One journey ends; another begins

The stars were aligned today. Our 16+ hours in flight and 26+ hours in total transit went very smoothly. Darcy was a pro. He slept for most of the Guangzhou-Beijing flight and didn't even fuss when Air China decided it was a good idea to leave us three stranded standing on the tarmac for 20 minutes and then on a bus, idling on the tarmac, for another 45 minutes. He slept all of 10 hours on the flight from Beijing and then was very busy (but very happy) for his 3 hours' awake. Better Half Dave and I were in shock (and as proud as could be). People sitting nearby gave us many a compliment on our adorable and well-behaved baby (and here we were thinking that Emperor Crazy Rooster would appear and that we'd feel so bad for our fellow passengers that we'd be buying drink vouchers out the wazoo for everyone!). He had a minor meltdown in the uber long "foreign visitors" line at Immigration (don't worry - we joined him in line. We didn't expect him to do the immigration process tout seul). But, seemed content to practice his walking, blow snot bubbles, and make googly eyes and giggle at the cuter foreign visitors.

Immigration was a breeze and after some very vocal protests, the little Emperor fell fast asleep on the ride home from the airport. He's currently entranced by the cats (he keeps talking to them -- "ooh ooh, ugh" or something like that); the level of interest is not mutual, sadly, although the cats are lurking on the hall, standing their ground. The battle of the wills and wits has begun.

Tomorrow is first day of true family life (without the 5 star hotel service). Thank you for following our adventure - all the ups and downs were well worth it, and we are relieved to be home. We'll be going underground for a couple of days until Darcy gets accustomed to the house, the noises and the smells, but will be in touch soon.

I've attached some pictures: Darcy and Dave waking up from their naps; Darcy waiting in the airport in Beijing for pre-boarding; Darcy happy to get the 747 moving; Darcy fast asleep; and Darcy already laying waste to the house.

-- Laurelle.

Spelling

Yes, I know. Multiple spelling mistakes in last night's blog post.
Never overestimate the power of a 21-month old to distract one from
proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

-- Laurelle

Farewell Guangzhou

It's time to go home, folks. Finally, our trepidation as to how Darcy
is going to manage the 3 hour flight to Beijing + 3 hour layover + 13
hour flight to DC + immigration + car ride home, not to mention
general adjustment to home life, is far outweighed by our desire to
start family life in earnest. We love the White Swan Hotel, but there
really is such a thing as too much breakfast buffet. Yes, you heard
it here first. No one should have "all you can eat" every morning --
"all you can eat" is not a challenge, after all.

Poor Emperor Darcy is fighting a cold and has been periodically called
"Emperor Snotty Pants" or "Emperor Darcy, Ruler of the Land of
Phlegm.". He has also developed an off-and-on case of hives -- heaven
knows if f he has a food allergy, or an environmental allergy, or if
it's related to the cold virus, or if it's just stress. Thanks to the
wonderful Doctor Jerry, we know that he is not in mortal peril and
have some instructions on what to do if the hives reappear in DC.
Doing his part, Darcy has been a trooper and for the most part has
remained in amazingly good spirits. Even when covered in hives, he
always seems to have energy to give the pretty White Swan staff
members a giggle and a flirtatious smile (Darcy loves the ladies).

On Sunday, we visited the Six Banyon Buddhist Temple, the biggest
Buddhist shrine in Guangdong province. On Monday, we hung out in the
hotel room while our facilitator delivered our paperwork to the
consulate. Getting the word that the consul had no additional
questions, Emperor Snotty Pants turned into Emperor Crazy Rooster,
threatening his subject with his chopsticks due to hi s cold-induced
ill humor. But, we all perservered and enjoyed a stroll around
lovely, tropical Shamian Island. And, of course, there has been lots
stackable cups play and cruising/walking interspersed between outings.

Today, we went to the consulate with 50 other families for the formal
oath (which completes the visa process for Darcy and the other
children - he becomes an American citizen upon having his Chinese
passport stamped at Dulles). It was another perfunctory offical
event, although during the oath I couldn't help but get chocked up,
Darcy in my arms, humming some strange tune and blabbering in my ear.
Today truly marks the end of our adoption paperchase (but don't get me
started on what's required to get him a US passport, birth
certificate, and Canadian citizenship!). At the end of the oath, as I
was doing my utmost to hold back the tears, everyone clapped and Darcy
cried "Mahmah," clapped his hands, and hugged me tight. Needless to
say, I was a goner at that point.

