The Big Wait

Dragon Boat Races

2009-07-30T09:46:00.008-05:00

We made our annual trek to Tom Ping Park in Chinatown to watch the dragon boat races with Jenny. (We got a very late start, so we missed most of our FCC friends unfortunately. See you next year.)

What a difference a year makes. Jenny and mom in July 2008:

Jenny and mom in July 2009:

This year Jenny could count along with the drummers, who keep the boat teams rowing in unison. She used her Puffs container to keep the beat.

She also took a keen interest in the playground this year. She is a very active kid, and loves to climb and to hang from jungle gyms. Her dad is teaching her how. She'll be ready for the preschool ropes course soon!

Changes...

2009-07-14T21:01:00.006-05:00

July 2009

July 2008

July 2009

July 2008

It's another summer, and we are reminded daily of the changes in Jenny from a year ago, when we first came home from China. We played ball in the yard this past weekend, and I kept thinking of the short little wee one who played with such gusto a year ago. Now Jenny talks while she hurls the ball. Some of her best phrases: "gooo, daddy," or "my do it," or "camera" (sounds just like "grandma," so mom is often confused about the topic of conversations).

At the Zoo

2009-06-15T20:02:00.004-05:00

In April, after Easter, we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. We saw some animals, had lunch, rode the Carousel, and then spent some quality time running wide open in one of the green spaces in the park. We saw Jenny start to leave toddlerhood behind, running instead like a big girl, all grown up. Really something.

Here, in pictures...

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T17:28:00.005-05:00

Our first Easter with Jenny, lots of fun. The Easter Bunny was very good to our daughter. She found plastic eggs with lots of sparkly hair clips in them,

a wind-up chick, which Jenny is following across the living room table...

and hidden inside all that green grass..

some sparkly bead bracelets, also hidden inside an Easter egg...

After brunch with bunny bao, and a vain attempt at a nap (no way mom), we went out into the backyard for an Easter Egg Hunt. Jenny did really well tracking down all those brightly colored eggs. She packed them into her special "Peeps" easter bag, a very thoughtful gift from Kristen's colleague whose family--Chinese--comes from the same region as Jenny does.

Most exciting of all, we've discovered that we have our own batch of easter bunnies nesting just off of our back porch. Jenny and I saw momma bunny working on the nest a week ago. Momma stays close in the yard, and the nest has lots of rabbit down, but we haven't seen her near it since. The pile of grass, leaves and moss that marks the nest, however, does move from time to time, so we know the wee bunnies are inside. The cats' keen interest is another give away.

Happy Easter, everyone. Spring is really, finally here. Hurrah!

Bunny Bao

2009-04-12T17:12:00.002-05:00

In preparation for Easter, we learned how to make bunny-shaped steamed buns, dim-sum style. Bunny Bao. Dave found the recipe on the internet in 2007, and we've been planning an Easter dim sum feast ever since. They are WONDERFUL!

Recipe features a yeast dough that rises for an hour, then rests for 15 minutes after the dough is cut into separate pieces. The buns are filled with scrambled egg and bacon with chives. Yum! We steamed them in a traditional two-tier bamboo steamer.

These are scenes from the week before Easter, our first run-through. Jenny thought they were good. This morning, when we made them for Easter brunch, she was even more excited to have bunnies on her plate!

Domestic life, and blowin the stink off

2009-03-29T10:14:00.009-05:00

We continue to see signs of development from Jenny. She is now caught up from the delays that are typical of institutionalized kids, and is a typical toddler.

Jenny has enjoyed the kitchen cupboards since our first days home. First, she liked unpacking them; then came unpacking and repacking; then came the challenge of putting the lids on the tupperware containers; and now, she's into size sequencing. We came out to the kitchen recently, and Jenny was lining up the pots and pans in increasing size, and sizing lids to pans. Cool. Mommy enjoys doing that too.

Jenny's hair is growing longer and longer (remember that original spikey doo we all loved?). Mom finally was able to get pig-tails to work. (Daddy calls them horns-- she is a typical toddler). Between these and her new hair bands, Jenny is turning into a real fashion plate.

In other news, Jenny has a new "big girl" bed. Daddy put this together (it's the allen wrench and brute force kind of bed) and this is Jenny's first try getting in. As you can tell, she absolutely loves it. We got it for her after three consecutive mornings of unartful escapes from her crib--the kind of escape with the thud-pause-sob-at-6AM feature. Now she is a free range toddler. Heaven help us.

Jenny also enjoyed her first package of Ramen noodles recently. Jenny is at that stage where she is fairly picky about what she eats: even with the old standbys--some days she likes it, some days she doesn't. So we always feel a little triumphant when we successfully introduce a new food.

We spent one of the nice early spring days at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It was great to get outside and, as the title of the post says, blow the proverbial stink off. It's been a long winter. (Three inches of more snow today is predicted, but it should melt fast.) Jenny loves to walk (or run) through the gardens. The small walls around beds and stair cases were a special treat. There was not much to see in the way of blooming plants, but we had fun anyway.

We can't wait for warmer weather!

Spring Fever Hits...Hard

2009-03-08T10:54:00.006-05:00

Ah, in more ways than one. Jenny had a very mild case of walking pneumonia last weekend. Mom discovered this when Jenny woke up from nap with a fever of 103, flushed. Mom's first panic. One antibiotic and one albuteral inhaler later, she is back in the saddle. Mom and dad are still trying to catch up on sleep.

Another milestone from last weekend, Jenny learned how to climb OUT of her crib. She is getting out of bed every morning now, so yesterday mommy, daddy and Jenny went shopping for a toddler bed. Today, Jenny is having her first nap in her very own first bed! Very exciting!!!

And why is Jenny getting out of bed? To go potty. Yep, we are well into it, and she is doing great! She has a little potty of her own, but she also has a Baby Bjorn potty insert for the big toilet, which she prefers. She stays dry some, maybe most, days. Number 2, however, is not making it there yet. We have watched Elmo's Potty Time DVD together, very catchy tunes, mom enjoys as much as--no, more than--Jenny. We also found a cool book featuring Angus the Answer Dog, who answers all sorts of VERY interesting questions about going potty, including where all that stuff in the toilet goes when you flush (pipes and sewers), and why food that goes into you looks so different from the used food that comes out. Thank goodness for kid's books on potty training; otherwise, mom and dad would be clueless about what to do!

Last but not least, we had our first visit to the park since Winter descended. Only the big kid's equipment will do for our rambunctious daughter. Jenny did the stairs and the twisty slide on Friday over and over and over. She had a ball, and mom felt much more energized after some outdoors time.

After a Long Hiatus

2009-03-01T15:29:00.003-06:00

We are back....

Those of you with children, especially small children, already knew what we have learned over the past 7 months. Life is incredibly busy with small children.

What a whirlwind. Since last posting, we have celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, Jenny's 2nd birthday, Christmas and Chinese New Years. We have taken Jenny on her first 2 long road trips. We have shipped off our very first hand me-downs (what a strange passage). Jenny has met almost her entire new family. She has experienced snow for the very first time. We have started potty training. We've all survived (so far) her first real fever. And as February turns into March, we are looking forward to our first real Spring together. Family Day (adoption day) is only 3 months away. Hard to imagine.

Jenny is in daycare 4 days a week. She has thrived there, and we are very impressed with, and grateful for, the quality of the school and its staff. Kristen works part-time, still at hospice, and Dave is still at the Fund. We have our first black President (Kristen was lobbying in Springfield back when Barak was an Illinois state senator), and our first recession/depression since the 1970s. Life is wholly changed, yet most of the details remain the same. So far.

Dave and I spent our fall creating memories for Jenny, and creating photographic and video records of our many firsts in a form other than blog. I've missed all of our blog friends, and the far flung family of other foreign and chinese adoptive families. Even if we haven't been in touch, we think of all of you often.

Here, without much more editorial, are highlights from the fall.
First haircut...

A fall visit to the Dunes...

A visit with Uncle Erik (at Ryerson Woods)...

For Halloween, Jenny was a pirate...

6:00 am departure for Columbus...

With Aunt Maria on Thanksgiving...

Jenny turned two...

Christmas in Detroit with Grandma Kitty...

Celebrating the Year of the Ox...

Snow day with Daddy...

Learning to Climb....Everything!

2008-09-27T14:39:00.003-05:00

...Even walls!

In the last 3-4 weeks, our daughter has discovered that she can scramble up all sorts of surfaces, just like a goat (she loves goats). She has learned that "highchair" is simply another word for "step stool," very handy for exploring those intriguing kitchen drawers.

The crib--the final frontier--can be scaled (however inelegantly) but getting back down is rather a different matter. Once in, Jenny finds that saying "up, up" to Mommy pretty much takes care of that problem.

I should have known this was coming when, mid-summer, Jenny climbed the steep steps on the big kids' play set at Lovelace Park. She wanted to try, I figured "no way she'll make it," but I'd let her figure that out by trying. But nooooooo, she climbed up one step at a time with mom steadying her.

I can hardly deny her the pleasures of high adventure--I still have fond memories of scaling the built in bookcases in our house in Detroit as a toddler. It does mean that mommy and daddy have become much more vigilant with Jenny. I know, I know, there's more to come...

Suixi Sisters

2008-08-21T21:32:00.003-05:00

In July, Jenny and I had the rare and wonderful opportunity to meet Rhonda and her daughter Alexa, who was adopted from the same Social Welfare Institute (SWI) as Jenny, only a year earlier.

Rhonda and Alexa live in Iowa, but have family in town, so Rhonda and her sister very kindly hosted us for a morning playdate. It was our first since coming home.

Jenny is still young enough that play is "parallel"--the kids play next to each other, but not with each other. Still, being with an older kid was a great benefit to Jenny. Watching Alexa eat a mini-muffin finally convinced Jenny to take her first bite of one (then another, and another...). WOW!

Alexa also showed Jenny her skills at sommersaults. Jenny just watched, seemingly not that interested. But when mommy took Jenny to visit the office later that day, low and behold, she showed off for my co-workers by doing 3 sommersaults!! Way Cool!!

It was so very helpful for me, mom. From talking to Rhonda, and from watching Alexa interact with her (she's a great mom), I learned some valuable lessons about motherhood. I also got a bit of a preview of things to come with our daughter. It was so reassuring and comforting to learn that our experiences with Jenny were shared by others, especially things like her aversion to solid or crunchy foods. We have since learned that other families from Suixi SWI have had similar experiences. It was a lovely morning, and we look forward to seeing Rhonda and Alexa (hi guys!) when they next come into town.

Until then, here are a few photos of the Suixi "sisters." Enjoy!

Visiting Chinatown for Dragon Boat Festival

2008-08-21T20:36:00.003-05:00

In July we ventured down to Chicago's Chinatown for the annual Dragon Boat races. Dave and I visited for the first time last year, while we were still waiting, and enjoyed watching the friendly rivalry between boat teams. We used the event as our first opportunity to try out the cool backpack from Uncle Erik. It was also a good chance to test-drive our stash of "travel food" for the squeaker.

Jenny had a good time watching boats and working the crowd with her daddy. We were curious to see how she would react to being around many Chinese, and to hearing the sounds of the language. We've heard that sometimes this can be upsetting. No signs of upset, and no real signs of recognition, either.

We also had the good fortune to meet up with our travel companions from our May trip to China, Teena, Autumn and her grandma Vicki. It's amazing how much the kids have both changed since our travels, and it was great to see our friends and to compare experiences since returning. Moms and Dad all agreed, life is completely changed amd we are all verrrrrry tired!

Waterbaby

2008-08-07T21:16:00.003-05:00

We reported back in May from Guangzhou that Jenny seemed to love water. That interest has definitely held up since coming home. We live about a mile from the coast of Lake Michigan, with wonderful beaches and lots of sandbox potential. So water plays a big part in our summer fun.

A few weeks in, mom had to pick up a wading pool for the backyard. Jenny approved. Here she is playing with her fabulous beach/pool toys from her Auntie Jaydee and Uncle Jolon in Hawaii.

We also joined the Wilmette Community pool, where Jenny and mom and dad have spent lots of spare time. It is a truly amazing facility, with a toddler wading pool complete with small water features, and a larger kid pool with water slides and the most elaborate water features/fountains I've ever seen. Pool is definite Daddy-Jenny time; Jenny likes to "swim" with Daddy, as illustrated here. Love the shades, dude.

We took Jenny back to the beach front when Grandma Kitty visited recently. She was less keen on the water this time, which surprised us. But she was REALLY into sandplay. Love those beach toys from Hawaii!

The summer is just starting to wind down, and I know we will look back on this time fondly and wistfully. Next year this time, we'll have a very different little girl. She's already such a different little girl than we first met in Guangzhou. The changes--and they happen everyday--are truly remarkable, as you can see.

