Photos from Boo at the Zoo

http://picasaweb.google.com/tarapeltier/2008_10_26BooAtTheZoo

New Pics

There are some new pictures at flickr:

http://flickr.com/photos/29126592@N04/sets/72157607610226285/

Including this one:

RIP, pretty pink hula hoop

For the brief 36 hours that Medora had her pink hula hoop, it was a joyful addition to the family. Alas, this morning it took a 4 story plunge down an elevator shaft.

How did such a thing happen, you ask? Well, we were checking out of the condo in Breckenridge. Medora was proudly carrying her hula hoop into the elevator when she tripped. In a move that could not be repeated if you tried a thousand times, when she tripped the hula hoop arced up and slid perfectly between the elevator car and the elevator shaft. Oops!

Luckily, Medora thought this was hilarious and pantomimed the hula hoop disappearing quite a few times.

Hanging out in Breckenridge

We're spending the weekend in Breckenridge and thought I'd post a couple of cute photos. Friday we did an 'urban hike' in town and went to a toy store. We bought her a hula hoop (among other things ;) and she loved it. Today we went to mega-expensive homes as part of the "Parade of Homes" and then this afternoon we went swimming at the Breckenridge Rec Center. They have a great kids pool with a gradual sloping entrance. She loved swimming! By the end of the afternoon, she was floating on her stomach and on her back as long as we helped support her. That's a major improvement over swimming in China -- we could hardly get her in over her knees. Today, she was fearless and even went under a couple times accidentally. She didn't let that faze her and went right back to having a great time in the water!

Random cute story about the hood photo. She wanted the hood up, then immediately started feeling for her pigtails under the hood. She took the hood off and went to a store's plate glass window to check that the pigtails were still in place. Satisfied that they were okay, the hood went back up.

Long time no post

Somehow, we had less distractions in China, and could post in the evenings. Now that we're home.....

Here are some fun pictures. The one where she's holding the Caribou cup was taken in the Seoul airport where we had a 4 hour layover. Luckily, they had a little kid area with jungle-gym and she went down the slide maybe 50 times. I think Tara wore holes in her pant's knees climbing through the tubes so many times. She's also wearing her $2.50 Hello Kitty fashions, with matching knee band-aids, that were such favorites.

Now in America, the land of PLENTY, she was cruising Target and Gramps gave her some nice size-12 sneakers to wear.

Eric gets major hubby points

In addition to "fish", today had another new word: apple

I've read that when kids are in a major acquisition mode (physical or verbal) they are often fussy than normal. Medora was fussier (bordering on cranky at times) than usual today, so hopefully that explains it... 2 new words in a single day takes its toll. :)

Eric gets major points for taking care of her for 2 hours while I went for a traditional Chinese foot massage. I went with another gal who is here adopting a baby girl. She said that a Chinese foot massage was fanstastic. I really couldn't imagine what they could do to feet for 90 minutes! Thank goodness for her (and her fluent Mandarin skills), as this was definitely not a tourist place. The entry was lined with hundreds of little boxes containing herbs dispensed by the apothecary. Anyhow, the "foot massage" was much more than that. We were seated together in a room in a reclining seat, something like a La-Z-Boy. First, our feet were soaked in a wooden barrel with some sort of tea potion. While the feet were soaking, our arms, shoulders, back, neck, and hands were massaged. Then our feet were removed from the soaking tub and hot towels placed behind our necks. Then our feet, toes, ankles, and calves were massaged. It was decadent and divine, and cost about $10 US for 90 minutes of pampering.

Today had little on the adgenda other than the Red Couch Photos. I think this is simply a tradition of ours or all agencies, and allows them to add an adgenda item on a day that would otherwise simply say "Wait for Consulate Paperwork". Basically, you go sit on one of the 8 red couches in the White Swan lobby, and try to get a passable photo of your baby looking happy. The tourguides are very focussed about getting these photos done "to turn into the agency." Sometimes I wonder if this is their only receipt to get paid????

Anyhows, here are some good photos from today.

http://flickr.com/photos/29126592@N04/sets/72157607086463952/

Today we got her to say "fish" several times (there is a huge Koi pond in the lobby)!

OOOoooooo!

Why won't the Paparazzi leave me ALONE!!!

Medora's first English words: one, two, three

Medora said her first English words today! We knew that she can count to 5 in Mandarin (our guide told us this after she heard Medora counting her stacking cups). So we've been working on counting in English the last couple days.

Today, after swimming, we were taking a leisurely stroll back to the room when she wanted to stop at an outside table. So we all sat down and she was working with her stacking cups. She lined up her cups and pointed at each one in turn and said "1 -2 - 3". She's a smart cookie!

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Today we went to the zoo / safari park. The safari part consisted of an open air train that wound through a park area. The animals were roaming around. She was totally into it! She would look around the corner to be the first to spot animals and then point out animals to us. For extra special animals, she would insist that Eric take a photograph by tapping his camera lens and then pointing at the animal. The exhibit was quite large and contained giraffes, rhinos, hippos, lions, tigers, bears, zebras, elephants, you name it. Then we walked around the rest of the zoo which ended up ; the highlights were the pandas and the koalas. You can't go wrong with cute fuzzy animals. Eric posted some pictures at Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/29126592@N04/sets/72157607071461619/

Medora, the Omnivore

A nice picture of Tara and Medora on our way to dinner.

Someday, when Medora is older and refuses to eat anything but chicken nuggets and peperoni pizza, we can dig up this video of her joyfully stuffing Octopus tentacle in her mouth.

Uh oh, we have a fashionista on our hands

Today we had to do a medical exam first thing in the morning. It went just fine, although Medora was not crazy about having to take her shoes off so the doctor could inspect her toes.

After the medical stuff, we went to a local shopping area known for its pearls. Medora didn't care much for the jewelry. But when we stopped by a children's clothing store, she went nuts. She clearly selected 2 outfits, by grabbing onto them and nodding her head vigorously. Holding up any other outfits in the store elicited wild head shaking side to side ... NO!!!!!!

She selected 2 Hello Kitty outfits, which you can see in the photos. Total bill was about $6 for both outfits, so at least she's not breaking the bank yet. We had to put the red/white one on immediately after leaving the store, right there in the shopping mall. :) The pink one had to go on after swimming today. For those counting at home, that is outfit #3 for the day.

In her hand is a peach/apple cross... not sure what to call it. A papple? An appleach?

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