It's good to be home again

Greg was the one taking all of the photos so sorry there aren't more of Greg! Here are some random shots of our time in China. The first photo is when Timothy was still drinking and we had made it through the second night. Greg holding Timothy at Gotcha day. Greg worked hard to feed Timothy - and without his palate a lot of food goes through the nose.

We are so happy to be home. Timothy is glad as well as he thinks that the stackable cups make a rather remarkable and satisfying sound when struck on the wooden floor.

He is doing great! Finally, finally he started drinking like gangbusters on the plane and hasn't stopped since, a big relief. We are taking him to the pediatrician tomorrow morning first thing to see about his terrible cough and to check his lab values. He's eating as well, and although he is eating them, squash is not his first choice in vegetable. He's quite funny as he does a little dance after he's been eating awhile. He's not so much for the car seat, as he never used one the entire time in China, and does not understand all the fuss, or that it puts him immediately to sleep.

Our time in China was stressful, as we are new parents with a little man that wasn't drinking so much and we were very very worried and not sure how to proceed - hospital or not. But we did enjoy our time there. Timothy and I first bonded on daily walks through the streets of Nanjing and he grew to love love love the bugaboo. In fact, he insisted on being in it or being held by mom at all times. We loved our family walks in the public parks of Guangzhou to watch the senior citizens dancing or playing cards or to watch couples taking glamorous wedding photos.

But it's nice to have more than one room to work with and a washing machine and dishwasher. Also Timothy has more room to play - rather than just the top of the bed. Timothy loves to have his dad take his hands for walks around the house. He will get his shoes so daddy understands that's what he wants to do. With mom his preference is still that she hold him but will occasionally allow me to just sit close and help him play. He likes to laugh and has the sweetest little voice that coos when he's happy. He's hilarious. We feel very lucky!

We Are Home

Finally, finally, 28 hours after leaving the hotel in Guangzhou this morning and crossing the international date line -- the longest day of our lives is over! We are safely at home -- thanks Lori for picking us up at the airport. Timothy did really well on our plane trips all things considered. Not sure how to get any of us oriented to the new time zone but i guess it will happen eventually.

Last Day in Guangzhou

Finally, our last day in Guangzhou. Our U.S. paperwork is finalized and this afternoon we go to the consulate to pick up Timothy's travel visa and take our oath of adoption. Tomorrow morning we fly back up to Beijing then after a 5 hour layover we fly back home. About 24 hours of travel time but at least we'll be back home.

New Day in Guangzhou

Had a fun day in Guangzhou. Got some pedialyte-like powder from a very nice family we met at breakfast (no one has normal pedialyte because you can't get it past US TSA -- thank you shoebomber -- and they don't sell it in China). Timothy's diarrhea has improved and we're getting him more adequately hydrated. Still can't figure out how to make him drink more than a few sips of formula. We've heard some people have tried sweetening with table sugar so that may be the next desperate step. But Timothy seems to love Chinese noodles and eggs so hopefully that will carry us through the last few days here.



Anyway, all were feeling better and in good spirits and we spent most of the day out and about in the neighborhood around our hotel. Having a lot of trouble uploading pics on our very slow hotel internet connection but here are a couple:

Tough couple of days

Sorry haven't posted for awhile, it's been a tough few days since we got our little guy. He is, as the pictures are to be believed, unbelievably adorable. He has the most amazing little hands, which he uses almost all the time. Some item must be in his hands at any one time, like our link a doo's or more likely his fingers which he chews on as a coping mechanism. He uses this a lot as we try to navigate new parenthood, as he tries to cope with our new parenthood.

All of us are sick. I had some GI distress, mild, but debilitating in that it was impossible to stand so Greg had to take over everything for some stressful hours, poor guy. Greg has a bad cold, which I have a slighter version of as well. Our little man came to us with a bad cough, which is not getting any better and now with a bad case of diarrhea.

