Everything goes in the mouth

I suppose it is just the nature of babies...everything big, small and in between goes into the mouth.

Elizabeth's Playpen

Well it seems that the playpen was a worthy purchase. Elizabeth seems to be able to amuse herself in the playpen--sometimes for up to 30 minutes at a time. Today was a day that I needed that playpen. For some reason I was just worn out, burnt out, exhausted--you name it. I was the quintessential "lousy mother" today. I let her watch over an hour of cartoons (I was able to rationalize this by telling myself it was helping her learn English)and she probably spent two hours in total in her playpen. Of course one of those hours was on Marty's watch. He agreed to watch Elizabeth while I took a nap (since Elizabeth refuses naps).I will make it up to her tomorrow and make sure she spends lots of time out of the "pen".

And believe me...the playpen only works for so long...then I get the "I am begging you, let me out of here face" you see below.

A couple of pics...

Here are a couple of photos of Elizabeth....the first one I call her "snooze hat" photo. Poor baby-it was only about 68 degrees (freezing by California standards) and I plopped this big fleece hat on her head. She is such a sweety she didn't object. She did however fall asleep in her stroller--and I couldn't resist this shot--she looks like a football fan who had one too many beers!!!

And the second shot is of Elizabeth on Thanksgiving Day--and this is about as close she is going to get to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and all the floats for at least a couple of years! I used to live on 34st in Manhattan so I have seen that parade more times than I care to count!

Friends

Yesterday Elizabeth had a visit from our friends Craig and Ginny from Naples Florida! They were in visiting their son and daughter in law and their new baby and were great enough to drive from La Jolla to visit us and baby Elizabeth. Of course Elizabeth loved them--how could she not--they are two of the most charasmatic people you'll ever meet!
We met Craig and Ginny and our cruise to the Baltics and had just a great time!

Call me crazy but I am actually thinking of taking Elizabeth on a cruise! Well, maybe not for at least a year or so! Hello Monte Carlo! Oh yeah, call me crazy.
I think I am just dreaming....but heck, a girl can dream, can't she?

Frantic crying and frayed nerves

Elizabeth is a little dreamboat...cute as a button and full of personality. She also has the ability to go from a full tilt crying jag into uproarious laughter in a matter of seconds--which I find rather curious.

Today Elizabeth and I went on our second solo outing to Gelsons, the gas station and to RiteAid. All was going swimmingly until our 20 minute ride back home when dear Miss E decided to meltdown on me for really the first time ever. She was in her rear facing car seat--screaming, crying and finally hyperventilating--so much so that I had to pull over and comfort her.

This was the first time she cried so hard and for so long. I am not sure why all of a sudden she flipped out but she did. I had to drive the 20 minute drive home in 5 minute increments because everytime I put her back in the car seat she went into a hyperventilating crying jag. My nerves are not designed to be able to endure her crying so frantically for minutes on end so long. It is especially hard when I can't see her--my imagination is overly active and if I can't see hear and I hear her wailing I only imagine she is choking on something she found in the car or that she is caught in her car seat strap strangling--or who knows what.


After about an hour of stress and stopping every five minutes to console Elizabeth, we finally got home, and the minute we walked in the door Elizabeth burst into laughter. I, on the other hand, contemplated hard liquor--even though I don't even drink! Pass the whiskey please.

Note for the day: Being a full time parent takes more endurance than ANY job I have ever had. I know I have said that before but it really bears repeating.

Learning to crawl

Here is Elizabeth showing off her crawling skills. When we met her in China she didn't know how to crawl...now she is crawling like crazy....and standing too! I think soon she will be walking...which means I could be even more tired than I am now! Yikes. Also notice the bug eyed cat in the background. Yes, Bodhi is still flipped out and in total stress mode over the baby. He hides a lot but recently has been testing the waters and tries to get close to Elizabeth--and then runs away.

Also we gave in and bought Elizabeth a little playpen. Bodhi however thought we bought it for him and jumped in the minute we put it up.
Yeah, we have work to do.

A Playdate

This weekend Elizabeth's friend Kaila came for a visit. Kaila is a little older than Elizabeth and seems to be showing her how to make a "thumbs up" sign in this photo. Kaila is from Guangzhou area also and we met her and her parents Gary and Jan on our trip--luckily they live close by so hopefully the girls can "grow up" together!

