Home and doing well

The photos might not be in exactly chronoligical order, but here is a quick update of our life since coming home!
Violet did great on the flight...there might have been a little assitance from our pediatrician reccomended Benadryl on that one, but everyone was happy. She was up for a little bit in the middle of the flight and had fun playing, but slept a lot of the flight. Maddie, as expected, did amazing on the flight. There was not one time on either the long flight to China or the long flight home when she said "how much longer" or "are we there yet", etc. She just loves to fly and is an amazing traveler! Of course, I should preface that with, she had her own in seat video and got to fill her brain with cartoons the entire flight back, but regardless, she is a stellar traveler, even without the in seat movies!

We got home at Midnight on a Monday night, so there was no welcoming committee at the airport this time around! We had not even told people when our flight was, just that it was around midnight and we'd see them soon, no one offered to meet us at the airport and I can't blame them...I would have been quietly not making that promise if with was another family too! :)
We had a quiet first week back- Violet definitely thrives on her schedule, and we've been very good about making sure we really stick to it. When we don't, and she is tired or overstimulated, we all suffer- so it's good to stay on schedule. She has really turned into almost an entirely different child since we came home from China!! I say "almost" because we definitely got many sneak peaks at the amazingly sweet Violet when we were in China, but it was not our norm at the time and it's fast becoming the norm now- mostly sweet with occasional outbreaks of the rough stuff. The rough stuff is coming in bursts fewer and farther between too- and I say "rough" only to mean- if we didn't know what it was all about, and were not prepared, then it would be rough. Since we were prepared for the rough stuff, it's just "stuff" that is a part of her learning what it's like to be a part of a family for the first time in her life. Her little life has turned completely upside down and it truly astounds me that in just 5 short weeks we see maybe 90% amazingly sweet cute funny Violet, and stressed out greiving Violet only a very tiny bit of the time. I would dare any adult to try that and see how they handle it. I've been making congee and she has lots of chinese rice crackers for snacks, but aside from that, literally everything in her life, from foods and people to sights and sounds and smells, has changed and it changed for her nearly overnight. To see how loving she is to her sister that just 3 weeks ago she was hitting and biting at every opportunity, and to watch her shrink away from strangers that 3 weeks ago she would have gone home with in a heartbeat, is astounding and heartwarming.

I have said it before, but I will say it again- it's a true miracle that we have been allowed to be parents to the two most amazing girls. Madeline is ever forgiving when her sister does slide back and hit her (oh yes there are tears, but the recovery is fast, and there are loving actions back to little sister just minutes after the trauma), loving of her sister, and while it is tough on her to go from being the only child to sharing Mama and Baba all the time, she is handling it amazingly well. Violet is sweet and darling and funny and such a fast learner. Both girls are starting to play together a bit, but more than that, they hug often and you can see the bond that they have already. We are so lucky to have such beautiful little souls in our family!

Violet had her first taste of pancakes and Maple Syrup the first weekend home- Yes everyone- it was Vermont Maple Syrup....do you think we'd have anything else?? And yes, she loved it. She learned to dip, but she soon gave that up and picked up the little dish and just drank it straight. Ah...a girl after my own heart. Just wait until we take her to visit a sugar shack for the first time and she tastes it fresh from the big tub all steamy and hot... oh bestill my heart!

These sister hugs are 99% of the time spontaneous. We always tell the girls to give each other a hug when Violet goes to bed (she goes to be 30 minutes before Maddie), but during they day, they are always spontaneous and both girls are usually laughing when hugging!

We went to a birthday party last weekend for a little boy Maddie's age- and both girls got a pair of these star sunglasses. Violet adored them!


There has been a lot of dress-up activity in our house lately- Maddie was doing a fancy dance and Violet was just having fun in her pink tutu!

This dancing is serious business- Maddie loves to stage little performances for us! And we love to watch!

We pulled all the pillows off the couches and chairs and had fun bouncing on them. It may look like Violet is crying, but this was a giant belly laugh!

We had the opportunity to see a dear friend's mom's house (after massive remodel due to a flood) up on Cooper Spur last weekend- Violet got her first taste of snow. As adorable as she was in this, we didn't expect there would be snow so we hadn't prepared, and the girls were not very warmly dressed. Violet was NOT interested beyond a few minutes of touching it and wanted to be held! She was not as amused by the snow as Maddie who clearly loves snow!

