Eric is a cookie monster video

Medora is trying to steal a cookie from Eric... which results in a giggling fit.
http://flickr.com/photos/29126592@N04/2814095922/

Guangzhou, Full day #1

A quick pic and a full blogging later. New video at flickr, too. I don't think the videos on blogger work. At least they don't from China when I try to view them

(Note - You may see her wearing the same dress alot, even daily. She has 2 favorite outfits and all others are met with wild hand gestures of disapproval. Combined with her new penchant for feeding herself, it looks like we'll be alternating two dresses through wear/wash cycles.)

Flying to Guangzhou

We flew today from Shanghai to Guangzhou where the US Consulate will process Medora's visa. Medora did very well with the flight, she just needed lots of entertainment on the plane. I think the one that entertained passengers the most (we were in the front row of Coach) was where we connected the six Crayola markers end-to-end and tried to use the "stick" to push the overhead light button. I think this entertained for an 1/2 hour, at least. Everyone behind must have thought a midget was in need of a reading light.

Today's fun picture is Medora doing her best Elvis-like impersonation.

Today was another fun day of toddler development. Yesterday was big step in her trust, allowing us to swing her upside down:

And today it was to share her snacks with us (no video). Snacks that we pretty much need to feed her constantly between meals. Sorry, Mom, I learned nothing all those years, we snack between meals.

We got one great picture today while out at the park:

Taxis, Ferries, Fishiness

Today was another free day in Shanghai, so we went to the aquarium. Getting there required a taxi ride, followed by a ferry ride (Medora's first?), followed by another taxi ride. It was a great aquarium with many tubes where the fish swim on all sides, including the ceiling. Medora was intrigued by the fish, but didn't want to get closer than 5 feet or so. The penguins were also quite fascinating.

Medora has insisted on being carried at all times when we aren't in the hotel room. We were happy to oblige -- what fun to bond with her!! But hours of carrying her on the street, in the park, at the aquarium, etc, was taking its toll on our bodies. Twenty four pounds doesn't sound like much, but it really gets to your arms and lower back after a while. The stroller was completely rejected, so that wasn't an option.

Then all of the sudden, this afternoon, she wanted to walk on her own. At first it was only 5 feet and then a plea to be picked up. Within two hours, she was walking down the busy Shanghai streets holding our hand! Now she wiggles if we try to carry her for too long.

It's funny, as nice as it is on our bodies that she'll walk on her own now, I already miss the closeness of carrying her! Our baby is growing up ... in just three days. :)

New pics and vids

Visit the flickr site to see Medora hammering bubbles and playing the CHOMP game that she loves.

http://flickr.com/photos/29126592@N04/sets/72157606986804231/

We'll post more as soon as we can.

Visiting a local park

On Wednesday, we walked to a local park with Medora and Min (our CCAI guide).

The flowers behind Eric & Medora are lotus flowers, and some were in bloom. Very pretty.

Getting to know Medora Xingtong

Medora has a sweet, funny, clever, happy personality. She's prone to breaking out in a grin at times that just melts your heart. She has definite likes and dislikes, and is happy to tell you about them!

LIKES

• Having her hair done. We can't leave the room in the morning until her ponytails are in place. Ponytails must be redone if they come loose during the day.
• Eating. Voracious and omnivorous aren't overstatements. Green vegetables, any kind of meat, noodles of any kind. You name it, she likes it.
• Stacking toys and bubbles
• Orderly things -- the playmat must be smooth at all times, crayons go back in the box, etc.

DISLIKES

• Removing the ponytails for bedtime.
• Bedtime in general is a tearful event.
• Mealtime ending, especially if there is still food on the table

We are Officially Parents now

Tuesday was a big day!

We are Officially Parents now, as acknowleged by the Chinese government! The adoption is finalized and we are a family now! All that remains is the passport and visa work to allow her to leave China and come to the US.

We also passed some other less official parenting tests. We successfully handled her first bath and first diaper change! Thank goodness for Min, our CCAI guide, who told us we had the diaper on backwards. WHO KNEW? Why don't they label these things? And the box doesn't contain any directions ... worse than assembling Italian crib furniture! We're definitely going to have to spin that story ... shoot, we're still above the equator so I can't blame the Coreolis effect for the 'spinning' the diaper 180 degrees. Hmmm, I'll need to work on this story.

