do see people with dogs here so I am hoping they are going to be someone’s pets! When we came out of McDonald’s, it looked like the local police were making them pack up.

Saturday was our “free” day and the only time we left our hotel room was for breakfast downstairs and to get bread for our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (which were wonderful by the way and probably one of the best meals I’ve eaten here). Otherwise, we just played peacefully in our room.

Today, Sunday, we went to the Beijing zoo. The zoo paled in comparison to anything we have in the United States. There were several pandas and their exhibits were fairly nice. The big cats though were a different story. The outside exhibits were decent but the inside exhibit was nothing more than small cells for such big beautiful creatures. And there was absolutely no fresh water for any of them! It definitely appeared that the pandas were their top priority! We also saw a nice enclosure of monkeys with several babies. The zoo also had two bears, several wolves and some other animals that I’ve never seen before. All in all, it was nice but they seriously need to make some upgrades and add some bigger exhibits for the animals.

Aiden continues to be a really sweet boy. He is absolutely a love! The only trouble I am having with him is at naptime and bedtime. He is not a happy camper when it is time to lie down. I think he is just having so much fun with all of his new toys and us that he just doesn’t want his time to end! And what kid likes bedtime??? I do believe it will be a little easier to put him to bed when he is in his own room at home. Everyone is all in the same room here so I think it makes it a little harder. Last night I hid in the bathroom to see if he’d stop crying with me not being around but it didn’t work that well either. What a difference from the first day when he would just cry silently. Now we are up to full blown crying!!! I liked the silent crying better but he is displaying more normal two year old behavior now.

Aiden is a little mimic and loves to copy what everyone is doing. He loves to dance and has a newfound fascination with the bathroom. He can say “hi”, “momma” and is an expert at blowing kisses. He is a real entertainer and loves it when people are paying attention to him. He will go up to complete strangers and give them hugs and kisses. I have gotten a couple of comments that my son “looks Chinese” and that he has my “face” and that he is “fair” like me. At least two people here thought he was my biological son and that his father was Chinese. It is funny to me to think that Chinese people think that this beautiful Chinese boy was born to this blonde haired and blue eyed woman. I do think he kind of looks like one of the Gosselin kids though….hmm… has Jon Gosselin been to China???

Tomorrow we are headed to the Summer Palace. Depending on the weather, we may get to take a little boat ride across the lake that is there. It is supposed to be a beautiful place. I’ll take pictures and let you know!

Great Wall

Today has been a long day visiting a jade factory, a cloisonné factory and the Great Wall of China. I think we are all really tired and reaching our breaking point. Aiden did not get a nap today and we are paying the price now. I tried laying him down for a nap close to 5 p.m. but abandoned the idea after he cried and screamed for probably a good 20 minutes. He has definitely been pushing the limits today. I am still walking a fine line with knowing when to discipline him at this point. It’s definitely a different concept to think about disciplining a child you have only had for five days and you are still trying to bond with…however I do not want to let him get away with everything either. He is REALLY a good baby and considering he did not have a nap, he was still REALLY a good baby….laughing all day and flirting with all of the sales ladies. The adults are just as tired and cranky as well. This hotel is not really living up to our expectations. Every time housekeeping comes in, we manage to get 1-2 clean towels for 4 of us and they have not yet once in the week that we have been here replaced our glasses with clean glasses. The air conditioning is not working and housekeeping keeps closing our windows. It has been frustrating! And don’t even get me started on the comfort of the beds….it is equivalent to putting your fluffiest bath towel on the garage floor and sleeping on that. Needless to say, we are all looking forward to getting home.

On the fun side, we did get to do some tourist stuff today. The jade factory was amazing. The detail and effort that is put into each carving is amazing. Some of them take years to complete. We also got Aiden a jade stamp with his Chinese name engraved on it. We then went to the Great Wall. It was magnificent! We obviously didn’t go to the top. We climbed a few short flights where the shops were and that was enough! The steps are steep and uneven and I didn’t want to fall while carrying Aiden. It was really pretty though and something I’ve wanted to see for a long time. After the Great Wall, we went to a cloisonné factory where they make detailed copper vases and then of course traditional Chinese food for lunch. Onto to the Lama Temple tomorrow and off to bed now!

Paperwork...Paperwork

The past two days have been busy ones. Yesterday we went shopping and visited the local Pizza Hut for lunch. We were hoping to be able to buy some long pants for Aiden since it is cooler here however Carafour did not have much in the ways of children’s clothes. So much for packing lightly…I should have just followed my instincts to pack everything!!! We only have one pair of jeans (that are too big) and the long jogging pants he was in when they delivered him from the orphanage. After the shopping trip, we went to the Pizza Hut and brought a pizza back to the hotel. We spent the rest of the day in the hotel. It’s a little frightening to travel too far from the hotel with the language barrier. We are afraid of not being able to get back!!!

