Home 10 days now

This post goes out by special request to one of my co-workers (you know who you are: ).

I've been meaning to do an update, really but time's just kind of slipped away. We managed to get everyone back on the same timezone about a week after our return. Zeke has really been settling into our family well and is starting to get the hang of our daily routine. I have about 5 weeks left before I return to work so I am attempting to savor every moment.

We have been trying to limit our daily routine to one diversion (family visit, outing, medical appointment,etc.) a day as Zeke tends to get overwhelmed w/sensory input if we do anything more. We can tell when he has been over stimulated by people or places on a given day as he has a hard time at night (thing was something we went thru w/Maddy). His life prior to our family was very routine w/limited play time, toys etc. so we need to be careful about slowly building him up. He is usually ready for a nap by 10 am purely due to the exhaustion of keeping up w/a new language & a new place w/so much to do.

We went for a little outdoor walk last week so Zeke could experience his first snow. He wasn't quite sure what to think.

Each day he picks up a little English each day and is rapidly expanding his vocabulary. Today he told me 'Jie, Jie (big sister) all done' and handed me her empty water cup. He still attempts to speak to us in Mandarin often but I am guessing after so many blank stares from us at some point he will stop. He really is just personality plus & quite a little charmer.

Reading the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve

Giving Daddy medical attention

Rolling through the mall in the new double swagger wagon

Giving us his best Fonz impression

Back home, settling in

Red Couch Photo of our Hubei Honey

Photo w/Nai Nai (wearing their Di Di, Jie Jie & Nai Nai shirts)

Brother & Sister on the infamous Red Couch @ the White Swan

We made it back safely on Christmas Eve. Sleep was a precious commodity doled out sparingly on the flights home. There was a medical emergency on the flight from Tokyo to MSP, this was something we had only seen on TV or the movies so it was quite an experience. After a couple of pleas in several languages by the flight attendants for a doctor, one was found. He was sitting next to Linda & sprung into action immediately once he realized the request. The passenger made it to Minneapolis & was ushered off by paramedics once we landed.

It was such a wonderful feeling to go through immigration as MSP knowing our son is finally a US Citizen. We were greeted by friends of ours that have kids from China- what a blessing to get such a warm welcome. We were additionally blessed by all the people (friends, family & neighbors) that pitched in to ensure our walk was cleared of snow, repair an issue w/our house, to stock or fridge w/some groceries, & send a box of wrapped Christmas gifts for the us and the kids. What a huge relief to come home to such a warm welcome.

We had a very low key Christmas at home & spent most of the day sleeping on & off. The road to resuming a normal schedule will be long, but overall our hearts are overflowing with happiness at becoming a family of four. As I write this post I am listening to the kids fight (one in English the other in Chinese), ah the sounds of normalcy.

Final Step - US Consulate Appointment & Swearing In Ceremony

We completed the final step of our paperwork here in China today. Our Consulate Appointment was in the morning & this afternoon we took the oath of citizenship on behalf of our son, once we land in the US he will be an official citizen. It is such an honor to be part of this important day in our son's life (in addition to the 40 or 50 kids there today w/their parents). We hope that some day Zeke will understand the full meaning of being a US Citizen in addition to relishing his Chinese hertitage. It's such a relief to be done with this part of the trip, now we can concentrate on completing our shopping & packing up.

Ready to go to the consulate!

We had a celebratory dinner tonight at the Orient Express (French Restaurant here on the Island). The food was excellent, but the mosquitoes were dead set on having their dinner too so we had to move inside to finish our meal.

I will try to post one more time, we will take a van to Hong Kong on Thursday to stay the night in an airport hotel before leaving out bright & early Friday morning. We will leave @ 8 am on Christmas Eve here & arrive @ 11 am Christmas Eve at home. Not a bad deal if I had to pick a day to do over: )

After the ceremony, same spot we stood w/Maddy & our travel group 3 years ago

Pictures of night time on Shamian Island

No question about which one is the men's room here

Zeke sat on a stool & pulled one up for Maddy then patted it for her to sit

Boats on the Pearl River

Dinner at Lucy's w/another RQ family

Christmas Tree @Lucy's Place

Life in Guangzhou

We are on our 3rd full day on Shamian Island and love it here. It's so nice to be able to get out and walk around. There have been a lot of improvements since we were here 3 years ago in prep for the Asia Games that are just finishing up (the main games were in Nov & now it's the para games). There are beautiful gardens & a new little jogging track/exercise area. We are also staying in a different hotel than last time & really love it as it is much lower key (& cheaper) than the White Swan.

We went to church yesterday, it was sweet because the kids were doing there Christmas performance. Additionally, we went to the Zoo & our guide took us out for a yummy Cantonese dinner. Today we have been doing a little shopping.

Zeke loves to go out in the stroller & quite often will go sit in the stroller in our room until someone pushes him around. We are discovering lots of things about Zeke, especially what a little charmer (read manipulator) sometimes. He has learned the art of getting his way so we are working with him on this. He really is a good little boy, he just gets a bit naughty when he is overtired & hungry.

