Day 11 - Last Day in China

I can't believe this is the last day in China.  We have had a wonderful time here with lots of memories and great friends.

Even though I enjoyed everything we did here I have never been more ready to go home.  I miss my boys so much, we have been gone too long and I can't wait for them to meet their little sister.  They are going to love her and Jaida has so much energy I know she will have lots of fun with them.
I think Jaida is ready to go home too,  even though it is sad for her to be away from her culture, food and the place she knows.  We have been very busy since we got to Beijing and I think it is getting too much. The last couple of outings she hasn't been too happy and when she isn't happy everyone knows as she cries and screams very loud.

Two days ago we went to the silk store and the indoor market.  The dresses at the the silk store were beautiful.  Unfortunately Jaida didnn't love it as much as me but I'm sure some day she will be a great shopping partner.  The indoor market was great.  Jason had a great time bartering the prices.  He had so much fun he took the subway this morning to do some more shopping.  That night we went to see an Acrobatic show.  I was tired from the day of shopping but didn't want to miss anything, I was really glad I went  because it was absolutely amazing.

Yesterday we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  It was so cold, we would have enjoyed it more if it was warmer but still happy we got to see it. 

Last night was the Good-bye China party.  It was such a special night with again great food, entertainment and more memories of our wonderful time in China.

Day 8 - Summer Palace

Today was less packed with outings than most our days in Beijing.  Those family going immigration route had medical examinations this morning and those of us who chose the citizenship route had the morning off.

We left for Summer Palace after lunch.  All of the families came to this excursion so it was a full bus.  So great to see all the families again.  We decided not to take the diaper bag off the bus as we were only going to be there for an hour.  So cookies and camera in pocket off we went.  Jaida decided differently and was thinking we should have also brought a bottle.  She cried for almost the entire time at Summer Palace.  I didn't really see too much of the Summer Palace as I was distracted trying to comfort Jaida.  She doesn't cry quietly either so she probably distracted a few other people too.  Then of course she needed a kleenex from crying so much, which was also in the diaper bag.  As I mentioned before Chinese women like to help us parent so one was telling me she need a kleenex but her helping really did help because she gave us kleenex :)  So our daughter has taught us the important lesson very early on-do not go anywhere without the diaper bag! We were able to get a few photos while there without her crying so it looks like another happy day.

We went for another group dinner tonight.  Luckily we were given a private room as our group can be quite noisy with all the babies grieving in different ways (or tired or hungry, who really knows).  Jaida did great (she already had her cry for the day) and loved the dumplings.  I don't think I have to worry about getting special recipes for congee or steamed eggs.  She loved them both the first day but quickly got off congee and tonight she wasn't interested in the egg.

Jason is always the first to take the fork when offered but he is starting to get the talent of chopsticks

Day 7 - Jade Market, The Great Wall

Today was a busy day with lots of tourist attractions

First stop was the Jade Factory.  I was looking forward to going and planned to spend lots of money :)  Jason left the credit card at the hotel which I think was intentional.  We went to the Jade market in Hong Kong and bought some there but I was still planning on buying more.  It was very expensive and I didn't fall in love with anything so we ended up just buying a small family ball (I think that is what it is called).  I read before I left someone regretted not buying more jade in Hong Kong so I bought quite a bit but now have the same regret of wishing I had bought more.

Next stop was The Great Wall.  It was so exciting to know I was actually going to see the Great Wall.  There was two ways to go on the wall so we decided to challenge ourselves a little and go the side with the better view

It was a little cold there but the sun was shining so it was perfect day.

Our last stop for our day was for lunch at the Cloisonne Factory.  I didn't know what cloisonne was until today and it was really interesting to see how many steps go into making it.  Cloisonne is made out of copper and then hand painted.  It is expensive, of course, when you see how much work goes into each piece.  We bought an ornament so every year I can enjoy it.  I wish we could have taken pictures of the people working but no photos were allowed and we decided to follow the rules

On the way home we drove by the Olympic grounds.  We could have stopped in but I think the whole group was tired by this time so driving by and taking a picture was enough.  We did a little shopping at a market close by but are waiting for our big shopping day on Tuesday.

Day 6 - Beijing

Today was very busy but great.  We did all the paperwork required for Jaida's citizenship this morning.  What a relief to have that all done and know I didn't forget something in Canada (that was my fear).  After lunch we meet in the lobby and had the group picture.  We are a very big group, not sure I will know everyone's names before the end of the week but everyone seems really nice.  It is so exciting to see everyone with their new children and know we all have different stories but all ended here in China with our dreams coming true.  I saw Roberta, didn't get to talk to her but it is like she is a super star as many of us recognize her from reading her and her husband's blog.

