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!
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