To China and Home Again...Again

Signing Off From China

2010-07-31T09:42:00.002-06:00

We had a group photo shoot today at the famous red couch in the White Swan hotel. It really seems to torment the children, but we sure do love those photos. Note the fear and loathing on the kids faces versus the blissful joy expressed by the photographers (see Eliza in the lower right corner). We finally got our first quality family photo too…ahhhhh, so sweet!!!

Finn started a new antibiotic today. He is still a little out of sorts but seems to be on the mend. Poor kid has been really sick. We were blessed by the presence of an Ear Nose and Throat doctor in our travel group. He took good care of Finn and we are incredibly grateful. Finn takes medicine like a super star. I actually have to re-direct him more than once a day because he stands over by the mini-bar/pharmacy (depending on your point of view) and begs for the medicine.

Many of you have discovered that your lovely comments have gone unposted. The reason is: thanks to China’s “filtering”, Kyle and I don’t have access to the blog web site. Our posts are possible because we have dear friends who dutifully post our text and photos for us. We will post all the comments once we get home. Speaking of home, we will be spending Saturday in transit. Tomorrow is packing and getting out of Guangzhou. This will be the last post from China, but we will continue to update the blog once we are home and settled.

Visa Packet Approval

2010-07-30T09:36:00.000-06:00

We stayed in the room this morning waiting to hear from CCAI representatives. The representatives spent the morning at the US Consulate reviewing all the Visa petitions for the group. We were called at 10:50 that our application was approved. Tomorrow we go to the consulate to take an oath (we will love and cherish…not abandon Finn). Finn’s visa will arrive on Friday and we take off for Hong Kong Friday night. One night in Hong Kong and then the long ride home.

We scored a small bottle of whiskey and plan on having mixed drinks in the hall outside the room after the kids go to sleep. Our neighbors here at the White Swan (an adoptive family in our travel group) suggested a grown up time and given that there are no babysitters, we decided to prop the doors open and drink in the hall. We’re gonna have a party like it’s 1999 (and we have children and adult responsibilities…don’t you remember that verse?).

We made the squeaky shoe purchase today, so cute and reasonably priced. This time around we were able to purchase boys shoes too. Eliza had a great time trying on shoes too. She picked out a pair of green shoes, blue and red, and brown with pink polka dots. She is most pleased with the green ones.

Finnian is still sleeping like a champ but just can’t beat his cough. One of the folks in our travel group is an eye, ear, and throat doctor and recommended a different kind of antibiotic that will be easier on Finn’s tummy. We should have in hand able start treatment tomorrow morning. We suspect he has had this cough for some time. Even while fighting this crud (and he is not too hungry or sleepy), he maintains a great disposition.

Random Stuff

2010-07-30T09:31:00.000-06:00

Finn’s bronchitis is getting better. The worst of the infection seems to have passed. He is still having periods of time when he only wants to be held, but there’s nothing wrong with that!!! His cough is still pretty bad, poor kid. He wakes himself up once or twice during the night. He still looks for one of his caregivers when we are out and about. He calls the caregiver YeYe (means grandpa in Mandarin). We think we have a picture of him…based on Finn’s preference for Chinese men with glasses. We haven’t shown the pictures to Finn yet.

We went swimming today at the hotel pool. Mostly we went sitting in the water. Finn was a little apprehensive, but I suspect he will not be next time. Eliza has been staying very close to Mama, but today in particular. She said to me “Mama, I want you to do everything for me today”. I am afraid it was a disappointing day for her.

During an afternoon play time, Eliza gave Finn a kiss. He smiled big and kissed her back. Have I mentioned Finnian’s current going to sleep pattern? He lies on Kyle’s chest for a couple of minutes, and, if not already sawing logs, lies on his back for a couple more minutes before being out cold. Kyle then gingerly plops him in his crib. It’s all too easy…probably a trick. We’ll see how it goes back home in Colorado.

