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First week home



We ride in carseats here...



I have a brand new baby cousin!

Big brother is pretty fun!





Eating out at the new Noodles & Co.



First stroller ride

 

Putting big brother in his place

All kinds of new contraptions

The sun is strong here!




My teeth are coming in so I'll chew on yours





My teeth!








New shades



Big bro is a BIG help!



How cute am I?



Super cute!



Break dancing?

Awesome yellow hair!

Nemo is pretty cool

He swings with me!



This is where the folks put me if I eat before them



Fun barnyard pals from Uncle Z!

 

Day 15: Hong Kong to San Francisco to Denver to HOME!!! (4/19/12)

We checked out of the hotel prior to 9 a.m. and were at the United counter shortly thereafter.  It was a good thing.  Our flight was not until 11:30 a.m. but we ended up needed all of that time.  There was a rather long snaking line to check in but we were the problem children when we got our chance.  We were at the checkin counter so long, Tam caught a nap.  We were at the checkin counter so long that by the time we were done, there was no more snaking line.  We were told there was a problem because we checked in online the day before.  Ummmm...no we didn't.  All we could think of was that perhaps our travel agent was doing us a favor?  Anyway, there was some hiccup with that because the adults were checked in but the baby was not.  It took the counter clerk a long time and some consultation with a couple other people to sort that out.  Then, we inquired about moving our seats to the bulkhead or upgrading to more leg room.  Another delay and special phone calls made to the powers that be.  Only 1 bulkhead seat was available so we just sprung for more leg room. 

After checking in was the normal security check and then an immigration check and then another security search of our carryon bags at the gate.  We requested to preboard and were allowed to do that.  All of our flights have been full and none of them have announced preboarding with small children and infants.  We really did not want to have to gate check any of our carryon bags, so boarding early made sure we got a spot for them.

This is how the flight started...

...and that baby was not seen again for about 15 hours....

She just seemed overstimulated and miserable.  She could not sleep and did not really eat well.  She cried because she was tired.  She cried because she could not doodie.  She vomited because she was crying.  We sat with her.  We walked with her.  We tortured everyone on the plane.  The bulkhead people gave up their seats in hopes we could put her down in the bassinette and we all could get some peace.  The bassinnette became a good storage area for all the parephenalia we were using to attempt to make her comfortable.  She screamed if we tried to put her in it.  She finally passed out at hour 8 but only slept for 2 hours.  She woke up just in time to be miserable on the descent because she would not take a bottle to help her ears.  As glad as I was when we finally landed, I broke down over the thought of getting on another airplane after seeing Tam's pleading face looking for help when she was in pain over the landing.  It was awful.  We forged on. 

We had about 2 hours between flights, and once again, needed most of that time to make our next flight.  We went through customs with no problem but had to visit a second agent regarding Tam's paperwork and Chinese passport.  Once we got through, our Tamasyn became a U.S. citizen!  Both customs agents took the time to congratulate us, which was appreciated by a couple of parents with tired bodies and worn out emotions.

Once we made it to the gate, Tam passed out again and thankfully stayed asleep through boarding and the entire flight to Denver.  She stirred just a bit as we started the landing, so I got the bottle into her and she had no complaints about her ears this time.  Cousin picked us up at the airport and home we went to greet big brother, auntie, and cousins.

Day 14: Guangzhou: Visa and off to Hong Kong (4/18/12)

Today, we were planning to go to Shamian Island, a place we had heard a lot about from other adoptive families who had traveled before us.  Many families stayed at the White Swan Hotel there and the consulate used to be located there as well.  There is supposed to be good tourist shopping there as well.  However, Tam fell asleep when we were planning to head out, and then once again, the weather looked like this:

So, we hung around the hotel and packed up our things.  We checked out of the hotel by 3 p.m. and then we had to wait a bit to meet our guide in the lobby before catching the van to Hong Kong.

Lobby ceiling light

Lobby

Kathy brought Tamasyn's visa at about 4:15.  We checked over everything and it all was correct so off we went to the van taking us to Hong Kong.

Tamasyn and Kathy



The van ride was something else.  We had experienced the insane van rides in Beijing but we did not have a baby with us at the time.  This van was much more modern and did have seatbelts but we did not have a carseat with us, so we hung onto Tam.  We hit a few traffic areas but mostly we were zipping along at 120 km/h (about 75 mph).  We were on a highway, so that speed alone is something we are used to but the driver was zig-zagging, weaving through the traffic, tossing us around quite a bit.  Perhaps he really needed to use the men's room, because about 2 hours into the trip, we reached the border control area where he stepped out to use the toilet.  I'm unclear why there is border control since Hong Kong is part of China, but there is.  When we got to the China exit point, the driver opened the side door of the van and a man with a surgical mask (or exhaust inhalation prevention mask in this case) and what looked like a video game gun "shot" us one by one.  We assume that gun was a camera.  We hope it was a camera.  Then, probably 30 minutes later after waiting in a pretty short line, we got up to a window where our China exit cards were taken and passports examined.  We were asked if we were bringing the baby to live in America.  Off we went a short distance to the Hong Kong entrance point without being shot at but also requiring passport checks. 

Tam had been pretty cooperative until all this waiting started, so hubs and I had to amp up our entertainment skills.  Luckily, she is pretty easily entertained.

