Cousin Avery was first to visit. Luk thought she was pretty cool. He was happy to be the center of attention ;)
We stayed up late last night and Luk had a nap this afternoon. I was feeling like we might beat the jet lagging thing this tme but it's only 5pm and I'm starting to feel very sleepy.
The Nelson Kidlets, home together!!
So happy.
Rough start for Luk, he was petrified of the dogs and totally unsure in general. He has since warmed up to everyone. He even fed Lacie a snack! He didn't flinch at the cat coming in. He is going to love having older sisters.
Home to referral news for a friend. Yay! So happy for you Diane and can't wait to hear more about your baby girl.
Giant, sincere, filled with total gratitude, warm thanks to my Mom and Dad for the stellar care of our big girls. They are happy to be home and delighted with their baby brother. They might have missed us but they clearly had a great time with Gramma and Grampa.
We didn't feel like heading out so decided since we've survived Mongolian breakfasts that we'd stick around and try the Glutinous Mongolian Buffet. On the first perusal I didn't find anything that looked like food to me. A bit of digging and picking and we scrounged up enough to eat. I thought Eric should finally get to trying out chicken feet. He brought one to the table and posed for me but didn't actually try it ;) Sadly Luk got excited when he saw it. We didn't let him eat it. Bed time here. Going home tomorrow!
One last trip out and we finally found a wee onyx one for Luk. Not what I was looking for but Eric thought it was manly. Found a smaller yellow one for Fei which was exciting.
The one I got for Luk has totally changed color now that I've had it on for a day. Amazing.
Eric is putting Luk (kissey boy) down for a nap. I'm camped in the lobby with wifi. Oh how I miss wifi ;) We were so lucky in Nanchang with stolen wifi. Bell turned off my data for security reasons. I've had to call twice to have it turned back on. Crazy. We're almost out of here so there isn't much point in fussing about it much more.
See ya' all soon!
We put Luk down for his nap late yesterday and he slept right through the night. 16 hours! He woke up happy and hungry. Then he happily went in the baby tub!! Yay. Not dealing with water aversion after all.
Getting organized for leaving tomorrow. Crazy excited about getting home. Dreading the long travel day.
Planning to head out this afternoon for a stroll through the pearl market and some lunch. Then bring Luk back for a late nap.
Mom, not sure what your plans are for Friday. We have three spots in the van if just you and the girls are coming to the airport.
Eric gave Luk a bread stick at breakfast and he immediately thrust it in the air like a sword. All boy. ;)
Oh my word! Never, seriously NEVER been so cold in my life. Had to wake both kids today. Jia cried all the way through getting ready and didn't stop until we sat to eat. Great start. Luk who eats everything in sight decided not to eat this morning. Mr. Yang brought Jia a toy and she refused to take it. Sigh. Luk pooped just as we were leaving. Such a great start.
Jia was petrified of the open gondolas at Mutianyu and cried all the way up. Then at the top we all decided to skip going on the wall because it was so stinking cold we all just wanted down and back to the car. Crazy. Took a few pics. Eric and I were laughing at how crazy the day was. Jia cried and begged not to go in the chute. It was THE way down! Walking was out of the question. I had Luk in the hip hammock and each step is uneven. In the end she stopped crying long enough to do the chute. Luk loved it. Eric was sitting too far back and had a heck of a time getting going. I tried telling him to scoot back. He couldn't hear me. He didn't get going with any speed until half way down. I thought it was fabulous. Too cold but fabulous. Lili, way easier when you have the control! Didn't have to yell at myself to slow down once ;)
We skipped shopping, too cold. Glad I bought the big winter
coat for Luk just before we left.
Then to the jade market. Showed them what I was wearing. They told me they were very nice but they don't carry anything like them. Arg. It's where I bought them. Not a single child size bangle there. I found the sales woman so frustrating. Asked to deal with someone else a couple times. She just kept coming back. Arg. Finally threw my hands in the air and left.