So, off to the airport tomorrow morning. Wish us luck - we will need
it. In just a little over a week, Darcy has settled into something of
an eating and sleeping routine, entirely incompatible with tomorrow's
travel plans. Sigh. When will they invent the Star Trek-esque
teletransporters? To hell with Jetson-esqye flying cars, get me a
teletransporter. I assure any enterprising inventor out there that
there's a huge market for teletransporters among adopting families
leaving China.

-- Laurelle

More pictures of Darcy

Here are some of the additional pictures of an increasingly happy Darcy. Emporer Crazy Rooster still makes an appearance once in a while, but he is much happier.

 

-- David

Smiles and sunshine

Saturday in Guangzhou brought some much needed sunshine, a nice
breakfast and real coffee for the first time in almost a week. Darcy
slept for 10 hours and woke hungry as is his custom.

We had a 9 am appointment with Dr. Nasenbenny, the agency doctor.
Darcy was, ahem, unpleased to be examined, and managed to express his
displeasure by peeing all over Laurelle and one of the double beds in
Dr Nasenbenny's room. Hardly an auspicious start, but Mama handled it
like a pro.

We then had a short break and headed off to have Darcy's visa picture
taken (made possible only by a very quick-triggered photographer),
then for the official visa physical where Darcy gave the strongest
objection to the doctor who dared to touch his "junk" and nearly bit
through the tongue depresser the other doctor was trying to use to
look in his mouth. Overall, however it was far less harrowing than we
thought it was going to be.

We then wandered on beautiful Shamian Island in the 70 plus sunshine
and stopped for lunch at Starbucks.

I feel like today was a breakthrough day for Darcy and Laurelle in
particular. There were a lot of smiles and laughter today. He is quite
the mischevious little scamp. We love him all the more for it.

We will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

-- Dave

Nanchang to Guangzhou

Greetings from Guangzhou, Guandong province, "ancestral" home of the
Lo's. A momentous day for all of us -- beginning with the obligatory
buffet breakfast in the scary hotel lobby. Then, my parents and Dave
took Darcy for a stroll while I hurriedly packed our belongings and
met our guide Jane in the lobby for noon. A happy morning all around
as Emperor Crazy Rooster (Darcy) napped for almost 2 hours in the
stroller, then -- sorry, baby bowel movement comment follows -- pooped
for the first time in 4 days (can you say "stress"?), and Jane
provided us with all the notarized Chinese adoption forms along with
Darcy's Chinese passport even though the offices were backlogged (Jane
is wonderfully pushy and gets fabulous results).

Then, off to the airport. All in all, Darcy was a rockstar. He spent
most of the flight putting cheerios into a glass of water and mushing
them with his pruning fingers. I know, he's a culinary genius in the
making! Other than a medium-sized meltdown upon descent, Darcy was
perfectly behaved. Granted it was a one hour flight -- our 13-hour
flight from Beijing to DC may be an entireley different story.

We arrived at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island in Guangzhou
around 5:30. The WSH lives up to its billing - it's lovely and from
what I can tell, the service is unbelievable. For one, there appears
to be a butler posted outside our door. Dinner was very, very nice -
what a change from the dump, I mean, prosperous, people-centric,
strong industrial center that is Nanchang. Darcy ate with abandon
again, pointing wildly at what he wanted served to him, grunting and
howling when we didn't get him food quickly enough. I know, he is a
demure soul. Tomorrow, we have an 11:00 mandatory physical for Darcy
at the US consul (yes, I am bracing myself - Emperor Fussy Pants will
not be amused) and a more informal, but far more useful check-up with
the CAWLI pediatrician, the wonderful Doctor Jerry. Darcy is getting
a cold and is rather snotty. Still adorable but snotty.

So, to recap, lots of smiles today and even a couple fits of giggles,
a big poop, a first flight, and a lovely new hotel and city to
explore. All around a good day.

-- Laurelle

one more

Here is one additional one from yesterday. (Thursday)

More pictures

Here are some additional pictures from yesterday (Thursday). We spared you the ones where he is screaming to high heaven which was what he spent a good part of yesterday doing.