At Dave's Italian Kitchen

2008-08-03T09:27:00.001-05:00

At Dave's Italian Kitchen
Originally uploaded by j david

We all went out for dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This was our first meal out as a family since coming home. We had a blast! As you can see, Jenny loves pasta! We have learned to order smaller cuts, like rotini, but she does enjoy her spaghetti facials!

It's the Summertime, and the Livin Is Easy...

2008-06-19T22:03:00.004-05:00

Nuthin' but pix for you, Jenny's peeps...

Jenny and Grandma Kitty...

Inspecting the tupperware collection...

Negotiating the steps between the kitchen and the porch...

Jenny showing those eggs who's boss...

Having her way with spaghetti...

Selecting books to show Daddy in the shower...

Highlights since our last posting...

* Jenny visited the beach at Lake Michigan (and LOVED IT!)
* Jenny met her grandparents
* Jenny had her first visit to the doctor
* Jenny visited a daycare center
* Jenny visited Daddy's office
* Mom got her hair cut (OK, not a highlight for Jenny...)

A Visit to Millennium Park

2008-06-10T19:31:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, we took our first trip to Millennium Park. We arrived just in time for a massive thunderstorm. After waiting the storm out in a merchant's tent, we visited Cloudgate (better known as "the Bean") and the McCormick Fountain.

As with most of the water features that we've taken in, Jenny loved the fountains. Fortunately, we packed a change of clothes.

An Afternoon at the Gardens

2008-06-07T21:30:00.007-05:00

On Friday we took Jenny to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I love this place, and as we strolled the grounds I was reminded of the solace we found on our long walks through the gardens when the adoption process was not going so well.

Jenny had a chance to get up close and personal with flowers, birds, bugs, grass and most interestingly, the water features. We're learning how much our daughter loves water. In the Enabling Garden, an area designed for people with disabilities or with limited mobility, Jenny discovered fountains. The fountains in this garden are playful--they have 5 jets, which sometimes shoot all at once, and at other times, shoot one at a time, in no particular order. Like hide and seek. You can see from the photos below the effect on her...

She also had fun catching the spray as the wind blew.

This girl is a real gamer. She spent the afternoon today walking backwards through the house. She is completely nonplussed when she gets water in her ears or eyes during the nightly shampoo. She handled our 24-hour travel day with style and grace (ok, I lie, she had a few meltdowns). She has transitioned to a new life, family, country and language brilliantly. She is a remarkable kid, and we are so proud of her.

Adjusting to Home

2008-06-04T06:54:00.006-05:00

Since returning to Chicago on Thursday, we've been working on settling Miss Jenny into her new life (and us into ours). We've taken the advice of our developmental PhD again and are trying to keep these first weeks home simple--not a lot of visitors, toys introduced one at a time (hard), only mom or dad holds Jenny (also hard), new foods introduced very slowly, no visits to Toys R Us/grocery store/other mob scenes. Jenny hasn't even been introduced to the basement yet. It seems to be working: the first 2 days we were home, Jenny went to bed at 10:00 pm and woke at 2:30 am--for the day. Great. The last 2 mornings, we've been up at 8:00 and 7:30 am. Much better.

Milestones for mom and dad? Kristen has perfected baby rice congee in her Chinese rice cooker. This is the rice porridge that Jenny lived on in Guangdong. Besides being very familiar to Jenny, it is the perfect medium for trying to slip in a little vegetable (fruit still does not go undetected). We've started to let Jenny try to feed herself during mealtimes. Mom gets most of the food to deliver directly, and Jenny gets her own pile to eat, pick up, smear, etc. Yesterday she actually tried to feed herself with her spoon!

Dave, he's become Jenny's bedtime comforter. Jenny is having a hard time settling down at night. She becomes very restless, cries, kicks and will even shake the crib. What's worked for us, so far, is to lay her down and rub her tummy, using very soft comforting words. Dave has been doing this the last few nights, and brilliantly. I told her she was lucky to have him for a daddy.

Jenny continues to show us more of herself everyday. She is babbling more and more, and we highly suspect that at least some of the more intelligible babbling may be her Cantonese. She has picked up a little English. She can say Momma and Daddy quite clearly, especially when upset. She has said "there it is," while playing ball. She says Hi, Bye (with visual affects) and can sign "more" (although it's not clear whether she understands it yet). What's wild is that she says all these things with an American accent.

Jenny is intrigued by her kitties. Socks is also intrigued with her (Dot, less so). Socks spends a lot of time with us in her room; Dot tends to show up at our mealtimes. Jenny has learned to say "Hi Dot," which just kills us! She wants very much to pet the kitties, but so far they scatter when she goes for them.

She's been running a lot, and loves to play ball. She also adores bathtime, and she has brought some of her activity from our pool time to the bath (i.e., splashing and kicking).

Most interesting, Jenny has a new game where she runs out of the room from Mommy and Daddy, waves Bye, then runs back in and up to Kristen (or Dave in her absence) and plants a big wet kiss. Besides being totally taken with her kisses, we see this as a great sign that she is feeling comfortable and experimenting with leaving the secure presence of her mom and dad. She has also been wandering away from mom for some days, exploring the house.

We hope you will pardon our delay in posting from home, but highly suspect that all of you understand. The days in Guangzhou were such a luxury--no cleaning, cooking, laundry, shopping, or calls and visits. Just us and our daughter, getting to know each other. Now, it's us, and the rest of life. Quite an adjustment, for all of us.

See you later. Will leave you with pics of Jenny in the backyard, and Jenny with a great new toy (thank you Pat!) that is perfect for her.

Final Pictures from China

2008-06-02T16:02:00.004-05:00

Yes, we're home, but I thought I'd share some of our pictures from our last day in China. We completed the Consulate swearing in, but before that, we had some family photos taken at the White Swan. Enjoy!

Our guide, Helen, with me and Jenny. Helen was the only person other than me that Jenny would go to for holding. Helen was a fantastic source of information for new parents, as the mom of a four-year old son. She is an amazing woman and we were lucky to have her help through our time in Guangzhou.

These are the traditional "red sofa" photos taken on consulate day in the lobby of the White Swan Hotel. Jenny is trying to help Autumn stop crying and strike a good pose.

Homeward Bound

2008-05-28T07:26:00.002-05:00

Homeward Bound
Originally uploaded by j david

We've done it!

We've been to the Consulate and took an oath, and upon arrival at O'Hare,
Miss Jenny will become a US citizen.

We're in the midst of a packing frenzy, but had to share this video. Given
our challenges with the filters that the PRC puts on content, this may not
work.

If it does though, you 'll get a sense of the firecracker that our daughter
has become!

And another first...

2008-05-26T02:59:00.001-05:00

And another first...
Originally uploaded by j david

First use of a high chair. Also very popular with mom, who has been trying to take bites in between feeding Jenny and keeping her from dancing on the table.

Jenny actually reached for the chair at breakfast this morning. Not to let a golden opportunity go by, I plopped her right in. Dave was quite impressed when he returned from the buffet table. Jenny? Not so sure. She figured out pretty quickly that this was perhaps not a smart move (see illustration). Dave and I are pretty sure she had been feeding herself at the orphanage, but since coming to us, she's been very dependent and acting like an infant. As she gets more comfortable (OK, more bored), she's reaching again for her independence.

And mom gets to eat a few bites of breakfast. You moms will all appreciate this.

More firsts...(or, Jenny and Daddy, part deux)

2008-05-26T02:50:00.001-05:00

More firsts...(or, Jenny and Daddy, part deux)
Originally uploaded by j david

Dave changed his first Jenny diaper this morning. Mommy really likes sharing diaper duty (Jenny is reserving judgment at the moment).

Our First Swim (a series)...

2008-05-26T02:15:00.005-05:00

Our First Swim (a series)...
Originally uploaded by j david

...happened today.

We hit the pool right after breakfast. It was not available to us last
night.

Jenny had a blast. So did Mom and Dad. We have a lot of pictures, but
we'll just post a few.

This was definitely more fun than bath time.

If we haven't mentioned it, we're staying at the White Swan in Guangzhou.
It's really a nice place, a bit fancy; we hope that we have not raised our
little one's expectations, it's gonna be more like the Red Roof Inn for a
while.

Our First Swim (a series)...

2008-05-26T02:15:00.003-05:00

Our First Swim (a series)...
Originally uploaded by j david

Our First Swim (a series)...

2008-05-26T02:15:00.001-05:00

Our First Swim (a series)...
Originally uploaded by j david

Daddy and Jenny

2008-05-25T01:58:00.001-05:00

Daddy and Jenny
Originally uploaded by j david

Dave (aka Daddy) has been doing all the posting since Kris (aka Mommy) acquired a new appendage on Monday. Jenny is sleeping off her afternoon bottle, so it's time for reports on the Daddy-Jenny front.

Jenny has learned in the last few days that her Daddy is quite an entertaining fellow. Last evening we had our first meal at a real restaurant (Thai), and while Mommy kept Jenny from pulling plates off the table and kicking the table over, Daddy got her laughing and smiling. Jenny is quite the mimic. She is learning from her Daddy how to high 5, cheer, do the "disappearing Wet Ones" trick, and make lots of goofy faces. I can only imagine what she looked like by the utter joy and delight on Dave's face (well, that and the performance in the mirror this morning--see Dave's post).

They also had a great game of ball. You should see the determination with which this girl grabs a beach ball and throws it. Yikes. We better get to Gymboree fast!

Daddy's other very important roles: stroller pusher (illustrated here), cashier, chef (he makes ALL Jenny's formula--what a chemist!), bather-in-Chief, document reviewer (hard to do with a squirming child), and of course, fun-meister!

Dave and Jenny had their first real bonding opportunity during our long, sleepless night several days ago. Jenny was fitfull all night, so Daddy took the evening and morning shifts carrying our little, dreaming, restless girl until she relaxed and fell asleep.

Good news on the sleep front. Jenny (and mom and dad) have had 2 nights of 9 hours of pure, uninterrupted sleep. Jenny is relaxing more and more everyday, and showing more of her amazing, stellar personality. Mom and dad are relaxing, too, especially as we learn how Jenny communicates wanting food, having a full diaper, or just needing to express the joys and frustrations of being a growing, developing toddler.

Well, she's up now, so for now, Ni Hao.

A Morning with Jenny

2008-05-25T00:14:00.003-05:00

A Morning with Jenny
Originally uploaded by j david

We're trying to post a series of photos...

...we'll see how this works.

If it works, you can see what our girl does on a typical Guangzhou morning.
(or afternoon for that matter).

A Morning with Jenny

2008-05-25T00:14:00.001-05:00

A Morning with Jenny
Originally uploaded by j david

We're trying to post a series of photos...

...we'll see how this works.

If it works, you can see what our girl does on a typical Guangzhou morning.
(or afternoon for that matter).

A Morning with Jenny

2008-05-25T00:08:00.001-05:00

A Morning with Jenny
Originally uploaded by j david

We're trying to post a series of photos...

...we'll see how this works.

If it works, you can see what our girl does on a typical Guangzhou morning.
(or afternoon for that matter).

A Morning with Jenny

2008-05-25T00:07:00.001-05:00

A Morning with Jenny
Originally uploaded by j david

We're trying to post a series of photos...

...we'll see how this works.

If it works, you can see what our girl does on a typical Guangzhou morning.
(or afternoon for that matter).

Day 8, 9 or something...

2008-05-23T22:55:00.001-05:00

Day 8, 9 or something...
Originally uploaded by j david

Einstein described how time is relative to the context that you're in. I
recall that this was a big deal to the male dominated physics community at
the beginning of the last century. My guess is that those (probably the
females at that time) who tended the small children already knew this, but
simply didn't have the time to write up the math part. I don't think that it
is any coincidence that Albert had a one year old and a three year old when
he wrote his paper of special relativity. And that his wife was a major (if
un-named) collaborator.

At least that's my story.

So, we've missed a day or two posting because we've be busy. It seems like
we just posted yesterday. A colleague (you know who you are) describes this
as the "fog of parenthood."

As you can see, Jenny is taking pity on her mommy, trying to be sure that
she's well fed. Jenny has plans for mommy. She has become quite the
mamma's girl.

Since last writing, we've been to a Buddhist temple, and had the family
blessed. We've shopped for bit of art (much longer story here than I can
write now). Jenny broke into huge grins during a game of "bat the barbie
beachball" (Jenny liked to punch barbie, daddy approved. Thanks for the
advice Rebecca!)

We're sad to miss Jack and Maxine's anniversary party, so "Happy Anniversary
Mom and Dad," we're thinking about you.

More later...

Day 7: A Day of Firsts...

2008-05-21T08:43:00.001-05:00

Day 7: A Day of Firsts...
Originally uploaded by j david

*Note*: *this posting is rated P: of most interest to parents*

We had a pretty good day today. A bunch of things happened for the first
time.

Jenny ate at restaurant for the first time.

Jenny tossed her cookies for the first time (not related to the
accomplishment directly above).