Kitty meets Baby

Well, continuing on the theme that a picture is worth a thousand words...I think this video is worth about a million words.

Needless to say, Bodhi's first encounter with Elizabeth is not the idyllic meeting I had dreamed of.

I fear we have some work to do.

Elizabeth with G'ma and G'pa

This past weekend the day after our long trek across the world Elizabeth got to spend quality time with her grandma and grandpa--something she hopes to do a lot more of once she and the rest us recover from our colds, ear infections and exhaustion!
Boy oh boy she loves her grandparents! She really took to them and couldn't take her eyes off of grandma!

We can't wait to for Elizabeth to meet everyone...she is such a social little girl!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, I have to say Happy Thanksgiving on the blog and I also have to apologize for not calling anyone today. Not one member of my family and not one friend. Sleep deprivation and still being on the overwhelmed side are to blame.

It seems Marty and I are struggling to calm a baby who has truly seems "afraid to go to sleep". Tonight we are hoping we have turned a corner as she actually went to sleep at 8 p.m. and allowed us to put her in her crib.

But last night was a true nightmare for me. Working on about 4 hours sleep the last few nights I realized I was so exhausted that I just couldn't handle another sleepless night. The problem was that my nerves were so shot I couldn't sleep. Everytime I felt myself falling asleep I would hear Elizabeth crying--and sometimes it was just my imagination.

Marty took over for a few hours but soon he even had to call me to help. Finally we let Elizabeth sleep in bed with us and finally we got some sleep from about 2 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The longest sleep in over a week.

And that did help...but unfortunately we have been so besides ourselves that we couldn't really have much of a Thanksgiving this year.

And after 7 hours sleep last night ....things do seems better. And...Elizabeth is truly the sweetest little girl--she smiles and laughs all the time. She is really developing even in the few weeks we have had her. You can see in her eyes how much she loves getting attention. She also loves taking baths--I don't think she had baths in the orphanage. She is NOT afraid of the water and is already attempting to "swim" in the bathtub. I won't mention how in my tired stupor last night I put her in the tub with her diaper on. Opps.

Things will get better.

In ending I just want to say how thankful we are for Elizabeth and also for our family and our wonderful friends. And I can't wait to talk to you all and see you and also to have you meet this adorable little girl we are lucky enough to have with us. Once we wake up of course!

China Team

Just had to post a photo of some of the China Team who helped us in China. Claire in on the left and she was really wonderful and Elizabeth was crazy about her!

Tonight....

Well....Elizabeth finally did get to sleep last night...or shall I say this morning at 5 a.m. It was a long long night which found me utterly exhausted and utterly amazed that this little girl can stay awake for as long as she does.

Babies her age are supposed to sleep for 14 hours. She has been averaging about 8 since we have been home. I will have to research some solutions but since she never sleeps --I never have time.

Elizabeth and I slept till 12:30 p.m. today. I don't know what time zone we are on since at that point it was 4 a.m. in China. I figure we are the time zone from Alice in Wonderland.

Well today she stayed awake till 10 pm with only one 10 minute nap. Unreal. The only hope I have now at 11 PM is that she sleeps till at least 4 a.m. Heavy praying on that one please.

Marty had class today and was also pretty sick and wound up at the doctor so I was pretty much on my own.

I have such profound a new found respect for mothers and those who take care of babies. I also wonder how some people do it.

But Elizabeth is truly the sweetest little girl I could hope for. The only time she really cries is when it is time to go to sleep. For some reason she has developed a severe aversion to sleep.

Hopefully this phase will not last too long and we will be on our way to some nice long nights of sleep.

Ahhh...sleep, wonderful sleep. What is that?

First Meeting

Now that I have access to a computer that will let me download photos fast I can share more of the photos from China.

Here are the photos from the first day we met Elizabeth....here we are in the lobby of our hotel just as we are about to board the "bus" that will take us to our little one. We are with our new friends Jan and Gary from Laguna Niguel. Here we are when we first met our little beauty.


Here is Jan and Gary meeting Kayla....the orphanage director is on the left.
Here is May & Ken with thier new daughter Sophia
Tony Chris and Lindsay are meeting Maya for the first time here.

What a day that was...the scene was unreal. I actually have a video of it that really captures all of the chaos...I hope to get that online soon.