I learned that a diaper bag should ALWAYS contain a second outfit. After 2 hours in gridlocked stop-and-go Shanghai traffic in a taxi with no air conditioning (on a HOT day) with a taxi driver who loved to lug the engine while using his clutch in a binary fashion, Medora lost her breakfast. Poor girl. Both she and I (Tara) ended up covered in vomit. Even the nicely wrapped gift for the upcoming official got in the fray. Thank goodness for our CCAI guide, Min, and Helena from the Chinese Social Service Center. They were both in the backseat of the taxi with me, and jumped in to help with the situation. This happened just as we pulled up to the Notary Public office to be interviewed and make the adoption final! Luckily, there was a clothing store next door. Mind you, it was adult sizes, not childrens. So we bought her a camisole and tied up the shoulder straps. You should see it in some pictures when we get them posted -- a pink camisole with yellow piping. It made for a reasonable dress, and the notary public was understanding... both of Medora's unusual outfit and of the gift, which was now just chocolates with shreds of tissue clinging.

Well, it is 6:30 AM here and Medora will soon be up, so I'll sign off.

We'll try to get some pictures posted today. She looked adorable yesterday in a cute brown with pink polka dots shirtdress (the AM outfit) and then a sundress (the afternoon outfit) given to us by friends at a "toddler shower".

Thanks for following along!
Tara

Gotcha Day!

Here are some more pics and a video.

http://flickr.com/photos/29126592@N04/sets/72157606950487358/

We'll post more when we have our hands less full.

Taa da!!!

Here is Medora and her new family! (More pictures and vids at flickr soon)

Aaaa!

All of shanghai is a parking lot due to rain, and we are creeping towards the orphanage to pick up Medora!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

It's thunderstorming, coming down is sheets of rain. I was up 1/2 the night with food poisoning. It's Monday, and it's time to go pick up an unhappy toddler.

In other news, we concocted a walking tour of Shanghai yesterday, and were very impressed. It's really westerner-friendly. We saw the incredible YuYuan gardens, which are only, like, 500+ years old. Did some shopping in the Dragon's Gate shopping area with at least 1,000,000 of my closest Chinese friends. We were accosted by a young gal that wanted to show us her work at art school. It was really fun to meet some college students and see their work. They were VERY talented. We bought some images of the 4 Beauties that will adorn Medora's room when she's a bit older.

We then ended the day seeing the Bund buildings lit up like you see in Shanghai postcards.

Exploring Shanghai

After our marathon travel adventure (19 hours in flight, 11 hours waiting in airports, 3 hours traveling to/from airports) we crashed yesterday at 4 PM. I should say Eric crashed at 4 PM, I made it an extra 40 viruous minutes before succumbing to sleep. :)

The problem with going to bed in the mid-afternoon is that you wake up mid-night, fully refreshed. I was mostly awake at 1:30 AM, but forced myself to stay in bed until 4:30 AM. We're waiting around for the breakfast buffet to open at 6:30 AM. Since we missed dinner last night, we are starved!

Today is a free day to sightsee. We're going to go see the old town of Shanghai, Xintiandi. We're also going to check out the Yu Yuan gardens. Later this evening, we'll walk along the Bund River, which is supposed to be beautiful at night; they light the buildings for full effect.

We Made it to Shanghai!

But on the way we spent quite a few hours in the Seoul airport.

We were thinking of trying the "Broth to chase a hangover", just to say we did, but instead chose to have coffees from Caribou Coffee. I guess we simply wanted comfort foods.

The hotel room is very nice. We'll have some pictures of Shanghai later on today.

Eric

Bookin' flights

We're in the process of booking flights. The tally $$$$ doesn't look too bad, at this point. $3200 total, or so. Denver-LAX-Seoul-Shanghai, then an intercountry flight mid-trip to Guangzhu, then Guangzhu-Seoul-LAX-Denver on the way home with Medora. Then a few days later I'll be visiting Minneapolis for my sis' wedding. Ooof. I'm not a big fan of airports, crowds and traveling (but I love the destinations and that I can just read books and nap with abandon), and could never be a road warrior like many of my contemporaries, so this is gonna be a marathon. I'll pack paperbacks, clif bars, ipod, maybe some tea bags, etc. to get me through it.

Leaving on the 21st, so, 14 days and counting. Eric

The TA Arrives!!!

Monday morning starts with a bang! Travel Invitation WAY earlier than it was ever supposed to arrive. And, icing on the cake, we will most likely travel while people are trying to get back and forth to China for the Olympics. What fun. I think we travel 8/22.

I suppose we really gotta paint the kid's bedroom, eh? Eric