Jenny took her first real bath. (Ever. They are not bathed at the SWI as
much as doused. It kinda showed).

Jenny had her first poop (related to the cookie tossing and the following
"first").

Kristen laughed until she cried for the first time as a parent (Daddy
cheered Jenny on to the above accomplishment by reciting Tom Arnold's bit
from the first (?) Austin Powers movie if you haven't seen it, go here
(now) http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=J-YVt4gfquA&feature=related it runs a
bit slow in the PRC)

And if you're laughing after that bit, the last first is the best. Jenny
cracked her first big smile today, as she and Mom were looking in the
mirror. It melted Kristen's heart, and made Daddy quite happy too. We'll
post a picture of one of those as soon as we can.

Day 6: She's ours...

2008-05-20T17:47:00.001-05:00

Day 6: She's ours...
Originally uploaded by j david

Today, well maybe it was yesterday, was another busy one. It's late, rather,
it's early, so I'm going to keep this short.

We finalized her adoption today, at least as far as the People's Republic of
China is concerned. On Wednesday, we're off to visit the doctor and start
paperwork for her US immigration/citizenship.

Following the paper work and two interviews, we had a hectic trip to the
Carrefour--a french supermarket chain. If I were paranoid, I'd think that
inflicting two (Jenny is traveling with Autumn) screaming kids on the
shoppers was a way for China to express their displeasure with the
French-owned chain.

She continues to grieve, showing a little more of herself every couple of
hours. She cried for her "Ayis" today--her "aunties" (meaning her
caregivers at the SWI. While we were sad for her, we're delighted that she
has learned language. And she is really disappointed that her new parents
have not learned any (or anything useful). She has also bolted upright and
taken a few steps (even on the bed!).

Her first night with us was a pretty good one- she slept through but for one
little episode. The following day has been a mix of exploration,
frustration and getting to know one another.

Thanks to all of you who have read and commented (especially those of you
who have been through this and have offered advice and encouragement)!

Day 5: Someone arrived a bit early...

2008-05-19T09:33:00.001-05:00

Day 5: Someone arrived a bit early...
Originally uploaded by j david

...and was not at all happy about it.

Which is of course a good thing, but I'm getting way ahead of myself.

We met Jenny today. When our guide met us at the airport she had a
surprise--we'd pick our daughters up on the way to the hotel. We all
suspected something was up, when we took an earlier flight than expected.
But none of us thought we'd be stopping by before we could even unpack
clothing, toys, diapers or our gifts for the orphanages.

Oh well.

Jenny was not at all happy to see us. She has clearly bonded with her
caregivers, and they with her. The orphanage staff was every bit as sorry
to let her go as she was to be taken by these strangers. So, we had the
loud, unhappy baby in the room today. She calmed down a good bit, as
Kristen held her and played with her, but is still a bit apprehensive. All
normal and very positive signs.

We are more pleased than we can say (how about that hair!!!). We now know
what speechless really means.

We'll post more when we can, but we thought that you'd all like to know!

Day 4, Beijing (hey, that IS a pretty great wall...)

2008-05-18T07:23:00.006-05:00

Last day on the Beijing running tour. No trip to Beijing is completed without two experiences (per Wong Lei, our tour guide)--Peking Duck ("check"), and the Great Wall. Yep, it's big. And steep. But very, very cool. (For the record, it is Kristen who is channeling Richard Nixon).

This is the "before" picture (there is no "after" picture because it wasn't pretty...)

The walk up to the first tower in this section of the wall (which is the best maintained but also the most heavily travelled/touristed) is the steepest and dodgiest part of the walk. It sort of thins the herd--only the intrepid (i.e., the Chinese grandmas and babies, pregnant Brazilians, anyone Swiss, and the odd Aussie in full hiking gear) push on to the higher towers and discover an easier walk with fewer people. Who knew?

Those intrepid enough (you know, the grandmas) are rewarded with incredible views of the mountains, valleys and the structures below. As you'll notice, you can see blue sky out here.

There are a few narrow, winding sections, very like a very steep spiral staircase, that are vertigo-producing.

We also stopped at the Ming Tombs before raising the white flag and saying "I surrender." The setting is quite beautiful, and we actually heard wind in the trees and birds singing. A very welcome change.

Tomorrow we leave Beijing and fly to Guangzhou. Tonight we are turning our attention to packing up and getting ready for the real reason we came on this trip--to meet our daughter. It's an odd feeling. We have no idea what we are in for, but we are looking forward to it.

We've so enjoyed the comments and emails from all of you. Please keep in touch.

Until tomorrow, good night from Beijing!

Day 3, Beijing

2008-05-17T18:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we moved at a more relaxed pace. The day was grey, misty and there was a light rain. One never sees blue sky in Beijing. The sky is either white or gray. You don't see the clear outline of the sun. I think we take our air and water quality in the US for granted. You don't appreciate how much our air and water quality have improved in the US (thanks to people like Dave), until you spend time in a place that hasn't made the same improvements. I miss blue sky.

We visited Tianneman Square and the Forbidden City yesterday morning. The are spiffing up the Square in anticipation of the Olympics, one toothbrush at a time.

The Forbidden City is beautiful, atmospheric and full of elegant sightlines. A testament to the wisdom of feng shui. It covers a very large area, and yet inside it feels very human scale. Maybe it felt bigger to the Ming Emperor who built it.

We had another great chinese meal: eggplant, etc., after which we visited the Summer Palace. It was packed with Beijingers enjoying a Saturday afternoon, and there were LOTS of people all trying to squeeze through the small doorways and courtyards of the home built by the notorious Dowager Empress, who ruled just before the reign of the Last Emperor, and not wisely.

After a short stop at the "Olympic site" which was a literally an exit ramp with a view of the main Olympic stadium (the bird's nest), the swimming venue (a blue cube) and the dragon-shaped hotel, restaurant, condominium complex, we went to a state-run tea house. We were treated to a tasting of five teas, taught how to make it. After a day of running around, it was really nice to relax for a change. We'll bring home some black/lychee tea, which was our favorite.

We finished the day, exhausted, at a local restaurant. We had peking duck and several other dishes. We'll try to talk more about that later, but we have to run now. We're off to the Great Wall.

Please use the comments and let us know that you're reading!

Day 2, Beijing

2008-05-16T08:15:00.009-05:00

Today we began our official 3-day "running" tour of Beijing's highlights (over 2000 years of civilization in 3 days....right).

Our guides began our day in the Black Bamboo Park, a very large and very beautiful park on the west side of the city. The park is a refuge in the middle of an otherwise very modern, dense, loud and, well, polluted city (think Central Park). It was lovely. At mid-morning, the park was full of retirees, who were practicing their favorite variety of exercise--tai chi, traditional and ballroom dancing, and fishing. There is a man-made lake, and many delightful winding paths. And bamboo, including the black variety.

Next stop on the tour was the newly completed Museum of Chinese Culture. The building itself is a work of art. We saw depictions of daily life along the silk road, the museums impressive collection of Buddha, and many other objects of historical significance. Did I mention this was a running tour?

Lunch. Lunch was had in the home of a Beijing family who live in their family's generational home in one of the few remaining hutong neighborhoods.

Our touring ended with a look inside the Imperial Temple of Heaven. This is the temple compound where the Emperor would conduct his annual worship of the higher powers above earth, to bring with the year good weather, healthy rains, and a substantial harvest. The Emperor entered from the southern, earthly, gate, bathed and made offerings before entering the northern and heavenly reaches of the compound. Quite a remarkable place.

It was a long, remarkable day. You can see the affect on Dave and I. We even managed to tire out our guides--the couple dancing with so much animation in the picture at top. Quite an accomplishment.

Tomorrow is the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Tiennaman Square (sorry, too tired to check spelling). That is if we can all haul ourselves out of bed.

We cannot believe how large Beijing is. And while we still find somethings very familiar about the city, we are also seeing sides to the city that are unique, and uniquely asian, at least to us.

Needless to say, thoughts of our daughter are never far from our minds. More tomorrow.

Our First Meal in China

2008-05-15T16:24:00.005-05:00

We had dinner last night in a local restaurant on a tiny alley near our hotel. Our local guide, Jack, ordered for the 6 of us--Dave, me, Teena (our other ICA adoptive mom) and her mother Vicki, Jack and our tour guide, Mary. (Mary is about two years out of University, where she studied how to be a tour guide. She comes originally from Tsingdao area, studied there, but has moved to Beijing to work conducting tours.)

The food was fantastic! We had typical local dishes, nothing unusual, but Dave and I really enjoyed all the sauces and preparations. We had beans with spring onion; diced chicken with peanuts, scallions, in a garlic pepper sauce; eggplant slices in a light sauce, and pork belly with potato in a slightly sweet sauce. Pork belly--Jack says this is something every family cooks at home, and like potato salad or fried chicken, every family has their own take on it. I have seen this on menu's all over China town and was too spooked to try it. It was deeelicious!

We were the only non-asians in the place. The restaurant is located in a University area. We passed the Technical Institute, Beijing International University, the University for Foreign Languages, and our hotel is directly across from the National Administrations Institute (leadership school for the Communist Party.)

Accordingly, there was a large group of college age women sitting next to us at dinner. They became animated when David stood up as we were leaving, and took the opportunity to engage this tall good looking guy in some brief greetings! (It was funny to see their eyes widen as I stood up. I'm probably a good seven or eight inches taller that just about everyone!)

Our initial impressions of Beijing from our ride from the airport--aside from the chinese signage, it doesn't feel that asian at all. It does feel oddly familiar to us from other European foreign travels. We saw bits that reminded us of cities in France and especially Spain. Not at all what we expected. But Beijing is now a modern Western city.

Today, we have lunch in a private home in a typcial hutong neighborhood. We also see some of the Imperial sites. So by late today, we expect to have a different spin on Beijing, a picture that is richer.

Some photo highlights (hopefully) attached.

We've made it!

2008-05-15T04:51:00.001-05:00

We've made it!
Originally uploaded by j david

We've arrived in Beijing after an eventful trip. The downside: paid for
Jenny's ticket twice and offered our "host" gifts to TSA. The BIG upside: a
surprise upgrade to business class seats for a 13 hour flight!!!! These are
two weary (but very happy) travelers.

If you can see this post, please say "hi" in our comments or drop us a line!

How Do You Pack for a Life Change?

2008-05-13T22:40:00.003-05:00

Dave and I have been asking ourselves that, as we surveyed the literal piles of stuff that we had to get into suitcases over the past few days.

The final week of preparation has been intense--more shopping than I ever hope to have to do again, lots of laundry, trying to clean a little, getting the car seat installed (a definite parent moment), picking up cash, getting prescriptions for lots of unpleasant conditions that we hope not to need (we are packing for contingencies, for the possibility of a very sick little girl), etc.

I realized this week that all the effort and worry--do we have everything--is really just displacement for the anxiety of the monumental life change that is nearly upon us.

We've both had mommy and daddy moments over this week of prep. Some highlights:

The reminder call about Jenny's appointment with the developmental psychologist ("calling to remind you about your daughter's appointment")
Getting her medications from the pharmacy--all those bottles labeled "Jennie (sic) Westman-Rankin")
My first ride in the car with a child seat; for Dave, his first installation of same
Washing Jenny's clothes for the trip--pulling tiny little trousers, onesies, socks, and caps out of the dryer, which I could picture doing over and over and over in the years ahead.
My first mother's day gift--the most special memory book from my husband, created on our Mac and printed in a book. Best of all, it includes pictures taken by my husband of all the trips, the cultural explorations, meeting our Secret Pals, and of course, pictures from Jenny's referral day.
Our last official date as a childless couple
Learning of the earthquake in China, and realizing the possibility that on top of all the change that is soon to overtake our daughter's life, she may have new fears that we will need to help her manage.

We have been so buoyed over these years, months and now last frenetic weeks and days by all of you, our friends, family, and fellow adoptive parents and bloggers. We are grateful for the good wishes, comments, advice, packing tips (what does it mean to "pack light" to a backpacker--taking nothing?), etc.

We expect to blog from China. Dave has put in place more backups for the Blogger site than I can track, so we hope that the technical gods (and Beijing's government) will be with us.

We think the first days may be hard to get online, since there is still so much competition for satellite access because of the quake. But keep visiting, we promise to do our best to share our final days of the very BIG Wait with all of you.

See you all on the other side.

Love, Kristen and Dave

Travel update

2008-05-12T17:53:00.002-05:00

We have heard from our agency that Monday's earthquake in China should not impact our travel plans. There was minor damage in Beijing, where we will spend our first 3 days, and no reports of damage yet in Guangzhou, where we spend the rest of our time and receive our daughter.

The earthquake was felt in Vietnam, so we expect it was also felt in Suixi City, where Jenny's SWI is located. No reports of damage, though.

Our excitement, nervousness and anticipation has been joined by sadness as the news reports more casualties, especially the loss of children. We feel closer to China than anytime in the past 3 years, and this brings the events of today home to us.