Never take Tylenol P.M. before you are sure baby is asleep for the night

Well, I haven't posted much in the last couple of days, owing primarily to little Elizabeth who is pretty far out of whack in terms of sleeping schedules--which pretty much means I have gotten about 12 hours sleep in the last three days.

Last night she was a real troublemaker and simply wouldn't sleep. I sensed something was wrong and we headed off to yet another doctor visit this afternoon and lo and behold, the little princess had a 102 fever. I think that, in part, explains her unusally cranky behavior at bed time. The doctor gave her some antibiotics and some tylenol to help and within hours of taking the medicine, she was her old smiley little self.

She is pure pleasure. The only challenge seems to be that "super baby" seems to not need to sleep!!! She is likely having major time zone adjustment problem, but unfortunately she bears almost no resemblence to the sleeping beauty who was with us in China. In China she went to sleep at 9 or so and slept all through the night.
I fear she has tricked us....and I also fear she will be one of the sleep problem children. I suppose I need to give it a bit more time--like a lot of babies it seems she fights sleep even though she is totally exhausted.

So...tonight after taking her medicine she seemed really sleepy and finally we put her to bed and I figured okay she is set for the night...wonderful...I will sleep through the night! Hooray! However I woke up about an hour into my sleep --half due to my nerves being half shot at the thought she will wake up. So...I did whatever any idiotic human being would do....I took Tylenol P.M. figuring that would get me back to sleep. Problem...within 10 minutes of taking the Tylenol P.M., screaming Mimi woke up. That was at midnight--it is now after 2 a.m. and she is going strong--I on the other hand am doing all I can to stay awake.

It reminds me of a business trip to The Wall Street Journal I took some years ago where I arrived after midnight and had a major presentation in the morning. I woke up at 7 a.m. to get ready for the 9 a.m. meeting and had quite a headache. In my tired state I mistakenly took two Tylenol P.M. instead of Tylenol. That was a panic moment and only about 4 cups of tea saved the day for me.

Actually that was a lot easier ...the meeting only lasted a couple of hours...Elizabeth lasts a whole heck of a lot longer than that.

It is 2:35 and she is showing no signs of slumber. I have decided that I will meet her at the challenge...if she doesn't want to sleep i am not going to force the issue I will wait it out. Let's make this an all nighter.
I simply have not been able to let her cry herself to sleep. Some recommend that but at this point I just can't do it. I keep thinking about all the time she spent at the orphanage and who knows how many times she cried herself to sleep.

Hopefully we'll work this out. Otherwise I may be a new living experiment of the effects of long term sleeplessness in adults.

Ay carumba.

The Group....

Yes we are home an yes there is lots to report but first I wanted to share some photos from our farewell dinner in China.

It is funny how just days after being home I look back on these photos and reflect on them much more fondly than the actual experience at the time. At the time it was all pretty darn stressful--from getting across the bridge to the restaurant to lining up all the babies. I think it has something to do with a psychological phenomenon in which things recalled actually seem more pleasant than they were in reality. The same phenomenon that explains why some people break up and get back together over and over again--once you gain some distance you tend to reflect upon the pleasant times-not the moments of hell.
And yes there were lots of pleasant times and some unbelievably joyous times in between the inconveniences and the stress....and yes the memories will definitely last a lifetime-and then some.
Here you see the 18 families with their newly adopted babies...quite a sight to behold.

Elizabeth is Home!

Elizabeth is home! We feel so lucky and so grateful that we made it back to the U.S. and Elizabeth is safely tucked into her bed.

The trip in the end was extremely difficult and I can tell you that Elizabeth made it home in much better shape than either of her parents.

The last 48 hours have been, how shall I say, "pretty dreadful...only made bearable my the cheerful countenance of lovely Elizabeth.
It is only now, some 40 hours after our arrival home that I have the fortitude to put fingers to keyboard.

Our apologies for the lack of pictures...we have been too busy trying to survive and recover from a 13 hour plane ride and the chaos of LAX, two sick parents (me and Marty) and a baby who is decidely still on China time.

The plane ride itself wasn't bad at all. Elizabeth managed to sleep most of the time--which means of course we didn't since we had to watch and make sure she didn't fall out of her seat. I had purchased a child restraint system called CARES that is FTA approved--however the fellow that approved it must have never met little Elizabeth --cos the darn thing just wasn't going to work for her. It didn't work for the baby in the seat in front of us either. So...the end result was that Elizabeth slept all night and we didn't. Which didn't seem too bad until we got home exhausted with colds and headaches and a WIDE AWAKE baby.