 

--Dave

onwards and upwards

We're still on the rollercoaster but yesterday saw many successes and
everyone's spirits have vastly improved. For one, Darcy slept eight
hours straight from Tuesday to Wednesday, which means that Better Half
Dave and I managed significantly more shut eye. Granted, the peanut
sleeps between us and must be one of the founding members of Jiangxi
breakdancing given that he manages to spin and propel himself around
the bed at night without ever waking up. For instance, Dave and
I awoke at 2:00 am each with one of Darcy's feet on our faces and his
head facing the foot of the bed.

He still rages against us at time but, atleast yesterday, his cries
sounded more like cries of fatigue rather than cries of abject fear
and misery.

As for yesterday's itinerary, we ventured down to buffet restaurant
off the lobby for breakfast (read; included in room cost but
frightening). Then, Darcy experienced his first stroller ride. He
insists on being held at all times (primarily by me) so we were all a
little fearful about how he would react. Dave and my dad took turns
wheeling him around the lobby, but it wasn't until speed demon Diana
took over the wheels that Darcy began to lean back in the stroller
(likely due to the g-force).

We then headed out to see the multi-storied Pavillion built in the
Sung (I think) architectural style. It was breathtaking (but
constitutes the only tourist site in this very grey, industrial city).
While BHD, our guide, and the Senior Lo's braved the throngs of
Chinese school children clumbing up the Pavillion and looking to
practice English, Darcy and I picked blades of grass. Pastoral, I
know, but he enjoyed it.

We had a much nicer (read: not included in accommodations but not
scary bad like buffet) lunch at the hotel's second restaurant. For
the first time, Darcy consistently smiled as he discovered the wonders
of playing with chopsticks.

So, the day progressed with minor setbacks (Darcy refuses to nap but
then fatigue turns him into Emperor Crazy Dragon), but a great many
highs. For one, Darcy eats with abandon. He lets you know his likes
and dislikes through unmistakable non-verbal communication (read: he
is really, really bossy). We are getting a real sense of his
personality: he is determined, can focus on new things for long
periods of time, can be mischievous, but also very affectionate.

And, last but not least, after some post-dinner hysterics and complete
exhaustion of all song lyrics I know (from the Beatles to
Raffi), we got him to sleep last night after only 45 minutes. Victory
is so sweet!

Meanwhile, BHD and I have been fighting various ailments. Dave
developed an icky cold on Tuesday and it still persists. I had what I
hope was only a small stomach bug (see previous comment re nasty
breakfast buffet); I managed to break many of the capillaries around
my eyes while violently getting sick in the afternoon. Fair warning
when you see my raccoon-like pictures from yesterday.

My parents (aka the Wonder Twins) have more than come to our rescue.
From getting us food and preparing Darcy's strange congee concoctions
to all-around positive attitudes, we're not sure how we would be
coping without them.

More pictures later. Wish us luck - we have a bus tour of sorts
today. We'll see if young Mister Darcy approves.

- Laurelle

Pictures

The secret of life? Stackable cups and a full stomach

For all five of us, it has been a 24-hour rollercoaster. To start,
last night was rough: Darcy was incredibly distraught calling out for
his foster mom, looking at the door, hoping that someone would come to
his rescue. Other than two hours where he passed out from exhaustion,
he insisted that I hold him and carry him whilst he wailed into my
ear. Most of the morning continued along this vein with Darcy getting
more violent in his objections to our presence. Boy, this kid can
kick and punch! Nothing wrong with his arm strength, regardless of
his diminutive size.

Our two moments of respite came when he had the congee and fruit my
parents brought up from the breakfast buffet. The other came with the
introduction of the stacking cups. Darcy was meticulous in his
stacking attempts and equally enthusiastic in his attempts to throw
the cups across the room or bean us in the head with them. Again,
nothing wrong with this boy's throwing arm.

In the afternoon, we had to do our required Chinese paperwork. All
five of us, along with guide and driver, visited 3 different offices
in downtown Nanchang - the Civil Affairs office, the Notary, and the
Public Security bureau, getting pictures taken, paying fees, attesting
to our love of Darcy and signing even more forms. Throughout, Darcy
railed against us. Compared to the multitude of placid girl babies
being adopted we saw throughout the afternoon, our little toddler was
bringing a whole new meaning to fiesty. We retuned home exhausted and
Better Half Dave, Darcy and I promptly passed out. Admittedly, I was
near the end of my emotional tether: with minimal sleep and growing
fear that I was never going to be able to console Darcy, the family
voted that I needed to go down for a nap.

