The Latest on Jenny Mei

Our agency contacted Jenny's SWI (Social Welfare Institute, or orphanage) last week for an update on her growth and progress. She sounds like a lot of fun, and we are really ready to meet her and to get to know each other.

Here are her latest stats (as of mid-March):

• 75.5 cm/29.72 inches tall (from 74 cm in January)--our pediatrician says she's gonna be a tall one!
  
• 9.9 kg/21.83 lbs weight (up from 9.5 kg)
  
• 48 cm/18.9 inches chest (from 47)
• 12 cm/4.72 inches foot length--I have no idea what size this is--does anyone else???
• 10 teeth! (up from 7)--expect lots of drooling
  

Dave estimates at her rate of growth that she'll still be in size 12 mo clothing (US sizes), but only just, when we get her in May. Of course, we have no idea how accurate any of this is. So we'll be packing two sizes- 12 and 18 months.

Her development report tells us we have a lively little girl. Some excerpts:

The orphanage director says she's called "Mei Mei" by the staff, and that she's active, can be noisey, loves to go outside (uh oh--escape risk), loves music and wiggles to it (Baby Loves Disco, here we come), enjoys baby TV (teletubbies, Barney), and can pack away a full bowl of congee in one sitting. She also reportedly really enjoys baths (and playing in the water), and playing patty cake. He describes her as seeking and enjoying interaction with both adults and other children--real social butterfly. She's walking with help, and can stand on her own.

She lives in Suixi, which is a city located about 250 miles southwest of Hong Kong. As Dave says, she's about midway between Guangzhou and Hanoi! Suixi is a crossroads town in Suixi County on the Leizhou peninsula. That peninsula separates the Gulf of Tonkin from the South China Sea. Hainan island is just off of the tip of the peninsula. The peninsula was part of French Indochina (just like Viet Nam, which is just over 150 miles down the coast).

We understand that the area is quite rural, except for the large (by American standards) nearby port city of Zhanjiang, which has a population of 7 million.

The SWI appears to be very nice, from pictures taken by other families, below.







We will meet Jenny in Guangzhou, not in Suixi, so we will not see where she has lived unless we take the 5 hour side-trip from Guangzhou, which we are considering. She will definitely determine whether we do or not.

Surefire Siu Mai

Those of you familiar with the tradition of Dim Sum will recognize the delicacy in the title above as a standard for dim sum fare.

Dave and I learned how to cook chinese food during our 2 year wait. Following our November trip to Hawaii, where we had exquisite dim sum at a very well known chinese restaurant (Legends Seafood), we have rediscovered Siu Mai as a favorite snack.

Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking (of PBS fame) has a fabulous recipe for siu mai made with ground chicken. Lighter and less greasy than the pork versions, which are more common, they are simply delicious with the homemade mustard sauce also described in the book.

We thought we'd share Martin Yan's recipe with all of you. I recommend the book highly, and it is available through Amazon (link at left) and local booksellers. His books are also available through his website, Yan Can Cook.

Surefire Siu Mai
(makes 25 to 30 dumplings)

from Martin Yan’s Chinatown Cooking, ( c 2002 by A La Carte Communications)

For the filling:
2 dried black mushrooms
1 lb ground chicken
¼ c. minced bamboo shoots
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 green onion, trimmed and minced
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
½ tsp minced ginger
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp sesame oil
pinch of ground white pepper

30 siu mai wrappers (these are round; you can also use wonton wrappers)
3 Tbls grated carrot
2 Tbls frozen peas, thawed
lettuce leaves or napa cabbage leaves

Mustard-Soy Dipping Sauce

1. Pour enough warm water over the mushrooms in a small bowl to cover completely. Let soak until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain mushrooms, discard stems, and mince caps.
2. Make the filling: Stir the ground chicken, bamboo shoots, egg, green onion, soy sauce, salt, ginger, sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil, pepper, and mushrooms together in a bowl until thoroughly combined and spongy.
3. Make the dumplings: Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center or a siu mai wrapper. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.) Bring the sides of the wrapper together, bunching them around the filling and smoothing any pleats. Flatten the bottom of the dumpling by tapping against a firm surface, and squeeze the sides of the dumpling gently so the filling plumps out of the top. Place a few shreds of carrot and a pea in the filling. Set the dumpling on a baking sheet and repeat. Keep the formed dumplings covered with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.
4. Prepare a wok (or large pan) for steaming. Line a steaming basket with lettuce leaves. Arrange half the dumplings, without touching one another, in the basket. Cover and steam over high heat until the filling is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
5. Transfer the dumplings to a serving platter and cover with foil, shiny side down, to keep them warm while you steam the remaining dumplings. Serve the dumplings warm with the dipping sauce.
   