Finn’s vocabulary list increased today with “up”, “uh-oh”, and “hello”. He is also loud and persuasive with “bu yao!” which means “I do not want that” in Mandarin. Glad we studied up on this phrase prior to departure. He is a great explorer. He and Mama went for a walk today and took turns alternating English and Mandarin words for “walk”, “hello”, “run” and “good-bye”. He would whisper each new word a few times before attempting it audibly. We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant tonight. It was yummy. Our dinner music was Don Williams…made me a little homesick.

Base Matters and Clean Fun

2010-07-26T10:17:00.001-06:00

We took a long walk off the island and into Guangzhou proper today. It’s a mess. There is construction everywhere in preparation for the Asian Games that will be held here. The method of demolition seems to be a bunch of guys in shorts and hard hats pulling buildings apart brick by brick. Another group of guys in shorts and hardhats use wheel barrows to haul debris to a supposedly designated area. Turns out there are a lot of areas which equal piles of junk, trash, sheet rock, and bricks everywhere. Most of the buildings are faced with rusty scaffolding and green tarps. Nice.

Eliza will not use a squatty potty (used in Asian countries by both sexes and resembling a urinal that fell off the wall). She pronounces it very deliberately “Squat-tee Pot-tee”. She actually is appropriately repulsed by the filth surrounding them. The level of disgust surrounding public restrooms, and even private ones (outside of the hotels we have stayed in) is really astounding. Not sure how this country avoids e-coli breakouts (or any other oral-fecal disease). Excuse my soap box.

I (Jane) went to a pharmacy today to attempt to purchase infant Tylenol or Motrin and a medication to help Finn with the diarrhea caused by the antibiotic. So, there I am trying to explain to the lovely pharmacy technician that my son has liquid poo and all she can tell me is how beautiful my face and eyes are. So I figure, she clearly isn’t understanding me….therefore I include hand gestures and and more simple words to help describe poor Finn’s situation. The technician continued to extol the beautiful nature of my eyes and brought my eyes to the attention of the other pharmacy employees. Needless to say, I left without any medication, but feeling very good about myself. The coveted anti-diarrhea herb was finally acquired at the hotel doctor’s office.
Finn has started using the sign for “more” and occasionally saying the word. He is particularly fond of French fries and apparently will work for food. He puts his right thumb into the palm of his left hand and says “mo”. Very cute. He ate better today and takes his medicine like a champ. I have never seen anything like it. He stands still and drinks the strange concoctions recommended and rarely fusses. One potion is a combination of a liquid cough suppressant, liquid mucous thinner, and a powdered antibiotic. The other is this powder the consistency of talc that is mixed with water and looks like mud. It is to counteract the adverse downstairs effects of the antibiotic (and let me tell you….adverse!). Amazing but effective.

The kids took a bath together tonight. It was a sweet time! They had fun together and we thoroughly enjoyed their antics. Finn loves the water and shows no fear. Eliza is very reserved and follows all rules of bath time etiquette including not splashing. Finn is completely and blissfully unaware of those particular rules.

Sick Boy

2010-07-25T08:25:00.000-06:00

Finn woke this morning with a high fever. We have been pumping him full of medication all day and it seems to be helping. He has a nasty cough, very runny nose, and all the meds are upsetting his little tummy. Eliza has a cough too. Adoption time is tough on their little bodies…emotional, stressful, exciting.

We stayed close to the hotel today. Did a little window shopping, and finally had our Starbucks coffee. We had hoped to go off Shamian Island and visit a recommended park, but Finn was just too sick. Maybe he will feel better tomorrow and we can get out a little more.

The heat is really something. We can only tolerate short bouts outdoors. It is absolutely stifling. The second the kids get outside their hair is wet with sweat. Finn’s little head glistens and Eliza’s head drips. Yesterday Eliza said “my head must be sad….it keeps crying. Mom, that’s a joke”.

At dinner tonight there was some interaction between the kids that did not include the words “don’t, stop, or NO!” They sat across the table from each other and made faces and silly sounds. They both giggled. Hooray! I know we should not encourage blowing raspberries at the dinner table, but positive interaction is worth it!