We'll try to post a quick one before we depart on Wednesday. We are really getting down to it.

This is only a test...

2008-05-11T06:04:00.000-05:00

...of whether we can really do this from the road.

Did it work?

test

2008-04-22T16:34:00.001-05:00

test
Originally uploaded by j david

This is a test of remote posting service from flickr...

Shower!!!

2008-04-19T19:12:00.002-05:00

Shower!!!
Originally uploaded by j david

Our warmest thanks to Jeanne (and Abby), who put on a baby shower for Jenny today. Here Kristen opens a gift that is one of Jenny's favorites. We'll post more when we can, but wanted to get something up quickly.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

2008-04-07T19:49:00.005-05:00

Notice the new ticker?

New ticker can mean only one thing...WE HAVE LIFTOFF!!!!!

Ok, calm down....no, we have....(nearly complete) TRAVEL PLANS! We finally got the good word from the US Consulate in Guangzhou (why do I think we are going to have a "love/hate" relationship with our government there?). We received approval for our initial consulate appointment on May 27, the day after Memorial Day holiday, so we have a full set of dates and today, Dave was able to finalize (tentative) travel plans!

Here's the rundown:

May 14,

May 15-19,

May 19 pm,

May 20 am,

May 21-26,

May 27 am,

May 28 pm,

May 29,

We are using frequent flyer miles, ¡un miracle! One of the few positives of our more than 2 year wait. Kristen is about jumping out of her skin. Dave is still laser focused on United Airlines (living the joy of "finalized (tentative)" travel plans). But we are both very relieved and excited to finally, finally know what our plans will be.

So, the countdown begins. Keep an eye on that airplane. When we get within a few days of liftoff, and you will feel the vibrations from Wilmette!

We're Still Waiting....

2008-04-05T18:54:00.006-05:00

...for final travel dates.

When we received our TA (travel approval) from China on March 31st, our agency got busy trying to schedule the adoption appointment with the provincial authorities in Guangdong Province. Success on Monday, and since then, our agency has been working on the US Consulate in Guangzhou. We need an appointment for the Consulate staff to review immigrations documents, followed 24 hours later by a swearing in. Once that formality is finished, we can go home!

But until then, no airplane tickets. No hotels. No firm, final plans.

On the up side, we have decided to tour in Beijing for 3 days before we fly to Guangzhou to pick up our daughter. This will allow us to get over at least some of the jet leg. We'll also learn how to work with guides and translators. Among other sites, we hope to visit a typical hutong neighborhood--these are disappearing from Beijing as a result of development. I also want to try Peking (Beijing) Duck at one of the restaurants known for this. We will visit the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and possibly other sites.

Preparations continue on the home front. We are shopping, shopping, shopping. Discovered a great website for baby gear called One Step Ahead. We purchased a sling bookcase (pictured here), which is just the right size for toddlers and young kids to peruse and select from. Also apparently will not topple even when scaled by a young'un!

Our "fellow" Suixi SWI parents group has been a fantastic source of information about our daughter's SWI (orphanage), what to take, what not, what to expect, and how to cope generally during 2-3 weeks in a hotel room with a new baby. We are learning skads of new things every day.

We are still seeking advice on kid challenges like teething, using pacifiers (or not), and when/how to introduce a sippy cup. All free advice welcome! Use the comments section, and help us out!

The Latest on Jenny Mei

2008-03-23T14:01:00.001-05:00

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

2008-03-21T14:22:00.006-05:00

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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

2008-03-11T19:39:00.006-05:00

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...

2008-03-04T14:45:00.004-06:00

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.

Birthday Gators

2008-02-26T15:36:00.022-06:00

I had a birthday in January. I had expected to be in China on the big day, so my original plans to throw a big wingding were put on hold in the fall and plans to travel in January commenced. Then came the big disappointment about our referral.

I decided about 3 weeks before the big day that travel was still a good idea. I was not up to trying to plan a party in such little time, and I haven't really been in a party mood since our delay in December. What to do? Go with the second plan--travel.

So Dave and I planned a 5 day escape to the Florida Keys for my birthday. I have never been to the Keys, but I remembered Florida from visits to the grandparents when I was 3 and 4. I wanted to go back and see what it was like. I also still had the snorkeling bug from Hawaii, and had heard that the Keys had some of the best coral reefs in the US.

We left another cold Chicago winter on January 24, and after a change of equipment, landed late in Miami at 2:00 am. It was like being parachuted into a different world.

Florida has changed since I was 4. Although Dave and I had opted for the ease of a domestic trip (read: we could speak English), what we found in Miami felt more foreign than American. Our first day was spent in the environs of Miami--Coral Gables in particular. We had a leisurely lunch, and provisioned up, at a gourmet deli run by Argentinians. Sitting in their outdoor cafe enjoying warm temperatures and the leisurely pace of Friday lunch as practiced by the jeans-clad hispanic young professionals crowd, Dave and I felt like we were back in Spain, or perhaps more aptly, Argentina.

Our waitress did not speak much English. Nor did the deli clerks, managers, etc. Same at the CVS pharmacy where poor Dave tried to purchase bug spray. He has picked up some decent spanish in our travels in Europe, which was, as it turned out, essential for navigating 21st century Miami. We were smitten.

From CG and environs, we drove south to Key Largo to do some snorkeling in John Pennekamp State Park, much of which lays offshore and can best be visited by boat with snorkel or scuba gear in hand. We opted for snorkeling.

We motored 30 minutes out to an offshore coral reef, along with 25 other tourists, for 2 hours of snorkeling and exploring. It was remarkable. We got up close and personal with live reef plants (animals?), including thick stands of waving antler coral and branch coral. Depths were no more than 10 feet at this site, so the reef plants were lit with dappled sun, really magical.

We encountered, and avoided, small jellyfish, groups of barricuda (they are large, toothsome, and very prehistoric looking, somewhat disconcerting when you are surrounded by a gang of them), and our very first "live and in person" sharks. I saw a nurse shark (brownish, roughly 5 feet long), and Dave saw a reef shark (dk grey, much longer). There were also many varieties of fish, although they didn't make as strong an impression (there's nothing quite like a pounding heart to let you know you're alive...).

Also discovered on this trip were the joys and comforts of a wetsuit while diving. I've found that shivering can really cramp your style when trying to follow a school of fish underwater. At Pennekamp, one can rent a "shorty" wetsuit along with the snorkel gear. Once used, I was hooked. So I now am the proud owner of my very own "shorty" (see illustration below). I plan to use it for late spring paddles on Lake Michigan and for our next sail with the Portland contingent.

We kept remarking on what a "lark" this trip was. We had no reservations, no plans, only a vague idea of what we wanted to see and do, and just a rental convertible booked ahead of time. But when life throws you a curve ball, throw one back. Something unexpected was just what we needed.

From Key Largo, we drove south along the Keys Highway, stopping in Bahia Honda State Park, with one of the Keys most beautiful beaches. Plans to do another snorkel trip from there were foiled by high seas and rain, but the ride down and the afternoon on the beach were simply beautiful. The Keys are unique to the US and in some respects, to the planet. It is an archipelago of coral islands, adjacent to the great fresh water slough of southern Florida. The area has unique flora and fauna found nowhere else. It felt expansive and exhilarating to be surrounded on both sides by sparkling salt water as far as the eye could see, roads lined with Mangroves and the occasional tall Palm. Sky and sea merged into one endless horizon. (The area is best experienced from the passenger seat of a convertible).

After an overnight stay in Key West (I would not rush back), we headed north, and with our last 2 days ahead of us, debated between more snorkeling, at Key Biscayne National Park, or a visit to the Everglades. The Everglades won out.

I visited the Everglades as a kid. I still have images of boardwalks and sleeping gators (one, maybe two). But those were summer trips, and this was winter, the dry season in the park. Water becomes scarce, and the park reduces to a small number of watering holes. And as we learned, this is where the gators go.

We entered the south entrance and drove to a site called Royal Palm, one of the largest hammocks in the park. Hammocks are small islands created by accumulated runoff soils. They become "high ground" and suitable for plants that are less water tolerant than the sedges of the Everglades' "river of grass." There, we saw dozens of alligators. Dozens.

One forgets why gators become the stuff of nightmares. They are a real throwback to prehistoric times. They are expressionless, unless caught in profile, when they appear to wear very big grins. They slither through the waterways using their tails to propel them, much like sharks and other big fish. Their legs hang by their sides, motionless.

We saw piles of gators, sunning themselves in the tall sedges. We saw gators prowling below a nest of baby Ahnzingas, a large, native bird prevalent in the park. We saw egrets and great blue herons, mindful of the near presence of a gator, hiss and scold until the gator moved on. It was quite a special experience.

Our last hours in the park were spent at outlooks in the middle of the sedge grass slough (as Dave describes it, a river miles wide and an inch deep), and visiting another hammock. We did not get through all of the ecosystems, so we will have to go back. (I wonder how many gators will be too many gators for our daughter Jenny.)

Our last evening--my official "cumpleanos"--was spent in South Beach. We had a relaxing dinner at Novecento, where a friend of my brother Anders, who is Argentine, works as a manager. We had a typical argentine dinner (beef, and lots of it), and enjoyed the company of Hernan, Anders' friend.

Our return to Chicago coincided with one of the now numerous big winter storms of the year. The two hour flight turned into eight, but we at least were fortunate enough to land in Chicago, not Indianapolis, and to benefit from the wonders of modern instrument landings. It was a dousie of a blizzard. We were also lucky to land within minutes of my brother Anders, whose own flight to Buenos Aires was one of hundreds cancelled. We took him home, much to the delight of our neglected cats.

What a lark we had, and what a memorable birthday. It may be our last spur of the moment trip for a long time. At least we hope it is.

Referral Watch

2008-02-26T15:21:00.002-06:00

Rumors say that the next set of referrals are in the works in Beijing, and could start arriving stateside as early as Friday. With this next batch, the last families with LIDs from December 2005 (that was us) and the first families with LIDs from January 2006 are expected to receive their referrals.

We learned from our agency last week that with the first January 06 referrals, they expect that we will learn what LID group in January our dossier is moving with. So, while we have no promise of a referral, we expect at least to have a new date to count down to.

On a happier note, we have friends expecting their referral this time, so we've been anticipating sharing in their good news.

Stay tuned for updates, and a new ticker...

Warm Weather Adventures

2008-02-10T18:12:00.005-06:00

When we completed our paperwork, everyone recommended that we take some time to travel while we still could. We did and had a great time!

As this process has stretched out, we’ve decided that visiting warm places is a great way to cope with the long and cold Chicago winters. In November, we traveled to Hawaii for the first time, expecting a referral when we returned home. This trip was great!

We spent two days in Honolulu and got to meet Jaydee and Jolon in person. Jaydee is one of Kristen’s now not-so-Secret Pals. She has sent us (and Jenny) all kinds of cool stuff. Jolon’s mom has made us fancy covers for Jenny’s carseat and shopping cart seat. It was a delight to finally meet these folks and enjoy their hospitality. Not only did they make us home-cooked meal, they also took us on a mini-driving tour! We got to go to places we would never have seen, but for their kindness.

We stayed in Waikiki and enjoyed the beach and the Honolulu bus system. We visited Chinatown, Foster botanic gardens, and Hanauma Bay for snorkeling--all via “The Bus” aka the metro bus system.

Another highlight of the trip was the food! We had Thanksgiving dinner at Keo’s--some of the very best Thai food we’ve ever had (second only to Drover's Inn in Wales). We also got to watch the chef’s work their magic at Alan Wong’s--an Asian fusion place.

While in Chinatown, we had dim sum at Legends Seafood, which was quite amazing. The dim sum experience is pretty nifty: the staff wheels carts of dumplings (and other goodies) around the restaurant and you choose your meal by the piece. We had all kinds of seafood, pork, and veggie stuffed dumplings. Yum!

After a few short days in (and around) Honolulu, we went to Kauai--the garden island. We spent a week there, and tried to explore as much as we could without exhausting ourselves.

After a few minutes of unnecessary excitement checking in ("I'm sorry, ma'am, your reservation was canceled a month ago"), we settled into our hotel. The Sheraton Kauai Resort is on one of the best sunset viewing beaches on the island and we tried to take full advantage. We have never really been big on the “resort” scene, but came to like this place pretty well in the time we were there.

But the highlight was the natural beauty of the island. Well, that and (you guessed it) the food. Perhaps our favorite spot was the Na Pali coast. Na Pali means “the cliffs” in the native language, and it is a great description.

No roads go there, so you either have to walk or float to see it. We chose the latter and went by boat. Catamaran, actually. Blue Dolphin Charters, to be precise. Party catamaran (highly recommended--great crew, great food, lots of wet spray and even more fun)

The very heavy rains made walking not only very messy, but dangerous. On our way up the coast, we got to see whales--a momma and baby, spinner dolphins, sea turtles, and some pretty interesting birds (including blue-footed boobies--above our heads in the picture). And rain. As they say in Hawaii, you can’t get rainbows with out rain... we got both.