I showed Mr.Yang what I was looking for and he took us to a market where there were lots. Louxiou? New one to us. Worked out well, we had two hours to kill before picking up Luk's visa anyways. Plus prices were significantly better. I found two I liked for Luk. Bought both, not sure which one I'll wear. We got one on. It hurt a lot to get mine off and even more to put them back on. The jade market told me I'd never find yellow like Fei's, too rare. I did find a yellow one at the market but not small enough for Fei. Bought it anyway. We found a nice cream one with a hint of yellow that we are hoping will fit Fei now. Luk really wants one. Put
his little hand out over and over again but they were all too big. We have one more day. Not sure how much we want to shop again but it's too cold for a park. We'll see.
I got to go into the Canadian Embassy not once but twice! Was familiar with handing over my phone, going through security one at a time and being frisked ;) Mr. Yang came after me. Eric stayed in the car with the kids.
Had a chance to chat with Mr.Yang while we waited. When we adopted Jia he said he did Fei's adoption but he wasn't our guide so I told him no I didn't think so. Today he told me that he remembered us in a large group, two buses, turns out he was the bus driver then, not a guide. Cool. That explains why with Jia's adoption we weren't sure if he was a guide or a driver.
He has been working adoption for 10 years and Luk is only the second boy he has processed. He is delighted for us and for Luk.
We have all paperwork in hand for Luk! Just killing time until we get on the plane! Can't wait to see Lili and Fei! Can't wait for Fei to take on some of the burden of chatting with Jia. She does NOT stop. Fei, Jia is really getting excited to see you. Lili, Jia treats Luk a bit
like you treat her. Nice (sarcasm). Jia says Luk has stinkyosis and sqeals when he touches her. Fun times.
Luk is doing so great. He is happy. He cuddles and is interacting more and more. He babbles a lot now and sings. He loves me to sing to him and play little piggie toes and itsey bitsey type songs. He dances and waves his hands in the air to music. Sometimes he likes to just hug and pull back and hug again and again. It never seems to get old. He is so sweet. Not much chance for walking today. New babies are so much fun. Just when you think he can't get any cuter...he does.
We left the hotel for a walk but it was biting cold and Jia was complaining. You know it's cold if she is complaining! It was too early for nap time so we grabbed a cab and went to the silk market. I don't like it nearly as much as the pearl market. Tons of clothes. Fei, you need to spend some time here. We just find it overwhelming.
Jia and I had a manicure together. $9 each. The ladies and men working there were really fussing over her and they all took pics of her. Too funny. She wanted to know why they like her so much. Obviously they don't get a lot of kids in there. Jia was delighted and she sat good as gold. Lots of shy smiles to me ;)
We cruised toys and arts and crafts. Tons of things I'd like. Nothing we need. Always mindful of having to take it all home.
We spent some time looking for Luk's jade. Nothing that matched mine in style and size. Quite by accident found a baby one that matches mine for Jia. I got it for 40 yuan. Makes you wonder if it's fake for that price! We had to squeeze her hand a bit to get it on. It won't fall off ;) We've told her she can keep it on all the time like Mommy and she was pretty happy about that. She hasn't tried to take it off yet.
Fei, we tried to find a small one for you. No yellow. Apparently the yellow agate is rare. Lots of light orangy beigy yellow but no golden yellow like yours. I'll try again tomorrow. Any chance you can take a string, wrap your left wrist and then measure the length. Lili, we're assuming you wouldn't wear one, but if we're wrong, let
us know.
Picked up subway for dinner. Came back to the hotel in a wind storm. Jia grabbed some leaves. She is coloring them while Luk naps. Oh, and when we got back the hotels Christmas decorations were up.
We met an adoptive family at the market from Italy. They are here for three weeks. Different paperwork. Their son was mesmerized by the toys, he is almost four. We have noticed almost every family we've run across has adopted a son. How wild is that?!
Luk is working exceptionally hard every day to learn to walk. He asks for walks. When Eric and I sit on the floor he loves to walk a few steps between us and wow is he ever proud! We get hugs and grins with each turn. He has great strength for forward motion but is totally lacking balance. Eric has been working with him (as he did with Fei) and his improvement is noticeable every day. He can now lift his legs to do stairs. He can now lift himself off our laps using his arms. Tonight he was making great progress with getting up off the floor from a sitting position. He can't get up from laying. Yet.