As I type this I am listening to the blessing of the going to sleep sounds of our children. I hear their whispering and breathing (coughing, hacking and sniffling). I am enjoying it very much! They are great kids. Finn is in his little crib settling in and fighting sleep. Eliza is in a rectangular nest of a bed on the floor sucking her finger…much like it will be at home (hopefully without the colds, and ear infection). Finn just announced his fading into sleep with quite “bye-bye”. Two minutes later he is out.

Kyle: During naptime today I went for a walk around the neighborhood near our hotel and there were sites’a’plenty. Just outside the hotel was a determined exercising lady with perfect balance. Next door was a very pragmatic liquor/doll store. Then I wandered through a pedestrian only neighborhood of ancient looking 4-story walk-ups. Most entry doors are gated with bamboo and have little red incense burners nearby. One place had a small dog in a cage not much larger than himself. Like Eliza, the dog did not like to be photographed by strangers…I passed by quickly. In front of one place were a bunch of river oysters set out to dry. What a fun place to visit.

Happy birthday, Mom. Love you.

Guangzhou

2010-07-24T09:27:00.000-06:00

We spent our last day in Zhengzhou packing. We went to a restaurant inside the hotel for lunch and found there were no tables available. As we stood in front of the restaurant deliberating on what to do next, a Chinese woman approached us and cooed at the kids—thankfully, not a rare event. (We clumsy Americans in China suffer from low self esteem. Language and culture barriers make us feel inadequate and our defense is turn inward; we are the vast minority in this country of 1.3 billion. This low view drives us to McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and Pizza Hut at an unusually high frequency. Chinese passersbys who fawn over our children are just the right antidote…lends strength for the trials of parenthood.) The women spoke to the hostess of the restaurant who translated for us…”Ms. Du has some American friends who have adopted children and she would like to invite you and your children to join her family for lunch”. We agreed, and luckily another patron of the restaurant spoke very good English and spent his lunch hour visiting with us and translating. Here’s what we learned: Ms. Du helped open a hospital in Zhengzhou for special needs children and orphans. She wanted to express her gratitude to us for adopting Chinese children. The economy has made the past year difficult at the hospital and she has lost financial support and supplies, but she is determined to continue her efforts. We shared our life experiences, a lovely meal, and tears of joy and understanding. It was amazing and very touching.

We arrived at the White Swan hotel in Guangzhou around midnight with two sleeping kids and no luggage (the luggage truck was stuck in a traffic jam). We called housekeeping for a toddler mattress and ended up getting two towels. After more deliberate communication Eliza’s mattress was delivered and we could at least lie down (cheers for the tip, Nicole). About an hour or so later the luggage arrived. Kids were awake at 7:30 this morning…Kyle and I laid in bed and directed traffic from there.

After breakfast we walked to a little store for Visa photos and then to the adoption medical clinic for Finn’s physical. He is such a good kid. He really did well with all the poking and prodding. He was a bit confused on what to do with the tongue depressor, though Eliza and a bystander did their best to show by example. Turns out FInnian has a pretty good fever. There was some debate at the adoption medical clinic as to whether he needed antibiotics or not. The final verdict was no antibiotics, just Tylenol and Ibuprofen. A few hours later he was still feeling puny. We took him to the doctor here at the White Swan and he was diagnosed with bronchitis and a left ear infection. All I can say is…if he is this active with an ear infection and bronchitis…wow, watch out! So the doctor visit, four days of antibiotic, cough suppressant, mucous thinner, and baby aspirin cost us a whopping $40.00. China heath care A-OK.

The next two days are for exploring and we intend to take advantage of our time and maybe get some relief from the Summer heat at the swimming pool.

Tired = Wired

2010-07-22T08:31:00.000-06:00

Like Eliza, Finn gets wired when he is fatigued. The two together are crazy. Bedtime tonight was a circus. Finn was running around touching everything, turning on the TV and maxing out the volume with the remote, and answering the not ringing phone while Eliza got louder and more demanding of attention from Mama while trying in vain to police her rogue brother. Ugh!