We spent some time in the ocean near our hotel. The snorkeling wasn’t bad, but the high surf limited our visibility. Highlights of the aquatic kind included Moorish Idols (like the character "Gill" from "Finding Nemo"), Triggerfish, Butterflyfish, many varieties of Wrasse, parrotfish, lots of sea urchins and others.

What we re-discovered was how much fun playing in the surf can be! We body-surfed and just goofed around.

It was great! We got more sand in places it shouldn’t have been that we ever imagined we could.

We only had one day of rain. By one day, I mean 24 hours. By rain, I mean RAIN--a 'let the skies open and the rivers swell, find some high ground, build an ark and start pairing up animals' kind of rain. Some roads and bridges were closed. Many at the resort stayed inside and moped. But one of the interesting things about these islands is that they all come with mountains. This means that if it’s wet on one side, there is an excellent chance that the weather on the other side is fine. So, on our “rain day” we ventured to the North shore of the island and played in the sunny “rain shadow” made by the mountains. We visited Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge, a bird sanctuary (saw red-footed boobies, red and white tropicbirds, shearwaters and frigate birds) and Ke'e Beach, the jumping off point for the hike along the Na Pali coast at “the end of the road.”

Again, although the water was too rough for swimming, we enjoyed the surf (this time by watching it). We developed a healthy respect for the surf during our week in Hawaii. There were times snorkeling when we could feel ourselves being pulled out to sea, then pushed back in towards shore, by quite strong tides and currents. One can feel the power of the ocean here unlike anywhere else.

We visited Waimea Canyon, Hawaii's "grand canyon," which was also beautiful--at least what we could see of it. When you use your mountains as “rain blockers” they trap clouds. On the day of our visit to the Canyon, the clouds came with us. So, a few of the more impressive and well maintained overlooks were pretty choked with clouds.

Not to be deterred, we sought out others, less cloudy, and a bit more...primitive. So we stopped on the shoulder of the road, and ventured our onto the cliffs for some great views.

Well, that's enough for now. More on the wonderful food, and other trip(s?) later...

Have a Great 2008!

2008-01-01T12:51:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year to all of you!

It's not been a great few weeks on the adoption front, but we feel very lucky to have our family and friends. They (you know who you are) have made our Holiday season quite nice!

The little lady on the left is from our friend Jen, who--as I am writing this--is meeting her daughter Julia in Shanghai. Jen, and many others, have encouraged us to keep our spirits up and hang in there. Thanks everyone!

We decided to put up a tree and test drive a set of really cool ornaments sent to us by Jen. In addition to three other chinese minority dolls, we have a cloisonné rat (as in Year of the Rat), and panda (available from China Sprout; see shopping link at left). Nice!

We spent Christmas Eve with Kristen's mom and brother Anders. It was great to be around family. No shock, but we ate very well, thanks in no small part to food-gifts sent by Kristen's other brother, Erik. We had a great meal of "mojama" (air dried tuna from Spain that we made into a very nice pasta dish) and kobe beef from Japan. For the Christmas meal, grandma Kitty supplied a standing rib roast that we grilled. None of us had really tried that before, but I think we're all hoping to do it again! It was great!

When we got back home, we tried out the gift we got from Uncle Erik and Aunt Charlotte (who supplied the tuna and fancy Japanese beef). As you can see, Jenny's bear is doing his (her?) best to stand in as we wait. Now, this thing is super cool! Neither of us have purchased a backpack in a dozen years and this thing has more ways to adjust it than we can imagine how to use. The hood has not just a sunshade, but a full windscreen and rainshield. It also has "legs" that will allow us to stand her up in the carrier before (and after) we haul her around on our backs. For other interested parents-in-waiting, this is a Sherpani Rumba Super Light, in green tea (available at REI).

Other favorite gifts included:

Premier status on United Airlines for David for 2008 (a thousand thanks to Gloria); think flights to China...
A heated birdbath (thanks, honey)
A christmas angel from Hawaii (thanks, Jaydee)
A very warm welcome from our new yahoo listserv group (thanks to members of DTC Jan 2006)
Our very first video conference on Skype (Portland rocks!)
Un poco vino rojo de Argentina (gracias a nuestro hermano, Anders)
Something/anything from Gardeners Supply (holy cow, how will I choose? thanks, mom)
Encouragement, empathy, humor and prayers from many of you
Advocacy (from warrior mom MK)
Understanding better than we do how to weather our most recent loss (we love you, Jack and Maxine)

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

2007-12-15T09:27:00.000-06:00

And how are we coping with all of this?

Wait till Next Year

2007-12-15T09:01:00.000-06:00

That, in essence, is what our agency told us.

Our expected referral did not arrive in the package our agency received last week. In fact 2 of the 4 they “expected” did not arrive last week. We’ve been in touch with them to figure out why, and chart out our next steps.

What happened can only be described as a colossal foul-up with our paper work.

Adopting families, with their agencies, assemble a dossier of information for the adopting family--personal and financial data, an evaluation of your ability to raise a child (the home study), a photo album, government background checks, and agency approvals--which is all notarized, translated, “sealed” by the Chinese embassy, and sent to the Chinese government. For reasons I will not go into here--but do not appear to be the fault of the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs--our dossier, while “approved,” was not processed with the others that it was received with. The story as we understand it, and it does seem to change from time to time, is that this happened two years ago.

As it turns out, our agency does not know what batch of dossiers ours is “traveling” with, and when we’ll receive a referral. They expect that we’ll see a referral in no sooner than three and probably no longer than seven months from now.

We are very, very disappointed.

We had expected to see (and share) a photo of our daughter this week. We were making plans to travel, take time off of work, and begin our new life.

Because of the specific and repeated assurances we have had, we never expected what happened.

We are trying to be optimistic, but remain concerned that this kind of highly unusual delay is caused by factors that will lead to more even delays, and limit the ability of our agency to help us.

So, we’re doing our best to hang in there. We’re slowly convincing ourselves that Jenny will be here, but is running a little late. As the soon-to-be outnumbered male, I guess I’ll need to get used to that.

“Wait till next year” is a bit too familiar to Chicago sports fans. It’s kind of a seasonal ritual: it happens every summer and every fall. I never expected to hear that about our adoption.

Is this what labor is like?

2007-12-04T23:00:00.001-06:00

As you can see from the ticker, we are VERY due for our referral, and in another day we will be overdue. No inducing labor, I'm afraid. We just have to wait, for the slow machine of government (China) to creak to life and make another batch of new families. (Pardon the mixed metaphors)

Rumors are that packages have left the CCAA in Beijing, as of Monday. But there are lots of things that Beijing might be mailing to adoption agencies across the world. There can be LOA's (Letters of Approval), which are the documents that families adopting special needs children wait for, and that signal the CCAA's approval of a family's choice of a special chosen child.

There are TA's (Travel Approvals), which are the documents that allow families who have already received referrals to obtain the Visas needed to visit China to adopt their children. Once you receive a TA, you can book your flights.

And there are the referral packets, which are those magic missives that can finally bring the waiting (and laboring) to a close. Pictures, a profile, and a medical report. And a new future, for the waiting families and for their children.

Ah, the benefits of being in a post-vacation, philosophical mood. Actually, I am sick of waiting and want to get on with it!

Groups Doing Great Work for China's Orphans

2007-11-24T13:06:00.000-06:00

Jenny Bowen, resident of Beijing and adoptive mom to two girls from China, and also Executive Director of Half the Sky Foundation, will be the only American carrying the Olympic Torch to Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Read more about Jenny here.

The Foundation she runs, Half the Sky Foundation, is a wonderful organization that supports children living in China's Social Welfare Institutions (SWIs house orphans and sometimes also the elderly). Their programs provide nannies to children living in SWIs to encourage healthy development and bonding, educational programs for older children, and group homes for special needs children that cannot be adopted.

Another great group we've learned about through our wait is called A Child's Right. This NFP group was started by adoptive parents and other professionals to bring clean drinking water to children living in SWIs in China and in undeveloped countries around the world. The group sets up very simple filter systems inside the institutions, so that beginning in infancy, the children can have water purified of parasites and other organisms.

The same agency that runs China's adoption program, the CCAA, also sponsors a charitable program to help it's institutionalized children. The Tomorrow Plan raises funds to pay for surgical procedures to repair minor birth defects, including heart problems. The program receives funds from several NFP profit organizations created by American families who have adopted from China.

Look at All Those Kids!!!

2007-11-05T18:35:00.000-06:00

We are delighted to tell you that the latest set of referrals are coming in, and include families whose documents were logged in at the China Center of Adoption Affairs up to and including December 8, 2005. These families have waited for close to two years to see their children's faces, some for even longer, especially the single moms.

Congratulations to all the new parents, seeing their kids' faces for the first time!

Links to some of the happy families can be found on the Rumor Queen's site (or China Adopt Talk).

We are especially delighted because this in all likelihood means...WE ARE NEXT!. Our LID is December 12, 2005. We expect, then, to receive our own referral during the first week of December. Almost 24 months after our documents were logged in! So, let's start the ticker....

Guangzhou, here we come...

Baby Rankin Book Club® Part II

2007-10-30T22:15:00.000-05:00

We had great response to our first book club posting, and learned about some terrific books from our family, friends and visitors to our blog. This month, we're expanding the book club to include music.

About Books...
On the book side, we learned about a wonderful independent book publisher called Barefoot Books. The company was started by two moms in England who wanted to start a business they could run while at home with their kids. The books feature high quality hand-made art, and many have a multi-cultural themes--whether telling how the chinese zodiac came about, old tales from Ireland, going on a safari, or sailing to the Galapagos (written in Spanish).

We found a great book for helping our daughter (and us) make sense of her adoption story, called Motherbridge of Love. The book illustrates a poem written by an adoptive mom, which talks about two kinds of love--from birth mom and adoptive mom. Here's an excerpt:

Once there were two women who never knew each other.
One you do not know. The other you call Mother.
Two different lives shaped to make you one.
One became your guiding star; the other became your sun.
...
The first gave you life; the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love; the second was there to give it.

This and other Barefoot Books are available from our local Barefoot rep (see our shopping link at left). Shoppers in the UK can order from Leonore and get local shipping rates.

Our friend in London sent us another wonderful book for telling Jenny about her first days with us, called "The White Swan Express." The book follows four different kinds of families from four different cities on their journey to China to adopt their daughters. The title refers to the hotel that many Americans stay at in Guangzhou while awaiting their consulate visit, the final stage of the adoption process before leaving for home. The book describes with humor how very differently the 7 adoptive parents-in-waiting deal with the excitement and uncertainties of meeting their daughters for the first time. The watercolor illustrations are exhuberant and colorful.

My mom learned about a great book on National Public Radio titled Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy with Kids. Teacher and educational consultant Marietta McCarty has developed this parent- and teacher-friendly simple curriculum for teaching children how to be philosophers. Chapters on "Philosophy," "Friendship," "Courage,"and "Compassion" give kids and grownups a chance to think about what these ideas mean and how they feature in their daily lives.

Marietta uses works by 2 thinkers per topic to help stimulate discussions with the kids. Works by Plato and Camus, the music of Ravel, Haydn and Sweet Honey in the Rock, poets Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson and William Carlos Williams, books like Aesops fables . It is a wonderful, rich book and any parent or thinking adult will benefit from this book, as well as kids.

Other recommended books, now purchased, include:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See (and anything else by Eric Carle): Jenny now has a good set of Eric Carle books. Thanks to Aunt Maria in Ohio for turning us on to these classics.
Goodnight Gorilla and 10 Minutes to Bedtime, by Peggy Rathman. I love these so much I have bought them for both of my Secret Pals. Thanks to Dave's Flickr friend Kim in Tx for the terrific recommendation.
The Sailor Dog, a gift from Uncle Erik in Portland. I think he's hoping we teach Jenny to sail so that she can crew for him. What a great idea!
Baby Honu Saves the Day, from our friends in Hawaii (see Secret Pal posting for illustration). This is a wonderful story featuring a "honu," Hawaiian name for the green sea turtle, and illustrated with watercolors of sea creatures and native Hawaiian designs.
Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats, also from Jen in London, a children's primer on the major Chinese holidays, complete with legends and ideas for cooking and crafts.
Books with adoption themes: Kids Like Me in China (about a girl's heritage trip back to China), I Don't Have Your Eyes (not all families look alike), When You Were Born in China (describes the one child policy), and A Mother for Choco (highly recommended, about a sweet little motherless bird who finds a home with a big, cuddly mommy bear).

What books do you love? Leave us your comments!