So sleep has been rather scare...which is not a good prescription for jet lag.

Last night Elizabeth was still on China time...which means, I too was on China time--which means once again I didn't sleep. Well, I did get to sleep at 6 a.m. when she finally drifted off to sleep.

All of this to say that I am sorry I haven't posted more about this incredible event, but to put it mildly, "we are wrecks!". I also apologize for not calling or emailing anyone yesterday. If you had been with us--you would understand why.

I am feeling a tad more human this morning and will post more about our adventure and about amazing little Elizabeth--hopefully later today.

We also have to aplogize for the lack of photos of our homecoming. And we are going to have to apologize to Elizabeth for not taking photos when we arrived home. I had visions of getting to LAX and snapping photos of Elizabeth in her lovely pink outfit crossing threshold to the U.S. with Marty and I beaming beside her.

The reality was more like getting caught in the midst of the running of the bulls while carting 6 large pieces of luggage and a baby who has just had a major case of diarrhea and her first crying bout since you have had her...all in the LAX international terminal--which is stressful enough when all goes according to plan.

Hopefully our mildly traumatic arrival home will soon be a distant memory.

Luckily Elizabeth's huge smile whenever she wakes up, somehow makes all of this so much easier to take.

More later....

California Here We Come

Hard to believe but we are actually packing to leave in an hour for California.

Have had a busy schedule the last two days and not a lot of time to post.

There is so much to say and so many photos to show but they will have to wait as I have to attend to the task at hand--make sure Elizabeth has enough bottles and assorted sundries to keep her happy for a 13 hour plane ride. Not to mention us.

Of course Marty won in his attempt to give Elizabeth some cheerios for the first time yesterday. Whether or not that is what caused the diarrhea or not I don't know. But I do know that Murphy's law is alive and well and Elizabeth may have a bout of diarrhea on the plane ride home. Ay carumba...just get us home!


Without the time to do justice to our thoughts and feelings I will just say we are thrilled to be heading home with our spectacular little girl.

Often people say how lucky Elizabeth is . I say, it is just the opposite--we are the lucky ones.

Off we go on to our journey home.

Amazing...truly amazing.

Posts

Oh and some of the posts are out of order since I had some of them as drafts and they got posted on the wrong day. Opps. You might have to backtrack to read some of the posts.
Sorry about that.

Sore throats and Bad Air

Woke up last night with a sore throat like I have never had before--like my throat was on fire. I thought Oh shikes...this is is--some wierd from of strep throat that will land me in Guangzhou general. I tried to follow Marty's advice and think "it will be better in the morning".....but it was hard to get back to sleep.

The good news is that it is a bit better and not as burning....I may make it after all. Marty is battling a cold as well--and there is just something about China where it seems 75% of the people here walk around with colds or flu. And visitors seem to hover around the 90% mark.

I missed my opportunity to go to the "designer rip off" bargain market with Sarah who was going to be my personal guide. Alas, I figured I had better nurse this ailment since there is way more than a fake Chanel bag at stake here. Besides, now I don't have to feel guilty about trademark infringement.

Oh and the air today outside is lousy lousy lousy. It is like a dense fog over the city--and the smell of smoke. I woke also last night to the thought the hotel was on fire. I decided not to share that with Marty since he has enough to worry about.

We are off today to the ceremony at the American Consulate where we take an oath and promise something but I don't remember what that is. I will fill you in when we get back.

Necessity is the mother of invention

We told you Elizabeth "loves to eat". We also have her on the same diet she was on in the China for a couple of reasons. Firstly the peditrician back home said it was best to keep her on that so that she doesn't encounter gastrointestinal problems while we are away. Good advice...we have enough problems. And secondly, the transition has been so extreme that it is best to transition her slowly where we can.
The challenge is that in the orphanage they were feeding her formula only--they do that with all the kids--even those up to two years old with full sets of teeth!
In any case 6 or more bottle feedings a day gets tedious and between diaper changing, tickle fests, and playtime--it leaves us little time to do anything else. So what is a girl to do?