With the wait, the drive from Guangzhou to Hong Kong took about 3 hours.  We checked into the Regal Airport Hotel.  It was 7:30 p.m. by this point, past Tam's usual time to sleep, so she went down very quickly when we arrived.  We picked this hotel because it was the cheapest (by a slim margin) of the 3 hotels recommended near the airport and we could walk to the airport in the morning to check in for our flight rather than catching a shuttle.  From what I read on the China adoption board I frequented through the years, the Regal is usually more expensive, but when I booked it, there was some kind of deal running, so it was a little less.  Still, for around $200 a night, they could not throw in free internet access or breakfast???  Hubs wandered to the airport and brought us back some dinner which was decent and not as high priced as usual airport food. 

We could not figure out how to turn on the TV, no internet, no babyvision...we had a long day of travel ahead of us, so off to dreamland we went...

Day 13: Guangzhou: Consulate Appointment (4/17/12)

Today was the all-important appointment at the U.S. Consulate here in Guangzhou.  We took a large tour bus with a bunch of other families from several different agencies to the consulate for a 10:00 a.m. appointment.  We all gathered in an office upstairs, past a point where our guides could accompany us.  The consulate clerk took roll and one family was missing but showed up shortly after.  An official at the consulate then came to the window and we all stood and took an oath on behalf of our children.  After that, each family was called up to the window one at a time to have the submitted paperwork reviewed.  That was it.  No cameras or cell phones were allowed at the consulate, so no photos folks.  But here is a photo of Tam in the breakfast room before we went:

We then headed back to the hotel.  We were planning to check out another park which is in walking distance of the hotel but the weather was not looking cooperative.  Our guide Kathy is trying to help a friend's daughter improve her English.  The daughter, Lily, is 16 and is planning to go to Florida for part of 10th grade on an exchange program.  Kathy did not have a lot of time so she thought it might be nice to have Lily escort us to the park so that she could practice her English with us.  Instead of the park, Lily escorted us to the local market, Carrefour, to pick up some baby food and a few other items we wanted for the last days and trip home.  Lily was very nice to help us out but she did not think her English was very good and did not seem confident in trying to converse with us.  We thought her English was just fine and tried to ask her questions.  We got our items and Lily appeared quite relieved when we told her we did not want to do the park in the rain and she went on her way.

The baby food section was pretty small and we did not find what we were looking for.  We bought some but it was very thick mixed foods and Tam wanted no part of it.  Oh well, we gave the rest to Kathy to give to one of the orphanages she visits.

Tamasyn in the hotel room



The hotel has what basically amounts to a mall of shops and restaurants on the ground floor.  One of the more economical restaurants is called "Food Street" and has a large selection of menu items including the guy above.  He was not included on our order:

We enjoyed the food very much but we went for an early dinner and the restaurant was not busy.  As a result, we had 3 staff members basically staring at us as we played with Tam and ate our food.  Neither hubs or I said anything but we both felt the same way.  Tamasyn fixed it for us by being a little fussy and then urping on the me and her.  We retreated to the hotel room to get cleaned up and hubs got the food packaged up so we could enjoy it in our hotel room without the prying eyes. 

Afterwards, Tamasyn was in good form again and had a nice headbutt session with dad.  Need to get the kiddo a helmet!

Day 12: Guangzhou: Medical Exam and Liu Hua Lake Park (4/16/2012)

Another excellent hotel breakfast buffet at the China Hotel here in Guangzhou.  There are lots of babies and children here in the breakfast room.  It is so nice to see so many adoptive families.  There were only a few at our hotel in Nanchang. 

First highchair feeding

We met our guide to take Tamasyn to her required medical exam and to get her visa photo.  As she often does when we are out and about, she fell asleep on the way there and woke up just in time for her photo - very serious mugshot as a result.  We did not have to wait too long for the medical exam.  She did great through the various stages of the very cursory medical exam, only fussing at the last station where the nurse took her temperature under her arm.  Who knew that is the part of the exam she would balk at?




Waiting for medical exam



After the exam, we went back to the hotel where we had to work with our guide to prepare all the paperwork for the consulate appointment tomorrow, including filling out yet more forms.  We got that done and the rest of the day was our own.  There was an optional Pearl River cruise which we heard mixed reviews about.  At first, we were going to go and then decided not to.  The air is similar to Nanchang here - overcast/polluted, so we weren't sure how much we would see from the cruise.  It also happens in the evening, right around the time Tam usually goes to sleep for the night.  She had a bit of a restless night last night, so we thought better to let her get solid sleep in a bed tonight.  The other deciding factor is money.  We are very low on funds even though we brought more cash than our agency suggested.  Our guide pushed hard for us to take the private van to Hong Kong rather than the train, but it costs more, so that used up our excursion money.   We are okay with that though.  Pretty worn out by this point in the trip and Tam seems a bit out of sorts with the hotel/city change, so probably best if we just take it easy.



Couch in hotel lobby



With that decided, we spent the afternoon at a park across from the hotel called Liu Hua Lake Park.  It is quite beautiful and has a similar variety of activities going on that Bayi Park did in Nanchang except this park is much larger so it is not as congested.  The activities were a little different here with the folks in Guangzhou playing table tennis and hacky sac, singing karaoke, working out on outdoor fitness machines, and playing card games.  Kathy tells us there is also dancing but here it often happens in the evening when it is cooler out.

Between the weather and the name of this park...feeling a bit like Hawaii, and then we go inside and there are huge banyan trees...

Outdoor fitness machines





Outdoor karaoke

Landscaping broom