Baby Loves Music!
I stumbled upon a wonderful organization while shopping for my secret gift exchange pals called "Baby Loves Disco." Check it out! Started by a couple parents who love music and dance, they wanted to find a creative alternative to the usual kiddie entertainment sources. They started these afternoon kid disco parties, which are now held in big cities across the country. You can see from their videos (flash player and a desire to relive the 70's and early 80's required), they are a total hoot! My dad loved to do crazy dances with us kids, and with at least a couple of us, it stuck (you should see my brother Anders shake it up). So much to my husband David's chagrin, I am already planning to take Jenny out and show her some serious moves (we'll need Uncle Anders for the smooth moves, I'm as spastic as dad).

Baby Loves Disco is part of the Baby Loves Music production group which features Baby Loves Reggae, Baby Loves HipHop, and Baby Loves Jazz. I have purchased their CD and picture book "Miles the Crocodile," who plays all the colors of the rainbow, for us, and the CD and picture book "Charlie Bird Counts the Beat" for our London friends.

Our friend and massage therapist introduced us to yet another music for kids series, which we look forward to test driving soon. The Classical Kids series uses classical music as a medium for storytelling. Beethoven Lives Upstairs, one in the series, tells the story of a boy who lives downstairs from the deaf and difficult Mr. Beethoven, who is always pounding out new musical scores seated on the floor. The CDs teach kids about the composer and his times (sorry, all male composers so far), his compositions and musical style. Her daughter loves them, and parent reviewers on Amazon are similarly enthusiastic.

Have some good music for kids? Please share your music tips, using the Comments section. Thanks for sharing!

Pimp My Ride!!!

2007-10-28T17:54:00.000-05:00

As we've mentioned before, Kristen has met some lovely people through gift exchanges. These are other waiting parents--alright, waiting Mom's--who agreed to trade gifts every month. (The dad's I've met are more likely to trade arc-welders, tools, and computer gadgets.) These exchanges have helped distract all of us during the months of waiting, and helped us get excited about shopping for little girls.

I've spent more time in Carter's, and Stuff-R-Us, and other such places than I care to recount. Kristen seems to enjoy this, and well, the things we've picked up are cute.

These pictures are of gifts we received a couple of weeks ago from Jaydee and Jolon. They live in Hawaii and have our style and sensibilities nailed--they've pimped Jenny's Rides!!! Just like the TV show (or at least what I remember of the cable show that shows pros re-working folks cars to make them rolling works of art).

Jolon's parents were visiting in late September and made (!) car seat and shopping seat covers for us!!! Check it out (above) with one of Jenny's stuffed animals modeling.

We are just knocked out by their thoughtfulness.

The car seat cover goes perfectly with the "cushie" strap covers that Jaydee sent us a couple of months ago. They are made of soft fleece and are much more comfortable than the industrial strenght nylon in her five-point harness. (Yep, a genuine 5-point harness, does she have a great ride or what?)

On the right, Kristen is showing-off the other gift: a cozy liner for the seat on a grocery shopping cart. Jenny will be stylin' at Safeway!

A tricked-out shopping cart!

Now, if you know my lovely wife, you know that she detests grocery shopping. I think this is the first time in years that she has gone with me on the weekly visit to our local grocery store.

The fabric makes us think of Hawaii and the thoughtfulness of these wonderful people. We've wondered if Jolon's parents are the folks from Bendigo Australia that have visited our blog. If so, thank you so much! In fact, thanks very much in any case!!!

New visitors to the blog...

2007-10-28T09:36:00.000-05:00

Welcome to recent visitors from...

Uppsala, Sweden (Kristen's family--the Westmans--originally come from Sweden)
Georgia
Toulouse, France
Old Bridge, New Jersey (we have family in Titusville)
Lorton, Virginia

So glad you visited, please stop by any time!

Referral Rumors ("it's that time again...")

2007-10-27T08:12:00.000-05:00

To give you a sense of what the past 12-16 months have been like for us, waiting-wise, the next round of referrals, which are due the first week of November, are already generating rumors about the cut off date. (That's the last log in date included in the particular batch of referrals, posted by the China Center of Adoption Affairs every month. Last set went through November 30, 2005; our LID is December 12, 2005.) Once again, it appears that we're very close to actually seeing a referral!

However, a little over a year ago, I was fairly certain we would receive a referral in December (that's December 06, friends). In April, Dave and I were expecting a referral by July, maybe June if we were lucky, or August at the latest. It's October. No referral. You get the idea. (Think of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown just as he runs up to kick it with all his might).

So, let me share the latest rumor headlines, because in addition to giving you a sense of our exquisite angst at this point, we may also be sharing a picture of our daughter with you all soon. Because hey, you've been waiting a long time too!

These are comments from other waiting families on my December LID listserv....

First rumor's are appearing....Check out the queens site

Re: Take a look at this!!! I got it off the "Spanish Rumor Queen" si...Its answer has been very positive and the truth that did not expect that a so optimistic version gave us. It has said us that he believes that the cut of the allocations can go beyond the I gave 10 of December! (translated from Spanish)

Hi everyone!! With a 12/7/05 LID, I am trying SO hard
not to get my hopes up...but then I keep thinking, "If
the early rumors are saying the 10th, then have HAVE
to be able to get through atleast the 7th, right"??
LOL

Trying so hard to stay calm....

yes i saw it too on a french forum !!!
i hope it is true :!!!!!go go go december !!!!!!

Now she's saying the cut off is 12/12.

This is exciting. I will be beyond ecstatic if the cutoff is the 10th-- if they go beyond the 10th I may pass out!!

Rumors are the cut-off is the 12th!!

That would be so cool, but I too am trying not to get my hopes up in the event that they only get through a few days as usual.

She is saying referrals will go through the 12th with a very slim chance they will go to the 13th. She's rating it a '9'.

I can hardly believe that in a weeks time I will be able to see a picture of my baby girl!!!! Come on with those referrals!!

this one sent me over the edge, as did the one several months ago that was an R3 claiming that there was going to be a "big" batch based on people at the CCAA being in a good mood and seeing lots of baby files or something. After the latter example, I pretty much write all the rumors off.

The Spanish site is now confirming that the 12th is definitely in, and saying there is a slim possibility for the 13th (although the site does say that's a *very* slim possibility and not likely).

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S FINALLY OUR MONTH!!! :)
I still can't believe this is happening. Let's all start getting prepared! It's never to early to start packing.

Re: Rumors are the cut-off is the 12th!! - Charlie Brown Syndrome...
When we started this adoption, we expected a 6 to 8 month wait because that's what it had been and our second referral was only a six-month wait. We were excited when our documents were sent and when we found out when they were logged in, but then knew there wasn't too much to do for the next several months.

When the referral rates started to drop off I was still optimistic
for a few months but then it began to become obvious the wait was
going to be a much longer than we first expected. After over a year
of disappointing monthly reports, it has done something to me as
well. I think it's the Charlie Brown syndrome. "Lucy" has pulled
the football out from under me one too many times, yet I still try
to kick it each month.

How do you know?
How do you know if your referral is on the way? I've seen pictures of people sitting in lawn chairs in their driveway waiting for the FedEx guy. How do they know that the delivery will be that day? Who tells them? For us, it cannot be our agency b/c our program coordinator has asked us to let her know when we get our referral. So who would tell us?

And from the Rumor Queen...
I’ve had a few people ask to see the projections again. Here they are:

And, one other point to make. It has been noted that when the CCAA did a very small month earlier this year, the month right after it was bigger, so that the two months together averaged out to about the norm. If the CCAA follows that pattern then this month might be a little bigger than normal. But that’s just speculation, not a rumor.

So how do we feel? All of the above. Our referral could come in a week, or maybe a month, or maybe some time later than that. You can see what a roller coaster ride we are on, along with hundreds of other families around the world. So as the days actually, really, start to wind down, we'd appreciate hearing your good wishes and words of encouragement. Please use the Comments below to help get us through these last tough months.

Jenny's Room

2007-10-14T15:34:00.001-05:00

The other major project of the last 12 months has been preparing our extra bedroom for our daughter.First came the bedding. I found a fun quilt, made with lots of India madras prints on sale at Pottery Barn. Bright and cheery, also kind of hippy-dippy (especially nice for the 40-something parents to remind them of their youths. (Design note: wall color is Benjamin Moore's "potpourri green", #2029-50)

Kristen found the Ling doll on China Sprout (see shopping link to the left). She speaks Mandarin and English and is helping us learn to speak some chinese ("wo ai ni"..."I love you").

We found a nice used crib on Craig's List in February. Especially attractive in the crib are the quilt from Granny Rankin, the lovely fleece blankie from our Secret Pal in Hawaii (Hi Jaydee!), and the handknit cashmere cable knit from Grandma Kitty. There will be no cold shivery nights for our wee one, that's for sure.

Window treatments followed in Spring. Down came Kristen's home-made drapery, up went some nice white roller blinds. Dot can be seen in lower center, doing inspection.

More toys came in. Our Hawaiian pal, who knows we love the movie "Finding Nemo," sent us Nemo and Squirt for Jenny. Being the lovers of all things diverse and acquatic, Dave and I could not resist the baby seal puppet, pictured next to them. Hmmm. Maybe our girl will develop an interest in marine biology...

Almost Finished!
And last came a soft pink rug, toasty warm and cuddly on the feet. We also hung Kristen's favorite prints by the French artist Matisse. You can see his Goldfish in the corner, which currently hangs in the Hermitage in Moscow. Pictured at top is one of his paper cutouts, now in Nice, France. Matisse turned to this very unique form of art at the end of his career, as he was losing his eyesight and thus his ability to paint. Looks just like a collage, something a child might bring home from school. Hmmm. Wonder if she'll be an artist, like Matisse...

But what about all those toys????
We need your help finishing Jenny's room. Please use the comments section to give us your advice on...

Toy storage
Music
Diapers--containment, waste management!
Rocking chair perhaps?
Filling the empty walls
Other essentials for a 12-18 month old....

What's In a Name?

2007-10-14T11:08:00.000-05:00

Mr. Shakespeare asked. Good question. Over the past year, while we've been waiting for a referral, Dave and I have spent considerable time thinking of a name for our daughter. We did the usual long list of names we both liked (OK, it was actually a short list). After trying out a number of them, we settled on Jenny.

Why "Jenny"? Well, first of all, we wanted to give her a name that we both thought was pretty.

I also wanted to pick a name that might sound at least a little familiar to a small child who only knows the sounds of the chinese language. From our limited bit of study of mandarin (yes, it's been a busy year), we know that the "juh" sound is common in chinese. We also know women from China named "Jenny", "Junji" and "Jinshil," so Jenny fit that requirement nicely. We plan to use our daughter's chinese given name as her middle name, and to call her by both names when we first come home.

What's in a name? A good bit. Identity, for example, including cultural identity. These days many if not most parents who adopt from other countries try to keep a part of their child's original given name as a link to their language and country of origin. We think that's important, and so we are following suit and keeping that link to her past.

And her last name? Well, that's still under some consideration--we're thinking of something hyphenated, which will come as no surprise to our families and friends. After all, I've kept my own last name. But whether she's a Westman-Rankin, or just a Rankin, she will still and always be ours together. And maybe having an odd middle name and being part of an odd looking family is enough to ask of one little girl for a lifetime.

Bodnant Gardens in Wales

2007-10-11T14:02:00.001-05:00

Bondant Gardens
Originally uploaded by j david

As you can see, we love to travel and hope to continue doing so after our little one arrives. In any case, travel is helping us pass the time while we're waiting. This is one of the National Trust gardens in Wales. We visited during our spring trip to the UK. It is a huge estate, covered with plants brought to the "home island" by (presumably) Victorian explorers. We got to see lots of plants that otherwise have no ecological business being in the middle of the North Atlantic. You can see the effect on Kristen below.

Kristen at Bodnant Gardens

2007-10-11T12:55:00.001-05:00

Kristen, originally uploaded by j david.

As you can see, very few things make my wife happier than hanging out with plants. We both hope that our little girl picks up a green thumb or two (from her mom). Dad hopes she learns to love cutting the lawn, raking leaves, etc.

Walking Off Snowdon (for Kate and Alice)

2007-09-27T15:26:00.001-05:00

The Trail, originally uploaded by j david.

Kristen has been doing most of the posting of late, so now that I see a question I can answer, I'll jump in. Kate and her daughter Alice live in Wales. Kristen and I visited the country this spring, before we learned of Kate's blog (Journey to Motherhood, at left- very much worth visiting). Kate asks in a comment, where we spent our time.

I had a conference in Cardiff, and Kristen met me there. We spent a day or two in Cardiff and headed north. This is the path off of Snowdon, Wale's highest peak. We were wimpy tourists and took the train up the mountain (yes, it's a mountain-Hillary trained there before he climbed Everest). We really enjoyed the walk down. One gets a sense of why in this photo.

We also visited Bodnant garden (will post photos later), toured Conwy Castle, and got soaking wet walking a drover's path. It is an absolutely lovely place. We finished our trip in London- which was fabulous too.