Today we had to go back to the Civil Affairs Office to pick up the final paperwork for Aiden’s adoption. I guess we held things up because they managed to spell his name wrong…I figured they would spell Aiden wrong but it was actually his middle name that was wrong – the name he was given by the orphanage! We then headed to the Notary’s Office to have everything notarized and after we went to the police station to get his passport photo taken. We did a lot of waiting around at all of our stops – no easy feat with a two year old! We did encounter some friendly faces while waiting for his passport photo. There were some people sitting across from us who offered Aiden, my mom and I some cookies. As we were waiting, the man asked if Aiden was my son. When I replied that he was, he said “he looks Chinese”. I said he did look Chinese and he then asked if his father was Chinese. I then explained about his adoption and he asked several more questions and overall was one of the friendliest people we have encountered outside of our hotel. He was quite informative as well – I hated to leave. I’m sure we could have tapped his ear for a while and he seemed just as interested in us. His English was great!

Tonight Aiden and I went to an acrobatic show with the other family that is here. It was interesting and finally a glimpse into some of the Chinese culture. Aiden loved the show and it held his attention until the end.

Aiden continues to be a real sweetheart! Day by day we are seeing more of his personality emerge. He has gone from a little boy who would sit in one position all day without moving much to a boy who is blossoming and exploring his surroundings. We are also starting to see some of that two year old personality emerge as well. I think he is feeling more and more secure each day that we are not going to give him back although he did NOT seem to be happy to see the director of the orphanage today. He still displays evidence of some of his “survival skills” for the past two years of his life such as rocking himself occasionally and so far he’s had two short episodes of night terrors (or just plain not knowing where he is). Otherwise he is progressing well and is extremely good natured. He loves to laugh and make you laugh. He loves to be tickled and he is a real flirt with the ladies too! And man can this kid eat!!!

Tomorrow is the Great Wall! It’s the one thing I have really been looking forward to. Up until now, we haven’t really had a chance to do much in Beijing other than paperwork. Now that most of that is finished we get to finally see some of this city! That’s all for now and I’ll try to send pictures from our trip to the Great Wall tomorrow!

What a Smile!

The First Days

Things are going well on our end here in China. It was a long trip…very long. After only getting about two hours of sleep Thursday night, we were at TIA by 6:30 a.m. Our flight from Tampa to Washington Dulles was a short one. We left For China around 12:40 p.m. Friday afternoon and arrived in Beijing at 2:00 a.m. Florida time (2:00 p.m. Saturday Beijing time). We finally went through Customs, picked up our baggage and then went to the hotel. It was quite an interesting ride…the traffic here is erratic. You are taking your life into your own hands as a pedestrian here. It was straight to bed after that.

We met Aiden Guoqing in the lobby of the hotel at 9:30 a.m. He went to me right away and I had him laughing within minutes. He is very ticklish and I just love his smile! Day one went smoothly. He was very quiet but has an extremely sweet personality. And oh what an eater!!! I don’t think I have ever seen a child eat SO much! He’ll eat almost anything you put in front of him…and a lot of it! And as a result, I have changed several massively nasty diapers! He also had his first taste of McDonald’s although I don’t think he cared much for it and he really didn’t like his sip of Coke and immediately spit it all back out. After lunch, we had to have some pictures taken for his paperwork.

It’s now Monday and he is still the same sweet little boy. He had a crying spell last night when he woke up. I am not sure if he had a bad dream or just didn’t realize where he was. It was over pretty quickly and I am hoping that was the one and only! He has been much more interactive today. And he is really enjoying Lisa’s DVD player and his Sesame Street videos. It’s cute to see him dancing to the music. We went to the Civil Affairs office to finalize some paperwork and officially make me his momma. Tomorrow we will get to do some shopping and he has to have his TB test done in the afternoon. We’ll probably have a few tears after that but I’m sure they’ll clear up quickly.

All in all we are having lots of fun with Aiden. He is quite cute and I am just in love with him! And I can’t believe we get to keep him!!!

Our first family video...LOL...

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

The Birthday Boy!!

I am wishing my SON a very happy second birthday!!! Only 17 more days until I am holding you in my arms singing you Happy Birthday myself!!! As we continue to prepare to bring you into our lives, I hope that you will know how much you are already loved! I want nothing more than for you to have a wonderful life that is full of happiness and love. Happy birthday Aiden!!! Mommy will be there soon!