We are having a terrible time getting him to eat and mainly to drink. He used our bottles at first, the same bottles he was used to using at the orphanage. We had cut little holes in the top but they weren't large enough at first causing it to take too long for him to eat his food, causing his poor little body to sweat like crazy when eating. By the time we figured it out he was over it. We've been trying every technique we can think of to get him to drink - even giving him straight juice which we think may have caused the diarrhea. Basically it's come to this, we are offering him the bottle to drink from the edge like a cup but haven't been able to get him to use the sippy cup yet. We are finally starting to realize that we need to feed him table food but Chinese table food. He's been throwing fits every day when we feed him finally in desperation feed him ramen noodles and he loved them.

We went to the White Swan Hotel clinic and I love the Chinese doctor that is very very good with children, amazing actually. He gave us benedryl, robitussen and some other medicine for his cough - but you aren't supposed to use this with little ones correct? The Robitussen anyway but his cough is so bad we may go ahead anyway.

I need your help with this next point. He has had a diarrhea for the past three days. Mainly nonformed stool but has now turned runny and explosive. I almost took him to the hospital tonight but have decided to wait until morning to evaluate him then. I'm also going to canvass all the American families here to see if they have any Pedialite, which he may like better. I finally broke down and gave him some of the Chinese medicine, which he seemed to like so maybe that will help. If I were home I'd know what to do but I'm unsure what to do here. Any ideas from folks out there would be greatly appreciated, I could use ideas for how to give him fluids.

Keep in mind, as a cleft palate baby he lacks a sucking mechanism. Although he was great at using a bottle we haven't been able to get him to use a sippy or regular cup. Being sick hasn't helped his attention span and he's been increasingly irritable - as would anyone that isn't been feed properly.

Appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Nothing is too far-fetched. Not trying to worry anyone, he's a happy and fun little guy that likes to play and people watch, loves to people watch. His favorite activity is to ride in the baby bjorn and go for walks, especially when mama rocks him back and forth. He must have a little stacking cup in his hand or a link a doo available for shaking when necessary. We've taken to calling Timothy - Bug - short for cuddle bug. Just a warning, when this little guy looks up at you with his sad little eyes - I guarantee you'll do anything he asks. Just wait.

Greg is an amazing father and always makes Timmy laugh. His daily mission is getting Bug to eat and drink. Bug is a bit mommy focused these days but is fine when mom isn't there. Sometimes that means he can have more fun with Greg. I'm more there to be a warm comforting body to hug against when he's stressed.

We'll get through this and each day brings new learning opportunities. Each day we get better at a schedule and at understanding what makes him laugh.

Hope you are all doing well. I'm writing this late, so sorry for any mistakes in context, spelling, etc.

Nanjing Zoo

On Thursday, our last full day in Nanjing, we visited the zoo. Our guide was very very excited that we got to see the pandas -- a rare endangered species. We just nodded politely since we used to live just up the hill from the pandas on loan from China to the National Zoo, a walk of just a couple of minutes from our apartment. So we got the chance to take a few pictures of Timothy watching his shoes as we went to see the pandas.

Friday was our first plane trip with Timothy, down to Guangzhou. Let's just say we're really not looking forward to our 24 hour return trip back home! He did manage to fall asleep at the end of the flight and kept sleeping even through landing -- we're not sure how, since his parents are still trying to clear their ears from the horrible cabin pressure changes.

Timothy - Day Two

Day Two we were back to the Civil Affairs office at 9 AM to meet with our orphanage caregivers one last time and complete all of our paperwork with Jiangsu Province to make things official. Several other American families were there besides our group of 3, and much waiting around with lots of people in a very small space. Finally finished we gave our last goodbyes and thankyous to the caregivers who were off for the long drive back to Lianyungang.





Then it was a shuttle to the store, where we had a chance to stock up on a few supplies to add to those we’ve brought with us: bottled water, baby food, rice cereal. By the time shopping was over it was mid-afternoon and all 3 kids were pretty much spent. And who could blame them. Not only had they missed their nap but the stress and fatigue of all the changes in routine and environment were finally catching up.

The rest of the day was all about managing meltdown for our very over-tired little boy back in our hotel room. So we’ve been very busy. Welcome to parenthood!