Adopting a two year old is awesome. He points to what he wants. He helps with every part of his care. He is neat and tidy with his eating. He is calm and has reasoning skills. He is easily calmed. He is still amazing at going to bed. He screams for about 30 seconds in a major fit and then he stops and goes to sleep shortly. Fei, he doesn't move or make noise when he wakes up, just waits for us like you did.
We went for a walk after nap time. Jia fell asleep, we woke her up at a pizza hut with the words 'spaghetti'. She opened her eyes, shoveled some in and went right back to sleep.
There are two Dutch families here with their new kids. They waited 10 years, yikes. First time parents. I would have gone seriously out of my mind if we'd had to wait that long!
When we were heading out we found them having a hallway party. Sigh. Lots of freedom here on our own but I did like being here in a group.
Once again, did a long post, it froze while posting and now I can't get to it to repost. There are flaws with this app. Very frustrating.
Medical at the sos was with the same Dr. the girls all saw. Unbelievable. She was happy for us to have four kidlets. She felt that god had intervened and made sure Luk found our family because she could see it was the perfect match for him. :)
He has gained two pounds since we got him. He is quite underweight. 50% for height and his head is big at 95%. I mentioned that his head was heavy and she looked at me oddly until she checked him out and agreed with me that his head is very heavy. She knew nothing about shunts and was questioning us ;) She also admitted knowing very little about spina bifida and said she'd never seen the scar from his type of surgury before. She asked us if it looked right. Too funny. Now that his bottom is so improved it's clear that his spinal scar runs to, through and past his anus. So we're seeing the new and improved version. He was declared a healthy little boy with delayed gross motor skills and a special need.
Luk wasn't thrilled with the whole event. They had me open his diaper to confirm he is a boy. Wild. Never had to do that with the girls.
There were two other cdn families there from Ontario. Both nsn kids. One couple waited seven years for a girl and were matched with a boy. The other couple did the same seven years and were matched with a little girl Luk's age. They are both first time parents. For completely unknown reasons we were there for over two hours so it was nice to have someone to chat with.
Then we went to the Embassy. Whole new process there. We were all allowed in, one at a time. I got to submit the paper work myself. The girl there was great. We muddled through together. The days of lots of adoptions are long over.
We get to pick up his documents and visa on Wed.
Mr. Yang is taking us to the jade market and Great Wall on Wed. morning.
Luk and Jia both really like Mr. Yang. He's a very sweet man. Mom, his daughter is 24 now and at medical school in the USA. He is very proud.
We took a picture in front of the embassy and were then told by police we weren't allowed to take pics. Too late.
Woke up this morning in our nice comfy bed. Room was cool with the window open all night. Kids both slept through, 7 for Jia and 8 for Luk. Miss Jia had a wee bath in the baby tub. Then down to a Mongolian breakfast. Interesting. Eric found a fellow making homemade noodles. Most every thing else was off. There was fresh fruit and some grainy bread for toasting. We'll survive. Jia wasn't thrilled but at this point I honestly don't know what would entice her to eat. She is eating lots of mandarins. Or what we call a mandarin but here is just a cheap orange in season. Mandarins are tiny and aren't ripe until Dec. There is your lesson on Chinese oranges for the day.
Then we got in a cab and went to the pearl market. Surprisingly both kids were awesome. Go figure. They both stayed in their strollers. Both were content. Got most of what was on my list. Lili, I bought a bigger black t-shirt for you. Now we have a set of six. Family picture time coming as soon as we're all together again!
I bought four Chinese outfits for Luk. One for now, three to grow into.
We also got adidas for both Luk and Jia for $7 each. Too cute.
The rest was all gifts for Christmas. So shhh. We had fun in there. It's loud, hectic and hot. I just don't have the love of haggling I used to. Eric actually did some haggling. Ok. I got the ball rolling and told him the bottom line I wanted and he finished up. ;)
So happy to have Jia acting semi normally again today.