Mustard-Soy Dipping Sauce

Stir together 4 teaspoons mustard powder (Coleman’s is good) and 4 teaspoons distilled white vinegar in a small bowl until smooth. Add ¼ cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons honey, 2 teaspoons rice vinegar, and 1 tsp chili sauce (or chili garlic sauce), and whisk until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to develop the flavors. Refrigerate up to 1 week, and bring to room temperature before serving.

Care Package

We spent the last several days putting together a care package for our daughter. (See contents, at left)

Care packages usually include gifts for your child, gifts for her caretakers, and a small donation for the Social Welfare Institution and the other children.

Lots of families also include disposable cameras, with a letter requesting SWI staff to document details of their son's or daughter's life, from play, to special friends, to primary caretakers, to the SWI itself. It's a wonderful window into the child's life before they came into yours. The hope and expectation is that the little ones will have a visual record of their earliest days, before adoption.

Many parents also include a list of questions for caretakers, we've learned. Questions about their child's likes and dislikes, what calms them, what foods are their favorites, whether they were left with a note or other object by their birth parent(s), and anything else the caretaker or foster parent would want their new family to know, to help new parents understand their children's needs better. Many families have received answers back that have helped them understand better how to help their wee ones through the difficult transition of separation and reattachment.

We included (pictured at top):

• A photo album with pictures of Jenny and her new family--us. The SWI staff will show this to Jenny in the weeks before we travel, so that when we meet her she will recognize us. We included her referral photo, shots of her new mom and dad (labeled so, in Chinese), a picture of her room, her new pets (so no surprises!), her grandparents, and a virtual family portrait, taken the day we received Jenny's referral package.
  
• For Jenny, a bilingual English/Mandarin story book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a teething rattle/puzzle, and a soft blanket from Granny Rankin. We also added a terry washcloth. We learned from other parents that terry is a common material for soothing blankets, and that kids attach to towels and wash cloths, once they get back to the hotels.
  
• For the caretakers, nail polish, candy and fish oil caplets. Yes, seems odd to us, but these items are hard to find in China and therefore much appreciated.
• Cotton and polartec sleepers, a donation to the communal clothing supply for the other children. We don't really know what they need or want most, but hope to get a better idea for the future. We expect to donate to Jenny's SWI regularly in the future.
  
• Disposable cameras, with a letter asking the staff to take photos and return the camera on the day we meet our daughter (see note below).
  

We also included a list of questions for the caretakers.

Of all the tasks we've had to complete since getting Jenny's picture, this was by far the most fun and the most thought-provoking. We have learned so much in the past 7 days about how the Chinese view gift-giving and donations, the Chinese language, what things are valuable and which are not. Gift giving traditions mark a culture; to learn about another place is to understand how to give gifts and how to receive them. Jenny, of course, is the greatest gift we will ever receive, from China or anywhere else. We are just beginning to learn the proper way to show our gratitude for her.

May We Introduce...

Jenny!

Dave received a phone call at work on Monday morning. Our agency director called to tell us that our referral had arrived! While not exactly a complete surprise, it arrived without warning or advanced notice. I think that it's fair to say that our agency was about as shocked as we were. Given the misadventures we're had getting the paperwork together, all of us were trying to manage our expectations for this month--hoping to learn our schedule, not daring to expect this!

None of our information had yet been translated, so we pieced together what we could from the file. It was a very exciting call!

What we know so far is this.

She is called Sui Mei Min. Sui (her last name) is from the county where she was found. Mei (her first name) means beautiful. Min (her middle name) means smart or alert. We'll likely call her Jenny Mei (watch this space to see how often we change our minds!)

She was born on (or near) December 9, 2006.

As of January 11, she weighs 9.5 kilos (about 21 lbs), stood 74 cm tall (about 30 inches). She appears to be very healthy, although we'll know more after we have her records reviewed by a real doctor.

She is described as an extrovert, talkative, has a "ready smile," likes music and toys, is active, imitates sounds, and (we love this one) knows the meaning of the word 'NO' (caps in original). Apparently she not only knows the meaning, but has her own views about authority. (Our parents must love reading this). If those of you who have daughters from China wouldn't mind, please use the comments to let us know how well these forms described your daughters!

Needless to say, we are very, very happy.

She is at the Suixi County Social Welfare Institute in Guangdong Province. We think that this is near Suixi City, south of Guangzhou. If anyone knows of it, leave us a comment!

So, what happens next?

Paperwork, of course. We're off to get new fingerprints tomorrow. Then we start signing forms. Then compile some more paper.

Our agency thinks we'll travel in early May. We're very excited to have come this far.

More later.