The pillow "prop". I grabbed a pillow from the couch ( the interior decorator would be horrified) and propped up Elizabeth's bottle. She loves it. Now mind you we only do that once in a while since I think the feeding and bonding experience is important. But I am not worried about that since we have velcroed together since November 5th at about 4 P.M.

Tickling Obsession

Okay, so it is hard not to have a "tickling obsession" when you can get Elizabeth to laugh like this.

Moments

They say, in life-you don't remember days, you remember moments. Well, I can tell you this--in less than two weeks I have so many "moments" emblazoned in memory.

There has been so much about this experience that goes beyond anything I had even imagined.

Usually when I daydream about an experience or an event I am looking forward to, the experience pales in comparision--but not this time. So much of this experience has been in vivid technocolor splendor. Yes, even the moment when Elizabeth decided to "gift" me with an entire bottle of regurgitated formula.

What I do recall especially is the moment we were waiting to meet Elizabeth. Packed in a room with 30 other parents-- all at the end of their emotional rope--with screaming babies and utter chaos--I realized Marty and I --with a W for a last name-- would be almost last to be called to meet our daughter. I couldn't take the anticipation--and somehow I managed to position myself half curled around a silk ficus tree and half leaning against a fake wall, stretching my neck to see into the room with the waiting babies. And, THERE SHE WAS. I could see her caretaker holding her like some prize she just won at a carnival --face and body front in a thick pink terry cloth suit--AND THAT FACE. I immediately recognized her from the photos and realized--That was the moment for me. I suppose it was the momentary equivalent to the childbirth experience when a baby is born and they pull her from her mother's body and place her on her chest.

Seeing Elizabeth's cherub like face and innocent yet curious stare, I feel in love-- magically. instantly and irrevocably in love.

That was a moment.

There are lots of opportunites for nostalgic leanings around here. For some reason, similar to our summer trip to Ireland, the hotels and restaurants in Guangzhou love to play American music from the 50's and 60's-not to mention Gershwin tunes.

The background music added to yet another magical moment the other night when a group of us brave enough to take our babies out dinner were sereneded by a singer who would have made Bobby Short proud. From "New York New York" to "It Had to Be You"-he sang them all and the new families danced. It was tearjerker moment for me to be sure. There was Marty and Elizabeth, May and Kayla and Sophia and her brand new American dad all dancing in this five star hotel dance floor in the middle of Guangzhou China. The Rainbow Room meets Guangzhou--and the adoptive parents of Guangzhou.

Pure magic.

Posts

For some reason the last two posts are out of sequence.
Who knows why.



So far so good today (knock on wood)



At the moment Marty is giving Elizabeth a lesson in walking and she is doing pretty darn good. Her daddy has been pretty good (except when he dropped half a glass of water on her head by accident!). On Monday I left them alone for a few hours and came back to find Elizabeth fast asleep on Marty's chest.

Once Marty learns (or shall I say decides to learn) how to change diapers he will be fully able to care for her all by himself!



Today we had to do a lot of paperwork at the hotel for our visit to the American Consulate. Genius me who thinks she is so smart forgot to have one of the 800 documents notarized so Marty has to travel to the consulate with Sarah tomorrow morning to get it notarized. Opps.

Then on Thursday we get Elizabeth's visa and on Friday --we are outta here!!!! Woo hoo! We can't wait.
We are told to expect significant jet lag problems and not to be up to speed for about a week! Oh well...we managed to get by here I am sure that it will be alot easier once we are home. Oh wait a minute--no more maid service, no more room service, no more restaurants downstairs. Yikes!


I'll tell you it is rather convenient to learn how to drive a new baby in a rented hotel room. If you spill some things you can say, "it's just a rental". But of course we are trying to be as careful as possible. Of course Elizabeth had different ideas last night when she decided to "lose her lunch" all over me and the room.
I will spare you the details.



All I am doing is praying praying praying that nothing like that happens on our 13 hours plane ride.

Elizabeth and Dr. Lu

Okay, so I admit it. I am a recovering hypochondriac. But that doesn't mean I don't have reason to worry. ;) If you have ever watched the Woody Allen movie, Hannah and Her Sisters and remember the scene where Woody Allen determines that he doesn't have the brain tumor and start frollicking gleefully down a Manhattan street then you pretty much have a view into my psyche.