Then off to the Beijing Zoo.  It was nice to see the panda bears and I thought of my son Tristan as Panda Bears are his favourite animals.  I would have loved to have him there with us.

Rest of the zoo was nice too.   It wasn't too busy and the brisk air was refreshing after our warm flight the night before (wearing extra clothes so our suitcases wouldn't be overweight).  We dressed Jaida warm since she is used to warm weather and only had one person tell us we should have mittens on her because her hands are cold (China women are known for telling us adopted parents to cover our new children up as they are cold, even if they are sweating)

The zoo probably would have been more fun with our other children or if Jaida was a little older (or stayed awake for some of it :)  It was still nice to walk around and see everything we can in Beijing this week.

The guides (Vivian and Faye) took some of the families out for dinner.  I love the meals here.  Several different dishes are ordered and we all share it.  Chopsticks are used but luckily the restaurants usually have 4-6 forks on hand for us to fight over.  I am can get by with chopsticks but skip the rice.  This meal was very good although I do miss the spicyness of Nanchang.  It was fun to talk to other families, at our table we had a family from Dartmouth, another one from London and the couple from Edmonton who we were with in Nanchang.  Lots of laughs and the babies were all well behaved.  We weren't too sure about Jaida because she wasn't very happy before we left but I certainly didn't want to miss a meal :)  She was really good, sometimes they do better being out than in the room with just boring Mom.  The most unique dish was the dessert which was sweet potatoes with a glaze of liquid sugar.  It is so sweet it comes with bowl of water to dip the potatoes in to get rid of some of the sugar.  It is an instant sugar high which of course I love.

I put Jaida in her crib and lie on my bed next to her.  Then if she is upset I just rub her stomach or back and it usually settles her.  I can be there for sometime before she actually falls asleep but it seems to work pretty well.  So tonight as I am lying next to her she is feeling my face so I figure this may be good bonding time :)  Then she starts touching my nose, poking, rubbing, scratching....then I realize she is probably trying to figure out what this big thing in the middle of her Mom's face is :)

Day 5 - Good bye Nanchang

It makes me sad to say good-bye to the province where Jaida was born and where we first held our beautiful girl.  Before leaving Canada I thought this would be the one and only time in China.  We love it here so much we know we will be back when Jaida is older and will appreciate where she is from.  Jason really enjoyed it here.  He isn't one to stay in the hotel so he had many hours going for walks and exploring.  I miss my boys very much but I am happy to have these quiet moments with Jaida.  We didn't do a lot here in Nanchang so the boys would have gone crazy being the room every afternoon.  Beijing will be another story with our days filled with lots of tourist attractions.

This morning we packed up and received her passport.  This afternoon we went for a walk and visited the great bakery that Jason bought our cake at.  Mary, our guide, came in got us one last time; she was so great and helpful.  It was nice to be taken so well care of.  I have never been on a trip where everything is taken care of-no stress. I could get use to this type of travel (if only I was rich and could pay for someone to plan and take care of everything-I just thought Jason has one and he isn't rich, it's called a wife-haha).

I am really glad I got to travel with the group we did.  It was great company to spend time with them and we still had quiet time with our babies in the afternoon.  I will miss it not just being the eight of us but also look forward to meeting all the other families and their new babies.

Jaida is very active and was a challenge on the plane.  It was just a little tease of what our flight home will be like-Jason says someone will be taking gravol, either him or Jaida and I get to pick, I think I want it to be me :)

Jaida is liking me and does pretty well with Jason, although she seems to prefers me. Even though she does watch me all the time and cries if I leave the room,  she would happily go with anyone else too (she isn't too picky).  Going through security, she was quickly snatched up without any warning by the security guard-she did not fuss at all while other babies seemed traumatized.  A few other times strangers and guides will try and hold her and she happily reaches for them; as I pull her away and say no she is too tired.  I also try feeding her so we can look into each other eyes (helps with attachment) but she usually squirms until she sits up looking at everyone else.  I think she is too busy and doesn't want to miss anything to be a snugglier. 

Day 4

Another great day in Nanchang.  The weather has been unseasonable warm with the temperature reaching 26 degrees so we are enjoying wearing shorts and can't believe how everyone here is bundled up.  This morning we went to a beautiful park in Nanchang.  We enjoyed seeing how people from other cultures enjoy life.  Some were practicing there calligraphy by writing poems on the walkways with water, others were practicing dancing,  singing, playing music, as well as playing at the playground (adults not children).  We don't seem to do that in Canada.  We take our children for the token hour then rush home to do other stuff.  If someone is playing music it is for tips not for enjoyment and if I hear someone singing at the park, I usually tend to walk the other way.