Finn seems to be beginning to realize that he is not returning to his former life. He has been having a more difficult time falling asleep and crying a little louder and longer around nap and bed time. It sounds like a cry of despair. He allows us to comfort him and does not resist. Still, it is difficult to observe, and heartbreaking to hear. He winds down and disconnects by playing and staying busy. This morning Mama caught him within an inch of banging his head on the bottom of the bathtub…he leaned into the tub quickly and took a dive! You gotta have your head on a swivel to keep up with this kid.

We visited the Henan Provincial museum today. It is a lovely building and interesting place to explore. Eliza enjoyed the jadeware and the observatory room. Finn pretty much ran from one end to the other for two hours.

As wonderful as it is here, we are beginning to get travel fatigue. We long to eat at our own table and sleep in our own beds. We are not looking forward to the long flight home with our Energizer Bunny, but the home part is sounding pretty great.

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou for the final leg of our trip. We will be there one week. Our U.S. Consulate appointment is on July 28th. We are looking forward to the Starbucks in Guangzhou! We love mainland China, but oh we miss our coffee!

Thousand year old eggs, anyone? Believe it or not, we have leftovers. I understand they travel pretty well.

Daddy’s Boy

2010-07-21T07:48:00.000-06:00

On adoption day Finn was able to tolerate both myself and Kyle. The last two days he has definitely showed a preference for Kyle. He will barely allow me to hold him, and when “Baba” leaves the room he cries until Kyle returns. Sound familiar? Some of you know that Eliza was that way with me. Kyle is enjoying the benefits of being the life-line. Finn is very affectionate and cuddly. He rests his head on us, gives kisses (even to me), and lets us comfort him when he is sad or scared.

He is such fun. He learned a new word from his sister…”no”. He uses it appropriately and is very convincing. He found his voice today and shared lots of babble with us. His favorite word to say is “baba” (mandarin for daddy). He says “more, mama, jie jie (sister), bye-bye”…crazy cute. He is able to take his shirt and shoes off. I handed him a tooth brush and he knew exactly what to do. He colored with markers today…until he tasted the pink one.

Eliza is not used to the energy Finn adds to the family mix. He is much more active and curious than she is…more assertive too. Many times today she requested that I not look at Finn, and give all my attention to her. Hmmmm? I suspect the real adjustment will be when we get home and Finn touches everything. He is already demonstrating an ability to open drawers, doors, markers (yikes)…he knows no boundaries. The good news is he has been trained to clean up after himself and he does.

Eliza is really doing well. She has been trying to hug Finn and play the way she knows how to play. She’ll figure it out. Her feelings are a little tender, but generally she has seemed to enjoy this.

We made a quick visit to Finnian’s orphanage today. We were not allowed to go in and only stood outside to take pictures for a few minutes. It is a new building and has only been open for about a month. He did not seem to recognize the place. Interesting since he already knows where our hotel room is and points at the door when we arrive. He also did not pay attention to the nanny lady who took us to the orphanage, despite her efforts. She told us (with other families present) that Pu Qing had been a favorite of his care-givers. No wonder to us.

Adoption Official

2010-07-20T10:05:00.000-06:00

This morning we revisited the same official government office from the day before to make our adoptions official. Again all the families waited for about an hour in the heat until at long last a rather casual official gave a short speech and handed us a nicely bound certificate with mini family photo. Then back to the hotel for a day of play.

Finnian is showing off his curious and mischievous side. While Eliza was relaxing with a bit of Barney and Jane was off to the local Walmart, Finn, unzipped the CD case and proceeded to empty its contents. He enjoys handing Jane and I the hotel phone receiver, especially since it has an extra long chord, and he can get it to us no matter where we are in the room. He is an intrepid climber: stairs, bed, chairs, window sills, etc. We are enjoying getting to know him.

Rewind: visited the Great Wall of China a few days ago. The ever present crowds, heat, and humidity made the steep climb difficult. I witnessed several casualties along the way. However, Eliza had been training back in Colorado, and she enthusiastically made amazing headway up the steep, uneven, and virtually never ending steps. Also memorable were the Middle Eastern tourists making the climb in head to toe black garments (in July). We were also awed at the many Chinese women, both younger and middle aged, who opted to make the ascent in bare feet because the nice dress shoes they had brought along couldn’t really do the job.