Luk's medical tomorrow.
I didn't remember to take even one picture at the market today!
Questions re:shoes. I have been skipping shopping for shoes. The styles are very bright and very cute. Just not the look Mom and I have been going for. Likewise with the clothes. I prefer what is available at home. Same for Jia. Winter clothes are out here and they are all puffy, and padded. Way too cutsey for us. The boy styles in particular are very young.
Ok, got a notice from youtube that the video I loaded days ago is finally loaded but the link isn't live. ? Maybe it would work as a cut and paste.
Asia when we arrived last night it was 13 and very humid at 5:30. We were comfortable in a long sleeve shirt. Kids were sweltering in jackets. Our guide thought they should be warm. Then Jia complained bitterly over and over again that she was hot so when we arrived at the hotel she was in a t-shirt.
We couldn't get air conditioning to work so lucky for us the window opens, we now have a nice breeze coming in.
In Nanchang it was very warm. Luckily no rain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muGAmUkH3JE&feature=em-upload_owner
http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/muGAmUkH3JE/sddefault.jpg?w=640&h=360&feature=em-upload_owner&sigh=HRgoqRtzlKAikrVdVNiaadKjmIw
http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/muGAmUkH3JE/sddefault.jpg?w=640&h=360&feature=em-upload_owner&sigh=HRgoqRtzlKAikrVdVNiaadKjmIw
We're here. Tired but good.
Luk loved the plane. He was all grins.
Helen gave Luk a bracelet yesterday and today she brought Eric a matching one. :) Their first matched father and son item.
Jia did not travel well today. She is whiney and asking questions non stop. Sibling rivalry starts today...sigh...she told us today she would like Luk to stop breathing. Yikes. Closer eye on her right now. She had a huge crying fit when the plane landed. Then insisted on being carried and refused to walk. Our strollers weren't at the gate they were at luggage claim. It was a long haul through the airport. It's very humid here. We steamed up Mr. Yangs car pretty fast.
He was thrilled to see Jia and even more happy to see Luk. Kept saying 'a boy is a good thing'. We think Luk is pretty special too.
Luk has been standing at the couch in our room for an hour just playing with the toys.
Jia played with play dough while Eric went foraging for food. He found a grocery just down the street and brought back a dish that looked like pork and sugar peas. Nope. Spicey peppers. Got him running to spit them out pretty fast. Always an adventure. Kids and I had noodles, rice and fruit.
We were told that Luk likes cookies. I've tried a couple and he hasn't been interested. Eric brought some biscuits sort of close to an arrow root and he was just thrilled with that. Big smiles.
I keep forgetting to answer everyone's questions.
Luk drinks from a bottle, sippy, glass or a straw. He could care less. Just wants the liquid. No confusion. He is on formula. He was getting four bottles a day. Today he has had half of one. He would really much rather have food. We'll let his nutritional levels decide if he'll stay on formula or not. Oh, and any temp. for the bottle is fine with him.
He has fabulous eye contact with all of us. He seems to understand us and makes tons of facial expressions.
Without question he knows his name is Luk. I did ask, his name Feng is pronounced Foung. He doesn't respond when we say it. He wouldn't turn to Helen when she tried either.
There were only four children at Ningdu. The other baby adopted was in foster care. The other three left are special needs. I don't know their ages or needs. Luk clearly had pretty good care. He has definitly been engaged.
He has Spina Bifida. We are quite happy with the level of mobility he has. Looks to us like he gets stronger every day and we believe he will walk on his own. We'll see what the Drs. at the Spina Bifida clinic say. Big learning curve for us.
His bottom is looking better. Diaper cream is working wonders.
Luk fusses for a couple mins in the crib and then lays quietly until he is asleep. He's a dream. He doesn't make any noise in the morning, we just check until his eyes are open. Fei, just like you. Fingers crossed he stays a good sleeper like our Fei!
We're here for six days.
I can't wait to get home to Lili and Fei!!
New airport. Lovely. Eric and Jia are getting lunch. Luk and I are parked at the gate. He is so tired. First day we haven't been able to lay him down.