Meanwhile, my parents then earned their place in the Grandparents'
Hall of Fame, seeking out smaller diapers, other necessities, Darcy's
favorite soy milk drink called Wa Ha Ha, more congee and fresh fruit.

Darcy then woke, pooped like a pro, and then sucked back a Wa Ha Ha
like there was no tomorrow. His mood since has considerably improved,
including his opinion of us. He then ate an entire bowl of pork and
egg rice congee, an entire banana, and a piece of persimmon. He then
was happy to let me get him ready for bed and is now sleeping and
snoring (like his Ba Bay) between me and Better Half Dave.

With all our paperwork done, we have 3 free days in Nanchang to wait
until we get Darcy's Chinese passport on Friday. Tomorrow, we hope to
ply Darcy with more food, affection and Wa Ha Ha and earn to start
earning his trust. There will be likely be many stacking cup
interludes as well.

Pictures tomorrow, we promise.

- Laurelle.

Early Arrival

Well, suffice to say, we are now officially proud parents. We met our
guide at Nanchang airport who promptly informed us that the orphanage
director had already arrived in the city, and she asked us whether we
would like get Darcy when we arrived at the hotel (it was supposed to
be Monday am). I think you can safely anticipate the answer to that
question.

We had about 20 minutes to check in, unpack and prepare, and then
there was a knock at the door. In walked our guide, orphanage Director
Lu, and two nannies - one was carrying a very upset little Darcy.

It turns out he has a cold, and a temperature, so the last few hours
have been interesting. We (I should say Laurelle) bathed him, and
through a Lo team effort managed to get the pediatrician travellingt
with the other parents in our group on the phone to get some
reassurance.

The baby whisperer (as Laurelle has come to be known by some) managed
to work her magic, and as I type I a staring at our son - fast asleep
and snoring. We are exhausted and ecsatatic, so more tomorrow.

--Dave

Beijing - take two

Now marks the end of a full day in Beijing. After the obligatory
pan-Asian/quasi-English buffet breakfast, we joined the rest of the
CAWLI families on a Forbidden City/Tian An Men Square tour. Given the
heavy fog last night, a few families were stuck in Narita and didn't
make it to the hotel until well after midnight this morning. To help
them get a wee more sleep and betting on better weather tomorrow,
we're going to walk the Great Wall tomorrow instead and then head
straight to the airport for Nanchang and Mister Darcy.

My parents went shopping with Tim today, while Dave and I enjoyed
wandering the vast spaces of the Square and theemperor's historic
compound. People talk about DC buildings being larger than life, but
there is truly no comparison - particularly not with all the new
buildings around our hotel. It feels like a newer, bigger Chicago or
mid-town Manhattan.

After an MSGed laden lunch at a restaurant complete with
concubine-attired waitresses (as Tom Siestsema, the Washington Post
food critic, says, "beware of costumed waitstaff. It's always a bad
sign"), I went back to the hotel to see if I could add at least a
couple hours to the 90 minutes of shut eye I managed last night.
Better Half Dave went off with some of our group for a rickshaw drive
of the Hotung district and a spot of cultural tourism. It was only
later that I found out that Dave's driver kept stopping and had to
push Dave because of an alleged flat tire. Uh huh.

Better Half Dave is now fast asleep. As many of you know, he is a
strong believer in something he calls the "sleep bank" (as in, "I need
to sleep in, Laurelle, to make a deposit to the sleep bank, or, "Once
we have Darcy, I'll be in good shape because I will make a withdrawal
from the sleep bank"). I am dubious, so I'll keep you posted on how
Dave's sleep strategy works out.

-- Laurelle

(I can't imagine that anyone wanted to see pictures of me and Dave -
replete with humidity-induced bad hair - at the Forbidden City or
pictures taken by Dave of the back of the rickshaw driver's head. We
promise you some once we get Darcy).

Dateline: Beijing, in a fog, literally and otherwise

We have arrived in Beijing only to find that the gods conspired
against us bringing a cold front down from Siberia to mix with the
above-seasonably high temperatures in China, leaving most of the
country with 5 metres of visibility and pea soup fog. No complaints,
though - Beijing looks like an ultra-modern Gotham city in the dark.
Very cool.

Not much to say about the flight. As you can suspect, it was long.
Period. And, even longer given we we're in "luxurious" economy plus.
Can you say "3 helpings of Ramen noodles," ladies and gentlemen? I
knew you could.