At the park there was also an amusement park.  So many children were there, there must have been a whole school trip today.  I am impressed how polite and excited they were to see us.  I can't see Canadian children being that excited about seeing any adults no matter what what conutry they were from unless they were famous.  They practiced their english on us, asking our names and how we were.  We asked them how they were and one boy answered "so-so".  I thought this was so funny because I remember learning french in the early grades and all the different responses to how are you.  He must have learnt the same in english and wanted to try out a different one besides good.

Another quiet afternoon, Jason went for a few walks and I stayed in the room with Jaida.  She napped this afternoon and we played.  Jason brought a cake for us that looked the same as the one Jaida had for her birthday, so it was fun to share it with her.  She has a very big appetite and likes everything we give her, so I think she might put on a few pounds now that she is with us.

We had another great meal.  The food here is very spicy and I am surprised I am loving it so much.  Jiangxi is known for their spicyness and we have a spicy girl.  I am also surprised how calm I am already at dodging the traffic.  Today on the way to dinner I was fixing my carrier as crossing.  Funny how after just a couple of days you can get use to the way other places do things and it doesn't seem so scary.

No Orphanage Visit

Before leaving Canada, I did a lot of reading and knew I wanted to visit the orphanage.  It is such an important part of Jaida's history, and any connection I can provide her with in the future, the better.  Some families choose not to visit the orphanage for their own reasons including the distance and being hard on the child.  Some families regret later not visiting and I did not want to have that regret.  I knew Jaida's orphanage was far from Nanchang (3hrs one way) and it may be hard but she would settle after and the pros outweighted the cons.  I bought a few gifts for the orphanage, told family and friends I was going, and planned in my mind what our day would be like-visit orphanage, see location where Jaida was found and get her a special gift from her city.

It was such a good plan and then I got here....the decision of what you want to do versus what you might regret if you don't...some of the reasons I changed my mind were:                                  

 -I knew I would find it very uncomfortable and was the one thing I was stressing about               

-The agency & guide thought 6 hrs driving would be hard on Jaida and she would be confused  

-Every day Jaida is getting more comfortable with us and happier, I really would hate to hinder the progress       

 - The first day we had Jaida, the times she cried the most was after seeing the caregiver (she was so happy to see her but had huge    grieving after-especially after she held her                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

-Jaida had some really good friends at the orphanage who would have already said bye to her.  I think it would have been very hard for them to see her so soon and have to say good bye again                                                                                                                                                                                        

- I am so emotional, I cried saying bye to the caregiver who brought her.  I would have been a sobbing mess to see the other caregivers and friend, especially the little girl who acted like her big sister and took care of her.                                                                                                                                       

- there were extra costs: $260 to the govt plus cost of guide, driver, and rental car (8hrs not sure how much it would have been but for one hr for airport was $68) money did not sway our decision as it all blends in with all the other expenses, but still a factor to consider                              

- Jaida just came from the orphanage so would it really benefit her to go back or is it just for us to say we went and take some pictures                                                                                                                  

- She came from a caring orphanage in which the sent us 90 pictures, a nice letter and a beautiful silver bracelet, plus we have the finding ad (so we do have pieces of her history)      

- As part of the bonding process I only want immediate family to hold Jaida.  Jason didn't think it would be fair to go and not allow the people who loved her for the past year to hold her.

It was a tough decision not to go and still not confident with my decision. But it is the decision we thought was best for us during this trip.  The time here has been very relaxing and we enjoyed every minute in Nanchang.  Since I couldn't get Jaida something special in the city she was from I wanted to get her something special in the province she was born in.  Porcelain is very famous here and one of the provinces biggest industries.  We got her a beautiful tea set that I loved and we will give it to her for a special occasion such as her graduation or wedding.  We also got her porcelain slippers with tiger on it (her year is the tiger) and a bracelet.

Day 3

This is Jaida as I type at 8:30pm. She is very tired but refusing to go to sleep.  Looks like Jason will be going to bed before this little one too

After three days with her, her personality is starting to come out and I think she is going to keep us very busy.  She is always moving and today we realized she can crawl, stand up in her crib, roll over, hold onto things very tightly, and have a temper when she doesn't get what she wants.  She had another great nights sleep last night but has not slept very much today

This morning we went to the Temple of Teng Wang

We spent another quiet afternoon in our room however now that Jaida Ming is getting busier, not so quiet.  For dinner we went to another great restaurant with our guide.  We are trying so many great things and the meals are really affordable ($16 for tonight with drinks).  Dog was even ordered but we couldn't try that.  It is a delicacy here, and the dogs are raised like cows and pigs (not someone's pet) but still had no interest.  The driving in China is very different than in Canada.  No one stops for anyone so you just have to move if you ever want to get anywhere.  It looks like cars are going to hit scooters or scooters are going to hit people but most of the time they don't.  It is a bit scary crossing the road because no one will stop so you just have to walk and make them stop.  We are getting use to it now-the key is to cross when a local crosses and on the opposite side the traffic is coming on (that way they will get hit first-haha)