So exciting to be moving on. Waiting for that magical relief of leaving my childs province and knowing no one can take him back.
Lots of support coming for our little girl. Thanks everyone. Helps to not feel alone here.
She is rolling around the floor chatting and singing to herself so I assume she is feeling better.
Helen came before dinner and we filled in the immigration paperwork. She hasn't done a CDN file since 2010 so she has been quite unsure. I told her over and over again that we usually do these forms in Beijing. We finally left a bunch of spots blank because she was unsure or I was telling her she was off on what information they're looking for. Sigh.
She is worried there will be a problem in Beijing. We're not. It's all pretty simple questions.
Anyways...
We told her it might not be a good idea to take Jia out and she asked Jia what she wanted to eat and Jia told her Mcdonalds. Not what I would want on a sick tummy but we thought a milkshake might help. Helen thought we should walk together to go there. It's an hour walk there. I wasn't keen on being so far away with her being pukey. So Helen picked it up and delivered it to us. Jia ate four bites of a cheeseburger and one fry and a bit of milkshake. She says she feels good. Fingers crossed. The peanut butter sandwich stayed down.
Luk has been eating all day.
Tonight Eric and I sat on the floor near each other and he was doing a few steps between us. He really wants to walks.
I was puttering in the room while we waited for Helen and we're mostly organized for leaving tomorrow. Just doing our nighttime play with Luk before bed. He is already yawning.
Little man has been napping for three hours.
Eric took the kids to the toy room after breakfast. Luk showed off his baby walker skills in grand style. He grabs hold of the side, lifts up and runs. YES, he RUNS. Wish I could figure out how to get video to you all.
They had fun there until Jia projectile vomited. The hotel staff will be glad to see us leave. Since then she has had some apple and three bites of oatmeal. Held that down for a couple hours and asked for a peanut butter sandwich. She ate most of it and has held that down too.
Nervous to take her out to our celebratory dinner tonight. So much easier to have sick kids at home, near cleaning supplies and washing machines.
We leave Nanchang on a 3 flight tomorrow. Time to start packing up.
Missy has never vomited before and her first episode was a doozy. She was miserable in the room and tired. She didn't want to play with Luk. At one point I woke up and she was curled up on the bathroom tile floor just sobbing that she was hot. Took her temp and she was normal. Finally got her back to bed and she slept for a bit then erupted in her sleep. Oh my. It was everywhere. She covered us. Eric leaped up and got her to the tub. I was cleaning the trail. Had to hose her down before we could give her a bath. She was distraught and very loudly crying. I called for houskeeping. Poor girl, what a horrible job. She stripped the blanket and sheet and removed the 1/4 inch pad. We didn't get a new pad. It was the only comfort we had, so as unbelievable as it is, the bed is even harder. I feel bruised on both sides of my hips and ribcage.
Right now I really want to be home. Sigh.
We were up with Jia for a couple hours. She had a couple more episodes. She did finally sleep through the rest of the night. She is just waking now. We'll see how she feels today.
It was already hard getting her to eat anything here I imagine it will be even more dificult now.
We have Luk's passport. Getting pics. delivered this morning for his visa. Last night we were discussing the possibility of one of us coming home with Jia.
No pictures for this post. You're welcome.
We went with Mary and the family she is working with to the Peoples Park. The same family we shared adoption day with. Nice and relaxing. Jia played with some kids there. Luk fussed so I started feeding him. We had just left breakfast! He ate the whole time we were there. Got back to the hotel and he ate a full lunch with us. Our boy can eat. Still not gorging just slow and steady.
Luk has a happy spot here in the room. Propped up on a bed with toys around him. Today he showed us the sign for more. Then spoke the word more so I don't think we'll need sign language with him. He also held up a blue stacking cup and told Eric it was blue. Then Jia was playing pretend cookies, which Luk was eating, and she told him he could have five, he said five. I think I heard him say Luk too. He knows his name is Luk.
Nap time for Luk. Jia and Eric are drawing. Helen is bringing paperwork at 2:30. No clue yet what we'll get up to after that.