After a small snafu with cousin Albert's driver dropping us off a the
Jingua Hotel (as opposed to the Jingua Garden Hotel), things went
smootly. We had a lovely dinner out with Albert, his wife Anne, and
cousin Tim who had very kindly met us at the airport (and has leant my
dad an extra mobile phone, an act of kindness which, unfortunately,
seems to be doing more to confuse my father than facilitate group
communications). In any event, the meal was beautifully prepared and
very refined - the Peking duck beautiful, the carp in Schezuan chili
oils very flavorful (and on and on). By the end of the meal, both
Better Half Dave and my fearless dad were noticeably listing to the
side, holding their tummies.

We meet the rest of our group at 8:30 am to go to the Great Wall
(presumably in the rain) and then more food and sightseeing. I am of
the attitude that there are a great number of wondrous things to see
in Beijing, but that is not my priority this trip. Sit me on the
sidewalk all weekend but get me to Nanchang on Sunday night? That's
all I care about. Eyes on the prize, people, eyes on the prize.

-- Laurelle

Wild Blue Yonder

We're down to the final hours before leaving for Beijing. A very big thank you to those who have emailed or posted with well wishes (and words of condolences about my ziploc bag addiction).

I had my last day of work before maternity leave and am now on Blackberry cold turkey. It's as bad as any addiction; don't let anyone tell you differently.

Better Half Dave appears to be quickly losing his mind. As Big Boss Brian said, Dave looks "squirrely" and "rabbity" (think, furtive darting eyes and fearful of sudden movements). As I have been keyed up about Darcy since, say, June, and Dave - as the more level-headed of the two of us - took it in stride and focused on the day-to-day tasks at hand, seeing this change in him from "together"-Dave to "I get out of bed at midnight to back up our computers' hard drives because I'm anxious"-Dave, well, it's pretty damn funny.

Again, for fear of sounding like the old men on the 1980s Bartles and James' commercial, we thank you for your support. We'll try and write and/or post pictures as much as possible.

-- Laurelle

Final countdown

• Two matchy matchy suitcases weighing less than 20 kg each? Check.
• Two different sizes of clothing for Darcy, little boy of unknown size? Check.
• Antibiotics for me, Better Half Dave, and Darcy? Check.
• Uncertainty as to whether I'll be able to access blogger.com from China? Check.
• Strange compulsion to put everything in ziploc bags before putting them in our suitcases? Check.
• Hordes of butterflies in stomach? Check.
• Inability to sleep due to aforementioned butterflies? Check.
• Wonder at how SLOWLY time is moving and how October 25th couldn't come quickly enough? Check.

-- Laurelle.

Striking similarities, non?

Here is Darcy. These pictures were taken in March of this year and were sent to us as part of Darcy's file we received in June. Even objectively speaking -- and not boasting as a proud mama -- isn't he adorable? You just don't get much cuter. And, note the split pants -- much to Better Half Dave's horror! Alas, that is the way most of the world works, sans Dora the Explorer Pampers Pull-ups! Although, I'm a bit befuddled as to how one deals with the transition from split-pants to diapers, western toilets, and underoos. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.

And, thanks to Doug Miller for the informative (and humorous) links to stories on split pants:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/16/content_349150.htm

http://gothamist.com/2003/08/05/diapering_a_split_pants_society.php

-- Laurelle

Inching towards monumental change ...

Well, folks, we are almost there. Ten days and counting, and Dave and I take United Flight 0897 from Washington Dulles airport to Beijing international airport. It's weird that this very long journey has come down to counting hours and minutes. It certainly feels strange being on the precipice of monumental change but feeling like you're moving ever-so-slowly to your destination. It cannot be that many times in life when you can pinpoint the exact moment when everything henceforth changes (the morning of October 29th -- when we get Darcy), with every preceding moment feeding into that big event. Like some wise TV soap opera voice over once said, "like sands through an hour glass ...."

We received our itinerary from CAWLI, our China-adoption agency, on Friday. It looks like two days of family, sight-seeing and jet lag in Beijing, and then about 5 days in the capital city of Darcy's province (Nanchang, Jiangxi). Then, on to Guangzhou for 6 days to tango with American immigration bureaucracy, all the while getting to know Darcy (and, he, getting to know us). It'll undoubtedly be the strangest journey of our lives, and I'll do my best to sneak out to internet cafes to fill you in, episodically, on our triumphs and mishaps.

Wish us luck.

-- Laurelle