How We Spent the Summer

2007-09-20T08:19:00.000-05:00

We inaugurated the Summer Season with our second annual Bike the Drive event. This year was a little more grey and wet, but still exhilarating! For this event, Lake Shore Drive is closed down to traffic from 5:00 am to noon, and is opened to bicyclists. There is a northern route up to Montrose Harbor and a southern route that goes to the Museum of Science and Industry...we've been partial to the southern route. Check it out...

After we finished the ride, we did what often do these days, we visited Millenium Park and in particular our very favorite fountain...

This fountain was designed by a Spanish sculptor, who wanted to create a work that would be interactive for visitors to the Park.

Exito!

May 30 @ Wrigley
We spent Dave's birthday at Wrigley Field this year, watching the Cubs get thrashed by the Marlins. Two home runs while I was buying hot dogs...HOLY COW!!! We had awesome seats--just past first base, five rows from the dugout. Happy Birthday Honey!

Dragon Boat Festival
In June we journeyed down to Tom Ping Memorial Park in Chicago's Chinatown for their annual Dragon Boat Races.

The Dragon Boat Festival, or "double fifth," occurs on the Fifth Day of the Fifth Moon, and marks the arrival of summer. Dragon Boat racing has become BIG SPORT around the world. The US HQ of dragon boat races, it turns out, is Portland, Oregon, where Uncle Erik and Auntie Charlotte live (and cousins Jan and Bjorn). We think Uncle Erik needs to hang up his kayak and give it a go...

Learn more about Dragon Boat Festival.

Signs that we're getting closer...

2007-09-19T19:55:00.000-05:00

We received a surprise letter in the mail yesterday from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The notice said that our Advance Processing Application has now been forwarded to the American Consulate in Guangzhou, China.

Now, it's been so long since we sent in our dossier (see ticker), that neither of us can remember what this means. Except we think it's a sure sign that we are getting very close to a referral.

The letter brought a smile to our faces. Our hearts quickened. After almost 2 years of waiting, we imagine that our long journey to our daughter, and parenthood, might actually come to a wonderful, fruitful end.

Ergo, after a long, slow summer, it's time to catch up with the postings. We've been busy this summer with chinese holidays, prep of a little girl's bedroom, and readings on adoption, Chinese history, teaching children philosophy, etc. So fasten your seatbelts, we think the end of 2007 may be eventful. Details to follow....

Secret Pal, Not-So-Secret Pal

2007-05-05T20:28:00.000-05:00

One of the best parts of this long journey is the really good people we have met
along the way. Kristen signed up for a "secret" gift exchange with her December DTC ("dossier to China") listerv group, through which we have met two (well, actually four) really lovely people. Two of them are still "secret," but we are learning a little about them from the marvelous packages that come every month.

Our Secret Pal...
Lives in Hawaii, and since her in-laws live in Australia, we're guessing that he's Australian! Her gifts have had a special, local theme. In February, we recieved the darling Hawaiian sundress pictured here, with little clown fish (like Nemo). Also sent was a simply marvelous book, Baby Honu Saves the Day, about a baby sea turtle who uses his ingenuity and big heart to save a beached baby dolphin. The book is illustrated with pictures of sea creatures and native hawaiian designs.

Last month, the beach theme continued with two great toys! Our daughter will head to the beach with her own backpack filled with beach toys. Look at the crab! How totally fun is that!?

Also, Nemo and his little bud, Squirt, showed up. We LOVE the scene where the turtles ride the East Australian Current, and we just went NUTS when we opened the colorful wrapping and found these little fellas!

This month's package, well, let's just say Socks was beside himself!
Our friends took a two week trip to Australia, and brought back some furry friends and a wonderful children's book for our daughter. The book is full of illustrations of birds and animals direct from the outback! Even a Kookaburra (remember the song?). And Socks, well he has some exciting new prey at home (see illustration below). I think he wants to visit Australia soon, too!

We love travel and love even more learning about the diversity of life, both human and biological. We were so touched, and are so delighted, by the thoughtful, imaginative and generous gifts from our secret Hawaiian pals!

The secret exchange ended in March, but our friends have decided to continue the exchange with us.

Our Not-So-Secret Pal...
...lives in London (Hi Jen!) Kristen was Jen's secret pal in the exchange, and since the secret exchange has ended we've decided to keep the gift-giving going! The theme for April was something from your hometown. Check it out....
The lion in this very charming children's book is actually part of the statuary in Trafalgar Square. He takes two lovely children on a marvelous tour of the sights of London while their grandma naps. In Chicago, we have lions in front of the Art Institute of Chicago (known to wear Bears helmets, or White Sox caps, depending on the season... Christmas wreaths, too.)

Another common interest we share is cooking (the Westman clan will appreciate this). The recipe I think I must start with is steak and kidney pie!

Jen's most recent package included a wonderful book on sign language for children! The little ones we adopt will only understand chinese, if they understand much language at all. Infant development specialists have suggested that new parents can use sign language to communicate with their infants. For little ones who are used to sounds of the chinese language, sign language will help them understand and communicate with their new moms and dads.

And now for the really fun part! Dave and I will be travelling to Wales, and to London in May. Plans are in place to meet Jen and DF for a lovely meal in London. We both really look forward to meeting them. Seems like a fitting way to celebrate becoming a multi-cultural family.

Chinese New Years--Chicago Style!

2007-03-31T18:56:00.000-05:00

Chinese New Year's came in mid-February this year, ushering in the year of the Golden Pig.
Each Chinese New Year welcomes a year represented by an animal of the lunar
zodiac--the 12 animals representing the 12 year cycles of the Chinese lunar calendar. In order, they are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

Last year, the year of the Dog, we celebrated new year's and Kristen's birthday with a trip to NYC. This year, we decided to do it Chicago Style! So we motored down to Wentworth at Cermak and 24th Street and joined the crowds to watch the festival parade.

Chicago style, we discovered, is a little sleepy. Compared to Chinatowns we've visited in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle, Chicago's is small and not a big draw for tourists.

As a result, the day had a very small town feeling to it, that we actually really enjoyed. While we waited with the assembled crowds for the parade to begin, Dave, above, took some crowd shots and we finished up a little left over wok shopping.

Soon enough, we could hear the honor guard coming south from the main gate, and after a 15 minute lull, the parade proper appeared coming northbound.

Dragons are one of the main attractions of chinese new years parades. The Chinese have long considered lions as protectors, so lion dancers weave and dance through the streets as a ritual to whisk away demons and bring good luck and prosperity.

New Year's parades typically include high school marching bands, costumed marchers dressed as characters from Chinese folk tales and history, and the local fire and police departments. Chicago's, if smaller than most, was no different.

Also, no doubt, like other parades around the world, Chicago families with adopted children from China joined to march and to watch.

After the parade, Dave and I joined the throngs of families and friends who headed for their favorite restaurant in Chinatown for dim sum, hotpot, or, as in our case, a nice Kung Pao chicken with dry chilli beans on the side. As we wait, and wait, and wait some more for the arrival of our daughter, we try to do things that bring us closer to her and to the reality of being parents of an adopted daughter from China. Next year, we dearly hope that the parade will include a little girl of our own--whether in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, or somewhere else in the world!

What's your zodiac???

Secret Pal

2007-02-11T22:29:00.000-06:00

Kristen signed up for an anonymous gift exchange with other families waiting for their referrals. We, well she, has been shopping for one family and she, well we, have been waiting to see what would turn up in the mail.

This is what turned up last Thursday:

We could not be more delighted! Our first package included a plush bear/rattle/huggy-thing, a wonderful fleece crib blanket (both pictured), some shampoo, and baby massage oil.

This photo also gives you a sense of the new color theme in the nursery-- green!

We're feeling quite proud of the way the room is shaping up. It took a bit of doing this weekend, but it really looks great!

We also met our social worker to update our homestudy today (Sunday). This is all necessary because the process has taken longer than expected, and our various official documents are starting to expire. Ah, the joys of a paper pregnancy!

And the number is....

2006-12-03T19:35:00.000-06:00

December 12, as it turns out. Our official log in date, the date our adoption application was checked in at the China Center of Adoption Affairs.

Almost a year ago, our agency surprised us in late January with the news that our application had been sent to China, with a log in date of December 16--we had thought our application was still stateside. Very recently, we learned that the date was actually earlier. How much earlier? Well, 4 days doesn't seem like a lot, until you consider that it takes 2 months to refer 1 month's worth of referral dates. So, when the CCAA finally gets to the December 2005 dates, 4 days could make the difference between a referral in say, May, and a referral in June.

So we'll take it!

YIPPPIIIEEE!!! We’re through the “review room!”

2006-09-20T07:21:00.000-05:00

We got some unexpected and very welcome news today. Our dossier (the mountain of paper work associated with the adoption process) has been reviewed (and approved) by the China Center for Adoption Affairs!!!

This happened much sooner than we had expected, given the slow down in referring children.

What happens next is that our (now) approved paper work gets matched with the paper work from a waiting child. We’re not sure when that will happen; the lag between approved paper work and referral of a child seems to be running about six months at present. The only thing we know for sure is that all of those times change, and this is the first sign of real progress since we had our paper work logged-in last December.

We’re a bit giddy! Still waiting, of course, but it’s a bit giddier kind of waiting!

Baby Rankin Book Club®

2006-07-04T14:56:00.000-05:00

One of my fondest memories of childhood was being read to at bedtime, and it’s one of the things I most look forward to doing as the parent of a very young child. We hope that our daughter learns to love reading as much as we did as kids, and as much as we do now. So as we get closer to receiving our referral, it’s time to start putting together a library!

What Were Your Favorite Books?

Many of you parents have children who were young not so long ago. Your kids have their favorites, and you had your favorites, too (those would be the books that still charm after the 25th reading…) We’d love your help. Please add the titles of your own children’s favorite books—and yours—to our list by adding a comment to this posting. We’ll “publish” the list periodically, and also give updates of our own.

Building a Multi-Cultural Library

Aside from the normal range of great kid’s books, we are looking for books with a multi-cultural bent. Dave and I had already had an interest in foreign language kid’s books as a result of our trips and educational experiences overseas (as you’ll see from the selection below). Now that we are building a diverse family, we’re even more interested in books that tell stories from other cultures and in different languages.

Das tierische Worterbuch (loosely, ‘The Animal’s Dictionary’) is a fun example (see the picture of the talking sheep, above). Dave found this wonderful book on his recent business trip to Zurich. The book shows the sounds that a sheep, a duck, a frog, a horse, etc., makes in 40 different languages, including Russian, Arabic, Irish, Welsh, Swedish and of course, Chinese!

The picture above roughly translates as follows: 'It's reasonable to think that the many peoples around the earth speak many different languages. But how is it with the animals? Just look at the three sheep here. Do you think that the Norwegian sheep understands what the other two are saying in Chinese and Afrikaans? I don't quite know. Maybe the sheep understand exactly, and maybe only us people need to learn foreign languages'

Here are some other recent editions from the Westman-Rankin juvenile collection:

The Hungry Caterpillar: we were first introduced to this book in Malaga, Spain, while browsing at an open air book market. Although we really prefer the Spanish version (it’s more poetic), we decided to buy the board book in English. After our daughter chews through the English version, we’ll consider picking up the big format picture book in Spanish.

El Gato (the Cat): Also from Malaga, a picture book about cats—who wouldn’t love a book like this? For instance, did you know that “el gato es un pescador” (the cat is a fisherman)?

Carl Goes Shopping, features our favorite baby-sitting rottweiler named after one of our favorite people.

The Polar Express

El Mundo Magico de Gaudi, a fabulous book in Spanish about a girl in Barcelona who spends her summer vacation with a friendly dragon, discovering the whimsical, magical, fantastic world of Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi.

A selection of Dr Seuss, including One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; I am NOT Going to Get Up Today (also good for teenagers); Dr. Seuss's ABC; and, Oh Say Can You Say?

Thanks for helping us build the library. Click the "comments" link below, and leave us your suggestions!

(“Baby Rankin Book Club” is a registered trademark of Westman-Rankin productions. All rights reserved.)

So where is she, you ask?

2006-07-03T16:43:00.000-05:00

Thank you for asking; we’re wondering the same thing. The short answer is that we’re all still waiting, but making progress.

The longer answer goes like this. The CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) is making good progress reviewing paperwork. Our “dossier” (also known as an adoption application) was logged in last December 16th. Right now, the CCAA has reviewed the adoption applications that were submitted before October 31, 2005, and (at present) seem to review about a month's worth of submissions each month. They should get to ours by the end of August.

Referring children has been moving a bit slower, but seems to be picking up pace. Right now, children have been “referred” to parents whose dossiers were logged in on or before June 28th of last year (12 months from their log-in date). We’re hopeful that we will get a referral in December and travel early next year.

"Go somewhere warm and relax..."