It looks like Maddie is pulling her hair, but this was right after a hug...

Violet is an amazing eater- she decided she loved Salmon Pot Pie- especially the crust!

I've been getting tips from some of the amazing teachers at Maddie's daycare for a sensory box- this week we have dried beans, spoons & scoops. Violet loves playing in it- sometimes next to it, sometimes sitting in it to play!

She had her first taste of Yogurt- and liked it enough to pretend she was Santa with it... Although, I have to say the bananas I had mixed with the yogurt were more exciting for her than the yogurt!

Goodbye Guangzhou

We said goodbye to Guangzhou in the early hours of the morning today and now we are on our way to the Hong Kong airport. It is time- my family is ready to be home. Everyone is tired, our amazing traveler Maddie has switched to eating only white rice and tomatoes over the last few days after being a wonderful eater and trying new foods at every meal, and our little one desperately needs the normalcy of a schedule in her life- something that is very difficult on an adoption trip!
So goodbye China- we'll miss you, but we are happy to be getting home.
We have more photos, so I'll be posting them soon!

Visit to Gaozhou

We are now in Gaozhou and have had a great visit to the place Maddie was born.  We drove here on Wednesday with our new (and amazing) guide, Bob.  He is Xixi's nephew, which will only mean something to a few people, but Xixi is pretty famous in the adoption world for family searches and history searches and such.  He was previously an adoption guide for Heritage Adoptions and for one other agency, both of whom went out of business within a month of each other a few years back.  We were lucky he decided to stay in the adoption business because he has been a fantastic guide for us, and Maddie adores him.  Our driver Lee is pretty amazing too- he is the first driver on this trip that has been interactive with us and chatty with the girls- he seems to have quite the soft spot for Violet, and teases Maddie too which makes her laugh.

We arrived early afternoon Wednesday & had lunch at a restaurant next to the hotel. We got the girls down for naps and went for dinner at another somewhat close by restaurant.  After dinner, we came back to the hotel and walked across the street to the big park.  They have lots of childrens activities for young children along one side, and dancing in the center on a raised stage.  We walked along the edge first and Maddie tried her hand at catching some fish in a little pool there for 3 yuan, then she swung on some swings for 2 yuan, then she made a sand painting for 3 yuan.  A good hours worth of fun for about $1.20 total!

Afterwards we walked over to see the dancing- Maddie enjoyed watching it but did not want to try. She was just very intent on taking it all in!

This morning we met our Gaozhou friends XiaoLing and her daughter Diana for breakfast.  We mostly email with her husband, XiaoMing, because he has good english, but he just got a job in Shenzhen, so we just met up with XiaoLing and Diana. Diana is just 5 months older than Madeline.  XiaoLing is beautiful and sweet although my lack of Chinese and her accent meant there wasn't much direct communication without Bob helping us.  Diana is a sweetie and she and Maddie were having fun playing with some balloons we found there at the restaruant.  We said goodbye to them after breakfast and walked to visit Maddie's orphanage.  We knew it was very close, it was only after we had been there that we could see that it was within view of our room.

First we met with the assistant director, then a few others, including the main director.  There was some question about finding Liu Xue Ling (Maddie's ayi), when all of a sudden she walked in the room!  I recognized her right away and I think she was also happy to see us!  She thanked me many times over the time we were there for coming to visit and bringing Maddie, and about how beautiful Maddie is.  We went to visit the two rooms with the children and saw lots of babies!  They said currently they have around 60 children at the orphanage, in the two baby rooms there were 39 beds with children in them between the two rooms.  The youngest baby was born the day we met Violet- October 24- she was so tiny!   All of the babies had recently shaved heads because it has been so hot, it helps to keep the babies cooler.  Several babies with cleft lip and cleft palate, a few healthy babies, and some they told us with other special needs.  One little boy looked like he had a prematurely fused skull-but I'm really not sure- it really breaks your heart to think about how treatable that is if taken care of early, but this little one won't have that opportunity.  He was more than likely over a year old.  His head was very long and conical like, it's hard to say what his future will be.  One other VERY engaging little boy who was just a comedian, maybe 2 years old or not quite, they said had brain problems.  Such a shame, he was so sweet, but also may likely spend his whole life in an institution.