That being said, I can tell you that Elizabeth has had a bit of a cold, however slight. And, I did take her to the $8.15 Chinese doctor who was probably a great doctor. However, I was kind of sick about the whole experience and since the doctor didn't speak of word of English --let's just say I didn't get the warm and fuzzies.

So....with Elizabeth still wheezing a bit, I figured I better call out the big guns. I had gotten a referral to a Dr. Lu through Jane Aronson's office. She is the "orphan doctor" and is the doctor to all of Angelina Jolie's adopted children. Say no more!!!

http://www.kcimc.com/professionalstaff.htm

For those who are interested here is the link to Dr. Lu

So...I got through to Dr. Lu with some difficulty and learned that an $18 (about$2.50) Yuan cab ride would get us to her. Heck it must be around the corner if the cab ride is that cheap. Wrong. Luckily sweet Claire from the China team came with me and Marty stayed home to bask in a moment of "no responsibility".

It was a 15-20 minute cab ride and Elizabeth behaved beautifully. Having a personal Chinese guide also helped since I would never have gotten there on my own. (ever try to communicate with a Chinese-- only speaking cab driver?)

The neighborhood that Dr. Lu was in was amazing. Very modern-with enough skyscapers to give New York City a run for it's money.

Dr. Lu was divine and all that I had hoped for. She spoke better English than I did and was trained in Australia. She also spoke fluent Mandarin and Cantonese. And best of all has lots of experience with orphan children. (which Elizabeth is NO MORE!!!!!)

The WONDERFUL NEWS is that she checked Elizabeth from head to toe and declard her healthy!Elizabeth is on target in terms of all of her development and that does not happen often. I mean how stinkin' lucky are we?

She also said that Elizabeth was on the 90th percentile for height and weight...and that is on the Western charts! She is totally off the charts for Chinese measurements. Dr. Lu also said that Elizabeth was also very social. No kidding. She played with the doctor the whole time and laughed and was a pure pleasure. (okay, I will stop now, as I realize it is turning into bragging).

The only news that could be viewed as less than ideal from Elizabeth's perspective is that Dr. Lu looked at diaper clad Elizabeth and said, "her diaper is on backwards!" WHOOPS. Mama not too swift. Okay Okay so I wasn't sure which way the diaper went on. Kenya did give me a quick lesson but I guess the class wasn't long enough. The good thing is that this baby is very agreeable...so she let me slide. I have since learned the proper placement and I think she is happier for it.

Yikes.

Elizabeth had a busy day yesterday..after I took her to Dr. Lu she had to head on to her group trip to the official goverment check up for adopted children.

More on that next.

Elizabeth's Offical Medical Examination

Monday was the day ALL 18 families took their little bundles of newly found love onto a tour bus and had ourselves driven to Shamian Island where we had photos taken and the babies were given their official, however, bueracratic medical examination. It is really just a once over by 3 or 4 doctors who check vision, hearing, heart, lungs and count fingers and toes and look at their behinds for some reason. ?

I felt pretty confident that Elizabeth would pass with flying colors since she had just been to the premier physican in Guangzhou! You go Elizabeth! That's my girl!

As you can see from some of these photos is was a slighty wacky scene with all these new parents trying to keep it together and get through this required event.

It was pretty "other worldly" in the waiting room with lots of howling babies and doctors running around with their masks.



Elizabeth was a trooper and while not as perfectly lovely as she was with Dr. Lu--she did exhibit the signs of maturity and composure that any parent would be thrilled with.

Eleven Eleven

We decided to skip the group outing...call us wimps --- but we had two goals for this trip. Goal number one was to get Elizabeth and goal number two was to get back as safe, sound and healthy as possible. Besides Marty and I have done about 40 days of touring the world this summer and we have pretty much had our fill of touring.

We figure we can always bring Elizabeth back when she is old enough to understand what she is seeing.

A few other kindred spirits from the group had the same idea and we had in impromptu play date for Elizabeth and her friends in the playground on the roof of the hotel.

And what do you know...Catherine in our group went to the same high school as Marty did in Bethesda Maryland--Walt Whitman! She was two years ahead of Marty but he remembers her as one of the "pom pom" girls. Catherine turned red when he said he remembered that they wore their pom pom outfits all day in class.

Small world, I know.

In between writing this message I took a break and ventured to one of the shops across the road and let me tell you...I lived in New York City for the first 34 years of my life so I think I am pretty hardened to city street life--that being said--I can tell you that I literally stopped in my tracks and hightailed it back to the hotel when I tried to get across the overpass. It was not a pleasant scene with lots of beggars and scenes that were right out of a horror movie.