2006-04-09T21:44:00.000-05:00

After we finished our paperwork in December, I asked our agency rep what we should do next. As an adoptive mother of a little boy from Russia, her advice was "go somewhere warm," so Dave and I set upon planning our first winter-time, warm-weather destination trip. For a couple whose idea of a winter vacation is a ski weekend in Duluth, this was, shall we say, a novel concept.

Confident that we were up to the challenge, we went to the bookstore and bought a guide to the Caribbean....But where to vacation? If you haven't been to the Caribbean before (OK, OK, everyone's been to the Caribbean), you don't realize that there are dozens and dozens of hospitible islands for swimming, sailing, snorkeling, scuba, shopping and sleep. We considered all of them, but decided on Curacao, mostly because it was a) great for snorkeling, b) affordable, and c) dutch. Curacao is one of the ABC islands that make up the Dutch Antilles, about 35 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

So, off we went. On February 20 we left the dregs of a Chicago winter, and within hours we were in a different country and a different season.

Here I am, our first evening in Curacao, seeing coral for the first time. One of my objectives for our trip was to snorkel; the first and last time I snorkeled was in Cancun in 1984, and at the time I was captivated. We had read that Curacao had great shore reefs (reefs close enough to the shore that you can see lots of fish just snorkeling), so we were excited and anxious to get on some gear and see what was around.

Curacao did not disappoint. Day 2, Dave and I visited the dive shop that was located on the public beach where our lodge was located (Playa Kalki). We rented snorkel gear, and proceeded 20 yards to the beach. (Tip: when entering surf wearing flippers, turn around and back in....). It was incredible!

Flush from our first successful foray into the underseas world of Jacques...you get the idea, Dave and I retired to the beach cafe for a quick lunch. We discovered another marvel of the area--Amstel's version of a hot weather light beer, called Amstel Bright. MMMmmm....

Day 3 it was time to get in the rental car and explore the island. This required gassing up the car, which I call a "cultural experience," and Dave calls a "pain in the a__"....

He's laughing because he almost entered the gas station using the exit (dutch signage), and was instructed to move the car to the other side of the pump (we still don't know why). Our "car" (generous term for it) is an old rust bucket that we rented from the lodge where we are staying. It shimmies...

We drove down the south coast of the island to Curacao's main city, which is also the capital of the Dutch Antilles region, called Willemstad. It still retains much of the dutch colonial architecture that characterized the city in its heyday--part of its charm and also part of the reason we chose to visit.

Willemstad is bi-sected by a large port (Sint Anna Bay), and residents get from one side of town to another on a ferry. There is a lot of ship traffic. Dave and I love big boats. We had a lot of fun watching container ships come into port, including one ship that was carrying school buses!

By our fourth day we had relaxed. We saw an incredible array of fish during our stay. We snorkeled almost daily. We still don't know everything we saw, but here's a selection: krill, parrot fish (blue and rainbow), fairy basslet, grey and french angel fish, schools of bonefish, grouper, four-eye butterfly fish, sergeant majors, blue tangs, yellow tail damsels, bar jack, banded butterfly, sea horse, flounder (several varieties), needle fish, octopus, green and spotted moray eels, and a sea turtle.

The sea turtle made us think of the movie "Finding Nemo"--they really are as mellow and, like, "Duuuude," as in the movie! (We have since purchased "Finding Nemo" on DVD, and have enjoyed our visits with the fish all over again...We think it will be fun to introduce our daughter first to the movie, and then to snorkeling and the real experience.)

We spent part of one day touring the local national park, Mt. Christoffel. The entire northwest end of the island is protected. The park includes shore line grottos, cave paintings, and ruins of old slave trading squares, like this one. A highlight of the spin through Mt. Christoffel Park--our very own sighting of the local big bird species, the Caracara.

I was also determined to try scuba diving on this trip. All of the dive shops around the island had resort courses, known as "Explore Scuba" experiences. I left Dave to explore the fishes by snorkel and strapped on a wet suit, tank, regulator, and 20 lbs of weights for a 4-hour-long one-on-one class with a Dutch instructor. It was quite freaky trying to breath through a little tube thingy while 30 feet underwater. I have decided that it's better to "explore" scuba starting in a nice, familiar swimming pool, because man, is it a weird experience. That said, I saw some amazing coral; we explored an area called the Mushroom Forest (ok you baby boomers, no snickering), because of the many mushroom coral formations.

We changed venues for our last 2 days, and moved south into Willemstad. We stayed in a restored 18th century dutch village called Kura Hulanda, which was developed by a dutchman about our age whose family hailed from Curacao. If you ever go to Curacao, we highly recommend their properties. It was quite luxurious.

We also timed our trip to coincide with the conclusion of Carnival. I had seen the leftovers of carnival season when I visited Europe as a college student. It looked like fun--colorful signs, floats, and left behind confetti. So as it happened, on our last day on the island, instead of the gift shopping that we had planned, Dave and I joined the locals and the other tourists and watched the local Grand Carnivale Parade. It was great fun--here are some highlights....

THE GRANDE CARNIVALE PARADE!!!

After waiting for hours (locals had staked out spots along the route from early morning), the first sounds of the carnival parade could be heard far up Willemstrasse. The parade route started about 6 miles up the road at 9 am. At about 3 pm, the first marchers appeared and the parade (which lasted until 8 pm) began! These are costumed parade-goers dressed like the Caracara bird, Mexico's national fowl. The costumes were superb. As you'll see, the costume designs were incredibly imaginative and exuberant! Personally, it made me want to get out my sewing machine and sequin stash! How much fun is that???? (Dave M, this would remind you of Evanston's Fourth of July Parade...)

The gents above look like the Mardi Gras revelers we're used to seeing in New Orleans.

...I must dance!

These caterpillar people were one of our favorites!

Kristen (below) was not chilly, but trying to hide from the sun.

David checks out the pilot boats waiting for the parade.

By all appearances, Carnivale is one of the year's big events. Everybody in town watches the parade, even the pilot boat crews that escort freighters into Sint Anna Bay. It was fun that afternoon to watch a huge freighter come in, with the crew on deck, enjoying the bands and waving to the parade goers.

Admiring her fans admiring her, one of the parade goers gets her groove on! ....

Crazy! Umbrella hats in a fantastic variation on the theme of Spring!

Happy, but tired...and so very glad to have visited the island. When we return to Curacao, which we intend to do sometime, it will be with a little person in tow...

An Update...

2006-04-09T20:09:00.000-05:00

Kris, who regularly visits the China Center for Adoption Affairs website, learned last week that families whose paperwork was received in China by the end of May (2005) received their referrals at the end of March. This means that the wait is now 10 months, a good bit longer than the six months we expected. If this time holds (and whether it will is anyone’s guess—it may be longer, it could be shorter), we should be getting a referral in October, and traveling by the end of the year.

We’re trying not to let the waiting drive us crazy. Kris and I have taken a trip (a real fun one, just like everyone recommends, to Curacao, more on this later). We just spent the weekend with my parents and Kristen’s mom (another lovely time, more on that later, too!). We have plenty of house projects (anyone know a good mason/concrete/front walk/driveway repair/replacement person?). And spring means yard-work and gardening (which both of us actually find relaxing).

But the uncertainty and just waiting is a bit hard. I really just want to get on with things.

One thing we treat ourselves to is checking in on Morgan (adopted from China in March 2005) and her family via their blog. We’re both quite taken with her, and really appreciate her mom and dad sharing their experiences. We feel better prepared just reading their site.

Have a look for yourselves.

David in China Town

2006-03-12T20:44:00.000-06:00

China Town
Originally uploaded by j david.

Once in a great while, Kristen managed to wrestle the camera away from David. Here, David and Kitty were taking in the view as we headed back uptown to get ready for Kristen's birthday dinner.

Kristen and Friend

2006-03-12T20:02:00.000-06:00

Kristen and Friend
Originally uploaded by j david.

This is a mask that is used in the New Year's parades. David forced Kristen to pose for this picture.

Lanterns

2006-03-12T19:58:00.000-06:00

Lanterns
Originally uploaded by j david.

This is the icon in the upper left hand corner. The streets were packed (this was the eve of the weeklong New Year's festival) with lanterns, dragons, coins, clothing and all kinds of New Year's goodies.

If this is Manhattan, it must be Chinese New Year...

2006-03-12T19:41:00.000-06:00

...or at least Kristen's birthday. We traveled to New York to celebrate Kristen's birthday and could not resist visiting Chinatown on the eve of Chinese New Years. (OK, OK, so we're late in posting.) The streets were packed, not only with tourists, but with the locals intent on really whooping it up and welcoming in the year of the dog.

(If you look carefully, you can find the birthday girl herself in the photo above).

One of the more interesting things we noticed were the giant "party poppers" that were being sold on the streets. (Alex, if you're reading this they were HUGE--you'd love 'em). As kids, we both loved the "poppers" that shot confetti. They were small (about the size of a shot glass) and were designed to be used indoors. The giant ones we saw were about the size of a telescope (~3 feet long and 2-3"wide) and launched shiny confetti 50-60 feet into the air! (sounded a bit like gun fire...but looked better) Have a look at the picture on the right.

We met Kristen's mom in New York and had a great time exploring Chinatown, visiting museums, and spending time with dear family friends.

We'll post more about the museums later, but for now, we'll close with a couple of picutres of the folks we celebrated Kristen's birthday with. Thanks to Mike, Carol and all of our friends and family as you help us pass the time!

Building the family photo album for our dossier

2006-03-05T15:36:00.000-06:00

Although a dossier is mostly comprised of official documents, it also includes a family photo album. The album includes photos of us, our immediate family, our home, our local community, and tells something about us as a couple. We were encouraged to be creative and have fun with the project, and so the process of culling pictures and learning to create a colorful scrapbook of pictures began. (Our front cover is shown at left; the space at lower left is ready for the chinese translation.)

We started with pictures from our wedding day. We included pictures from our recent trips to Montreal, Spain and London, because we hope to share our love of foreign travel with our daughter. Since education is important to us, we included Dave's graduation picture. We showed the beach front in Wilmette, where we spend our summers with family and friends, the local school and library. And we included lots of pictures of our parents, our brothers and sisters and their kids. (Thanks to Kitty and Anders, who sent us good pictures of Kristen's family, and thanks to Maria for sending us good pictures of Dave's family.)

Here are a few highlights from our photo album. Enjoy!

Here's David (above) and Kristen (below) this past summer in the Chinese Garden, Montreal Botanic Gardens, Canada.

Here's Kristen and our parents, Kitty, Maxine and Jack (right), enjoying burgers and beer at Cranberry's in Indian Lake, summer 2004.

Kristen's family (below) gathered in June 2005 to celebrate a significant birthday for Kitty. Here's the whole clan: Charlotte, Bjorn, Anders, Kitty (front row), Jan, Erik and Kristen (standing).

The Big Wait Begins

2006-02-12T11:08:00.000-06:00

As all of you know by now, we have started down the long road to adoption. We are adopting a baby girl from the People’s Republic of China. While we’ve been at it awhile, we have a ways to go before we bring our little girl home. Welcome to our Big Wait.

We’ve been busy collecting documents, undergoing a home study, and putting together a formal dossier (in English and in Chinese) to submit to the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs in Beijing. Over the past 8 months, every weekend and every weekday after coming home from work, there were letters to write, calls to make, papers to collate, copies copies copies, Fed Ex, Kinko’s, more copies, ooops, where’s the Fed Ex envelope, we’re out of Fed Ex envelopes, wait wait, we need another 3 copies, …where was I???... well, you get the picture.

Then there were David’s fingerprints. Too many years of driving a keyboard has left him print-less, or so the government said the first couple of times they tried to fingerprint him. Delays (that’s time delays, not Tom Delay, but don’t get us started…). Then there was the minor matter of the first World Series title in Chicago since 1917…more delays, but it was exciting nonetheless (Go Sox!).

One of the items in our dossier that was actually fun to assemble was a family photo album. This prompted a visit to the local craft store, where Kristen discovered her inner scrap-booker. We’ll post some of the photos as soon as we figure out how.

Our completed dossier, now translated into Chinese, went to Beijing in November. We received word in January that it was officially logged in at the CCAA on December 16, 2005. It’s official!

And thus our Big Wait begins…

Here’s what happens from here. Every month, the CCAA matches dossiers to waiting children. Currently, the time from log in to referral is running about 8 months, or so we are told. This can always change, but for now, we’ve been told to expect a referral in the Fall. Once we get a referral, we travel to China six to eight weeks later.

In the meantime, we are doing lots of reading, getting the house in order, catching up with family and friends, announcing our news, and finally taking that vacation we’ve been putting off for 8 months. We’re also sizing up our back bedroom for a little girl. Hmm. Pink?

We’ll use this website to keep our friends and family in the loop, as we prepare ourselves for the great adventure of parenthood. Check back in from time to time!