 

Maddie got to see the place she lived as a baby, the Ayi's at work taking care of the babies, and most importantly, her Ayi.  She was a sweet woman and we are happy to have seen her again.  The lead Ayi came over to see us before we left and showed us that she had some pictures of Maddie on her phone from when she was in the orphanage! It was such a sweet surprise for us!  We got one photo by text and are still working on getting the others.

 

We went out afterwards to buy some supplies for the orphanage to use- 3 fans and 3 cooktops (double burner type).  We found out that because this is a county orphanage, they do not get much government funding, so donations from families really help a lot.

We went for lunch with the Assistant director afterwards and had a nice time.  It was our first meal on this trip in a private room, so we were able to just let Violet walk and it made for a more enjoyable and relaxed meal for all of us!

 

After lunch we came back to the hotel to nap, then went to meet XiaoLing and Diana at the Pagoda.  We did not climb up, but played around the base of it for awhile and let the girls play together.  We went to a children's park/play area after and the girls had fun playing.  Violet had her first carousel ride and SCREAMED when it was over and she had to get off!  She definitely enjoyed it!

 

It was too late to go to the temple after because it was closed, so we just went to dinner all together- By this time Maddie and Diana had become best of friends and Maddie held Diana's hand going up the stairs in the restaurant.  We had a great dinner and had fun playing with the automatic Mah Jhong table (which is unbelieveable and amazing...)

On the walk back to the hotel afterwards, we walked by a hair salon and Bob joked, "want to get your hair cut?", and I said, actually, Maddie would love to. So I asked her, and she enthusiastically nodded her head YES she definitely wanted a hair cut.  Jeremy took Violet to the room and Maddie and I went to get Maddie's first hair cut in China!  She sat very still and enjoyed a very professional hair cut for the super high price of 10 yuan (about $1.50)- it looks cute and she is very proud! I took some video so we could show Baba when we got back to the room. 

 

It's been a long day, and we are so happy that we came to Gaozhou.  Tomorrow we will visit Diana's Kindergarten, and in the afternoon we'll head back to Guangzhou.  We'll be sorry to say goodbye to Bob, having him along for this part of the trip has definitely been a highlight for our time in China!

Guangzhou at last- The Medical exam

On Saturday morning our first order of business was a Visa photo, after that we went a few doors down to the Medical exam center for Adopted Children. This part of the process was identical to when I was here for Madeline, so I let Jeremy be the primary person to go through this with Violet.  First there was the "waiting in the hall" until we were called to go into the main waiting room. Then we waited there until they ushered us into the main body checking rooms where they checked heart and general body stuff.  Next was the Ear/nose/throat room.  they had a little kids keyboard to check for hearing- they hit a key and if the child turned their head they could hear. VERY scientific.  She looked in both Violet's ears and tried to check her throat with a tongue depressor, but without much luck.  Lastly was height and weight. I didn't get to see what Violet's height was, but her weight was 9.6 kg.  Much lighter than the 11 kg the orphanage told us, but we had already figured that out! We had estimated her to be about 9.7 or 9.8 based on our not very calibrated hotel scale in Hangzhou.  Turns out she is just about .6 kg more than what Maddie weighed when she came home at 10 months!  And Violet is 21 months old...guess it's a good thing we didn't get rid of those 9-12 month clothes yet!

Thursday in Hangzhou-The amazing Garden and Lin Ying temple

On Thursday we visited Linying temple- we had to go in through a garden first, but the garden was really a wonderful surprise for us! I had expected it would be a basic kind of garden that we've seen so far in China, but were surprised to see cliff walls carved with beautiful buddha images! Of course like every other place in Hangzhou, it was completely crowded with tourists, but we really enjoyed looking at the beautiful carvings surrounded by lush vegetation.  There was a small brook running along the path that we walked to get to the temple, and it really just made the scene perfect!

The Temple itself was one of the larger ones I've been in in my life- multiple levels, an active temple with many monks living there and working there.  There were still lots of tourists, but we could also find some quiet courtyards off to the sides and we picked one to let Violet out of her Ergo carrier prison to run around. She was very happy for the break!  After we'd been there  short time several monks started coming into the courtyard to go into the main building there, so we left after a short time so they could have quiet for their prayer! Did I mention Violet has some serious lungs on her? She can screech with joy at an incredible decible. it's wonderful to see her happy and doing so well, but sometimes we feel sorry for the other people around us who are more than likely not very accustomed to the sudden outbursts of shreiking joy!