I must say it is pretty unsettling to be in this glamorous five star hotel and be faced with the grim reality of extreme poverty just outside your door. I saw it a lot in New York, especially in the 80's--but never like this.

For the most part people seem to be doing well here, but there is enough of a fairly tragic extreme to make you pause and reflect on just how darn easy most of us have it. The great disparities of poverty and weatlh just seem a whole lot more salient here.

Another powerful reminder of how very lucky we are.

Photos in and around The Garden Hotel

Here are some photos of us arriving with the group at our new hotel yesterday. Also some photos of our room and the view from our room.

Thank goodness for the stroller

This stroller we bought at the "Friendship Store" in Guangzhou is the best $40 investment we ever made. Otherwise we would be toast. Marty and I have been collapsing under the weight of the "heaviest baby in the group".

So...how is it that we have the youngest baby in the group at 9.5 months old...and the HEAVIEST baby in the group? Elizabeth is probably pushing 25 pounds (we weigh her today) and other babies are 18 months and 22 pounds!!! I don't realize just how hefty she is until I see the other babies.

I use the stroller in the room...I wheel her into the bathroom while I get ready....wheel her around while I clean up the room--otherwise it is virtually impossible to move around since we can only carry her so much.

Mama Mia! Marty has been calling her "piglet" which will have to stop as it is not a name befitting such a little princess...of course the fact that she drank 6.5 bottles yesterday inspired the new name.
The instructions on the formula says it is 4-5 bottles for a baby her age. They did say she "love to eat". Gotta love that girl.

A New Address

We have been pretty darn busy the last two days. Elizabeth had a pretty good day yesterday and we have taken her out and about a bit.

The really good news right now is that we just moved to a new hotel The Garden Hotel....and for those of you who know me well--you know I like nice hotels...well this one is NICE. If you told me we were in a room at The Peninsula in Beverly Hills I would believe you. The room is ultra modern, beige tones, everything brand spanking new, the carpet is divine and feels as if we are walking on air. It is such a relief after a week at The China Hotel in an unrenovated room.

I will post some photos of the room in the next post.

The area around the Garden Hotel is a lot more inviting so hopefully we will get the Little Princess out a bit more this week. Going out poses some challenges since we are pretty much the center of attention anywhere we go. Now we know how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie feel. It is a little unnerving when you have a group of woman running after you with their cameras and trying to touch Elizabeth. They are all so friendly and have such good wishes but it is still unnerving. Born in New York City--strangers chasing you usually mean one thing--either they want to kill you or take your money or they have recently been released from the looney bin. I will however try to get over it since so far everyone has been so darn friendly. Elizabeth even got a present from one lady who said she was so cute.

The not good news of the last two days is that our newly made friends had a bad experience in the Starbucks just below the China Hotel...they had both their passports, their camera, video camera, money, and credits cards STOLEN! I guess they turned their backs for a minute and poof....the thief was gone. They were devastated but are feeling a bit better today. They should be able to get their passports replaced by Wed. when we need them for more adoption paperwork.

Marty and I had just been in the Starbucks where the incident occured and I told Marty it seemed really creepy in there. There were a few men in there who were definitely not locals and not Chinese and they kept staring at us. My New Yorker radar was on alert. I have a feeling it was one of those guys.

I was surprised since I had read somewhere that crime in China is so low owing to the strict penalties for crime--including the death penalty for theft. However it does seem that passports are stolen fairly often. Go figure. From what I hear a stolen passport can fetch up to $10,000 on the black market.

Scary stuff and has caused Marty and I to be even more vigilant. (as if my vigilance wasn't at 800% already).

At the moment we are waiting for room service and will have lunch in our luxury suite. One of the woman in our group said, "take advantage of this time --you have someone to cook you meals and do your laundry and clean up after you. You will miss that when you get home. " Okay I will try to keep that mind and maybe it will make this time away from home just a bit easier.

Only 6 more days and then Elizabeth is an American citizen!!!!

Hooray!!!!

Just some pictures...

Here are some photos from yesterday. We decided to keep Elizabeth home from school yesterday and nurse her cold.

We are definitely getting our money's worth out of this hotel room.

More later.