A Wonderful Day in China

Today we had a shopping excursion to the local mall. It was quite large. Eden did really good today and was cracking herself up all morning. She likes to move all the time. Either she was in the stroller movin' along or she wanted out to walk. Mommy or daddy holding her only held passing interest now, like if it got her closer to something she wanted to investigate. We bought some gifts for friends and had lunch at Pizza Hut. It's just like Pizza Hut in the USA, right down to the Supreme Pan Pizza we had. Of course, if you want pizza with corn and salmon they have that too.

After lunch we tried out Benedryl on Eden for her nap. We have a 15 hour plane ride in 2 days, and wanted to see if a small dose would help her sleep. It did and she had a great nap and two relieved parents. It seems we might indeed have some help if she has trouble sleeping on the plane.

The pics today are indicative of typical Eden happiness. She's just turning into a genuinely fun little girl and we just love her more and more and more every day. A week ago we could not yet imagine life with her, and of course today we cannot imagine life without her. What a blessing!

The highlight of the day, however, was meeting with some friends from the USA who are here in Guangzhou. It was good to see some familiar faces and talk a little about the adoption, the culture and what it's really like to live in China. Of course, we've only seen a small portion of the country, and frankly the nicer portion at that. It's really just about impossible to explain what it's like here in a blog--most things you expect to see are familiar but the way people live and interact is so different than we know. Our friends were able to put some words to what we've been sensing since we arrived. They also gave us the best meal we've eaten since we've arrived in China!

Folks, I'm here to tell you that China doesn't have some of the comforts we know and there are of course many issues here that a country of 1.3 billion has to deal with, but they are ahead of us in a variety of ways. The entire city seems to be "under construction" with cranes dotting the skyline in all directions. In fact we've seen that in every city in China. The entire country seems to be in the process of being rebuilt before our eyes. It's wonderful to know that as we grow to understand China over time our family is now connected to China in a way that will last our entire lives and that we will be a part of the future of this country.

Oh, and one more small miracle. Bath time tonight was great. A few tears to start out, but then the fun began as she started playing with her bath toys. And of course she was completely adorable. Thank you, Lord, for the big and small things.

Oh the Drama!

Another fabulous day in China getting to know our new daughter, Eden! On tap today was a medical exam required by the government as we near the time of our Consulate appointment. Eden has gotten pretty happy-go-lucky in the last two days, but just like any child who goes to the doctor's office, she was none too happy when the actual poking and prodding arrived. The whole thing took like 30 minutes.

Thanks to Nana (grandma), Eden was also sporting a fashionable and inexpensive stroller today. Our specialists recommend holding Eden as much as possible to begin the process of getting good eye contact. Well, we've had that from Day One, and since Eden is having no problems connecting with us, we opted to give her a nice place to sit with wheels and give mommy and daddy's arms a much-needed break.

We did some shopping--actually a little too much time-wise. Right after lunch Eden had a complete meltdown. We're talking a raging, heart-pounding, screeching, wailing, gnashing of teeth, hold-nothing-back tantrum and grief session right in the middle of the street in downtown Guangzhou.

These times are really a tough balance for mom and dad, because the idea is to let her grieve even though some of this is not grief but just a 19-month old being a 19-month old. Also, we want Eden to find her comfort in Keri first to help establish the mother-daughter bond as quickly as possible. Eden's reaction during the tantrum was interesting--she held out her arms for me or Nana, but not for Keri. So, the fact that we would not let anyone but Keri comfort her made the tantrum last a lot longer. It breaks our hearts, but it's building hers.

The afternoon was bountiful with paperwork. Nobody will be able to say of our child that she is not well documented. If at age 25 she wants to apply to be a construction crane operator for Moru-speaking people in Sudan on nights and weekends, we've probably already filled out a form for that. This evening the whole lot of us (7 families in all) had dinner at a Thai restaurant nearby.

Probably the most fun of the evening was after dinner when we headed back to the hotel and took Eden to the playroom downstairs. She had fun playing with balls, getting tickled and running around in her squeaky-shoes. (The squeaky-shoes are like a staple in China--everybody has them and all the little kids go squeak-squeak-squeak when they walk. It's quite entertaining for them and for us.)

Finally, bath time--another meltdown, but not quite as bad as a few nights ago. I think Eden is getting her sea-legs under her and learning, slowly, to trust us. Honestly, we're pooped and she's pooped, and it's just about bedtime. Both Keri and I agree that overall today was not a great day for Eden, but they'll be good ones and better ones, and that's just fine by us.

Tomorrow is a shopping day. One of the other dads figured out today why we have to stay for 2 1/2 weeks in China--apparently we have to spend a minimum amount on souvenirs before they let us come home. If only we had known! Seriously, every establishment in every city in China ends with a gift shop at the exit. Walking out of the medical exam this morning I half expected to see a display of silks, jade jewelry and porcelain tea serving sets.

This morning we saw the White Swan Hotel in all it's glory. When you see the scale of foreign adoptions as we did today, the abandonment of children in this country really comes into focus as a critical problem. I'm praying opportunities will continue to open up for the Chinese as well as other nations to help stem the growing surge of orphan children. This is a worldwide issue, not just here in Asia.

It appeared today that this entire 28-story skyscraper was built with the singular focus of processing adoptive parents and their adorable Chinese children. They are EVERYWHERE. I kept asking people with children where they were from. Indiana. Idaho. Ohio. California. New York. Georgia. Alabama. Tennessee. Texas. Kansas. Washington. Nevada. Breakfast this morning looked like the Romper Room convention. The tables in the restaurant were already set up with high chairs. Party of three and baby? Right this way... There was a whole baby food section at the buffet.

Guangzhou, Keri said, is like the Las Vegas of China. There are lots of neon lights. There's even laser beams coming from the bridge over the river at night. It's definitely the nicest of the places we've been so far. The neighborhood around the hotel is very walkable and has lots of interesting shops and restaurants. The people are very friendly and open. And most of them will be happy to give you a "special discount" on jade jewelry. Tomorrow we also get to see some friends from the U.S. who are now living in China and we're really excited about that.

Four days to go until we're home!