Maddy is starting to take her job as a big sister very seriously, in fact she is quick to tell us when her Di Di is doing something wrong or scold him herself. She did have one incident where I saw her stick up for her brother when another child was getting in Zeke's face so I commend her on quickly learning this.

Zeke got an all clear today for his TB test so we are good to go for the Consulate Appt tomorrow. They have changed things slightly so we have the CA & Swearing In Ceremony on the same day. We still have to wait until Thursday afternoon for our visa so we ask for your prayers that we will be able to get this earlier so we can head out to Hong Kong sooner to settle into the last night of our hotel stays before flying out Friday morning.

Daddy's trip to DaYe and other thoughts...

Thursday, I had the good fortune to be granted an opportunity to visit my son's orphanage in DaYe City, Hubei (my mom and Maddy accompanied me for the trip). During the two hour journey, our guide was kind enough to translate the finding ad we were given on metcha day, so we knew where he was found. DaYe is a growing city, much of which has been recently constructed, in some ways it seems nicer than Wuhan.


Upon our arrival we were greeted in the carpark by the Assistant Director, the Secretary and several caregivers. They were all disappointed that we did not bring Yang Yang (Zeke) with us. We climbed the stairs to the 4th floor where they housed the children (the welfare office in DaYe also cares for retired soldiers, the elderly without children and the disabled). They wouldn't allow us to take any photographs inside the orphanage or of the children there. It wasn't a bad as I might have imagined, but it was certainly not 4 Star accommodations, the temperature outside was freezing and it didn't feel any warmer inside (guess that explains why they bundle the child in what seems to be ridiculous amounts of clothing), southern China gets no subsidies for heating in the winter, so most places don't have heat.


The orphanage was basically one large room for children to play in with a half dozen smaller rooms adjoining. One for infants, which we could not see because "the children were sleeping," and one called quarantine, which was where I was told our son slept? One other room contained four cribs and held two disabled children and a six month old healthy infant. The rest of the rooms were possibly storage, offices or just not part of the tour and one bathroom for the children which held the laundry facilities as well. I was able to ask a few questions, expressed my gratitude for the excellent care he was given, provided the circumstances of course (we could tell that the staff loved him and probably gave him extra attention as it appears that he is the only boy that was there). They wished us well, we gave them our gifts. We returned to the carpark and adjoining garden where we were given contact information and took photographs of the staff. We shook hands, said goodbye and went for lunch accompanied by the Secretary who took us to Yang Yang's finding spot which was nearby so I could see the place and take some photo's.

View out our son's window at DaYe SWI

Photo opp w/staff

Following that we had a nice lunch, I expressed my thanks once again to the orphanage Secretary and we left the restaurant. We made one stop before leaving DaYe to purchase a couple of souvenirs from Yang Yang's home town and made our way back to Wuhan.

I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to my son's orphanage, to meet those who cared for him, to see where he spent the first years of his life, to take in the sights, smells and sounds, to be able to share these with him as he grows. I am also grateful to have seen the place where his parents had thoughtfully and lovingly placed this wonderful child to be found quickly and brought to a place where he might receive what they thought they could not give him, the place where he eventually came to us. To some my words may trite, but I am grateful for the events in both my daughter and son's lives that brought them into the family that we now share and will continue to share and cherish. Without them, I may never have know the joy that is so dear to me now as I proclaim that I have been blessed beyond measure.

Beautiful DaYe scene

Some other things...

Should you ever find yourself in Wuhan or Changsha, and need passage to Guangzhou, might I suggest foregoing air travel and take the bullet train. Seriously, about the same or maybe even less elapsed time as having to arrive at the airport early for check-in and screening, not to mention the luggage weight restrictions. On top of that, if you are travelling during daylight hours you will see beautiful parts of China you certainly won't see from the air. Did I mention that the seats are much more comfortable and there's generous amounts of legroom!

Wuhan to Guangzhou

We wrapped up our official buiness in Wuhan by Noon on Friday with the finale being the receipt of Zeke's Chinese passport. He had his first official taste of McDonalds before we headed out.

One funny little fact we learned about Chinese culture- instead of playing Peek-a-Boo (which Boo / Bu means 'no' in Chinese), they play ' mao-mao' with the kids. We had to laugh when our guide old us this because we thought when Zeke was sliding from under the chair saying this to us that they had cats at the orphanage: ).

We opted to take the bullet train instead of fly from Wuhan to Guangzhou. This train is China's fastest & finest with the ability to get up to 400 kilometers per hour (248 miles per hour). The train we were on only topped out at about 346 (215 miles/hour) which as still a pretty healthy clip. Our trip had one stop in Changsha (a shout out to my friends w/kids from Hunan: ). The train is definately the way to travel, it was very nice inside & the train depots in each city seemed nicer than the airports. We got to see some very unique sites traveling this way that we likely would have never seen on the beaten path.

Wuhan Train Station

Guangzhou South Station

We arrived safely in Guangzhou about 6:30 last night & have settled in for a 6 day visit to Shamian Island. Matt, Maddy & Linda went to visit Zeke's Orphanage on Thursday, Matt will post about that along w/some pictures later.