Came back to the hotel with the same routine of bath (which she loves), bottle, story and bed.  But she had tons of energy and was lots of fun, so we kept her up for a bit

She is finally settling down now.  It is so great to hear her laugh and see her energy.  I think she is going to have more energy than our three boys combined.  Jason is a little concerned we are old but I am sure she will keep us young :)

Day 2

Jaida seems to settled a little bit more today.  She had a great sleep of 12hrs last night.  I am not expecting it every night but I certainly like it-she had such an emotional day yesterday and didn't sleep much so the poor thing was exhausted.

She has a great little appetite.  She drank her bottle much better this morning and loved the watermelon at breakfast.  I also gave her congee but I think she has moved on from this food already.  We went for dinner tonight with our guide Mary.  She is so sweet and took us to an amazing restaurant.  Jaida was loving the rice and I was actually loving the tofu and eggplant.

The weather here is very nice (low 20s) so are loving it, wearing sandals and shorts.  We get lots of weird looks and comments as everyone is bundled up.  Jaida wears her cute short sleeve tops in the room but when we leave I put on her sweater so we don't get yelled at.  I also didn't realize how low cut my tops are as the females wear very conservative clothes.

Mary took the four families to the market this morning.  We already went on our first day but it was still good to go with the group and we always need a few things.  Jaida was very quiet and slept for awhile in the carrier-I think it was a little much for her (but I am sure she will learn to love shopping).  We had the afternoon to ourselves, which was great to have quiet time with Jaida for her to get more comfortable with us and play.

One thing that is amazing is how early they potty train the children here.  Jaida was potty-trained when we got her.  I hate to write it down as I might jinks it but today she pooped and peed 3 times in the potty!

Forever Family Day (Gotcha Day)

Today I got to hold Jaida and it couldn't be more perfect.  We were told we would be called down to the lobby around 11am but didn't get the phone call until closer to 12pm.  I thought we were going to the govt building to get her as I have seen on so many other people's blogs but to my surprise she was being brought to us.  The other three families already received their babies when they arrived from their flights.  Jaida's orphange is a little further so it took her longer to get here.

I was so happy to see she was wearing an outfit from the orphanage and not the outfit I sent her.  They had her bundled up but had a cute outfit on her with a new pair of shoes.  She came to me but wasn't sure and she held off on crying longer than I did.  I cried in the elevator, and she cried in our room when I took off her shoes, she loves her shoes-she's my girl.  We had an hour in the room before we had to meet the others to do the paperwork required.  We fed her a bit and she did pretty good, she wasn't sure want to think and she cried off and on.  I was actually wanting her to cry some, I think it is a good thing if they morne the loss.

At the office we signed the paperwork and had to explain why we adopted from China (isn't it obvious, to get our Jaida) and they asked us questions like what kind of education would we provide for her.  We also had a chance to visit with the caregiver and have pictures taken.  Jaida was so happy to see her, she was smiling and laughing lots.  The caregiver took lots of pictures of us and we took some of her.  Once we left and were in the elevator, poor Jaida was very upset.  She certainly has a good set of lungs, but as hard as it is to see your daughter so sad it brought comfort to know she was loved.  We then saw the caregiver at another office-so happiness and then more tears.  I am so thankful for the care and love Jaida has had the last year-the caregiver brought the 2 cameras for me to develop and a gift for Jaida which was two silver bracelets with her name and birthdate on the inside.  We also received the paper with her found ad in it.

We had more time in our room when we came back and she seemed to be doing much better.  She has a runny nose and was warm when we first got her so we thought she might be coming down with something but now realizing she is teething.  She has two teeth and lots of drool.

We met the other three families at the restaurant in the hotel.  The buffet was very good although the wasabi is a lot hotter than in Canada-and not being able to drink the water I thought I was going to die!  Jaida seemed to enjoy the congee, it is nice to give her comfort food.  Jaida seems to be at her best around other people.  She did tons of talking and gave me lots of smiles

Tonight we bathed her, gave her another bottle (although she isn't drinking so much of it) and played on the bed with her.  She takes comfort in sucking her fingers, tried giving her a soother but only likes holding it.  Jaida went to bed really well but not sure how long she will sleep for.  She didn't sleep much all day, always wanted to fight it.  I should go to bed now as I don't know when she will get up; not that it matters because I will happily hold her forever

Good night my beautiful angel