The Deuce!

2010-07-19T16:54:00.000-06:00

At this hour, Finnian Pu Qing Schurter is sleeping beautifully in the crib next to our hotel bed. It is now the end of a long, wonderful, mournful, emotional, and blessed day. The important stuff began around 9:45 this morning when fourteen families hopped on two busses and headed to the Henan provincial registration office. Standing water on the roads made all the kid-carrying busses late. We waited about an hour and the crowd of expecting families began to stir. Our CCAI representative announced that the babies from Jiaozuo had arrived. We are one of the three families with children who were cared for in a smallish group home in that city about an hour and half outside Zhengzhou. We got buckets of rain last night.

Finnian was one of the first kids though the door—instantly recognizable from the photos we had received months ago. He looked healthy, alert, and very scared. First few minutes are a blur in my memory. We just spent the time holding him, giving him pats, and soaking in his presence. The next bus of children arrived and the action started to pick up. There were now about 50 people in a medium sized room with wall to wall tile…very noisy and disorienting. Crying went viral and Finn caught the bug. We moved our party out to the front steps of the building and he immediately calmed. There we found one of the nannies who had cared for Finnian the past year and a half. With the help of Isha, our guide and interpreter, Jane thanked her for loving and caring for Pu Qing. She (and we) was teary as she said “bye-bye” to Finn. To our astonishment, he verbalized a bye-bye as well and they exchanged kisses on the cheeks. Our son suffered yet another great loss in his life today.

Finn is smart, active, curious and very fun little boy. He is a expert toddler. With a single finger assist, he can climb up and down tall government building steps. When we got back to the hotel room, he was exploring everywhere at once: new toys on the floor, opening the toilet lid, punching buttons on the computer, and climbing up on the bed. We had sent our family photos to the orphanage some months ago. When we showed him the same photos today, He pointed to photos of Eliza and said the word for big sister in Mandarin. Jane learned the Mandarin word for kiss and we’ve found that he knows it too. He’s giving sugar all around. He has a fantastic laugh and a heart-rending cry. We’ve hear both several times.

Eliza is being a very good big sister. Her past months’ expressions of rejecting Finn have now mostly given way to excitement, being protective (and a bit of a tattle-tale), and cooperative. We are so very excited and thankful for our newly expanded family.

Hot Day in the City

2010-07-16T10:00:00.002-06:00

Today was a dense day of touring at the hottest spots in Beijing. At peak season, the crowds were thick, and at the peak of summer, the temperature and humidity were both uncommonly high. There was just too much amazing detail to absorb during our two mile hike through the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The heat took its toll on the group, but Eliza was a trooper. She entertained all around with her questions and commentary and enjoyed photographing her own view of the often chaotic scenery. She nearly faltered just outside the Hall of Preserved Harmony, but pulled through with the help of an icy popsicle.

We also toured a silk factory and the Hutongs, or old neighborhoods. We rode on rickshaws through the Hutongs and Eliza thought that was pretty fantastic. She declared that she was Cinderella and we were riding in a coach. She also yelled at the driver to go “super fast…like zooooom!”.

Tomorrow we trek to the Great Wall for a little Chinese “mountain” climbing. Then Sunday we fly to Zhengzhou with Finnian’s adoption day on Monday. Very close now.

Hot Hot Hot

Tomorrow we trek to the Great Wall for a little Chinese “mountain” climbing. Then Sunday we fly to Zhengzhou with Finnian’s adoption day on Monday. Very close now.

Beijing

2010-07-14T08:42:00.000-06:00

We arrived safely. Exhausted is not quite strong enough to describe the state of disorientation Eliza was experiencing! She was a superstar the entire trip…not a tear, not a gripe, took a couple naps on the plane. Right after we landed poor kid got sick. She threw up in the van on the way to the hotel too. The gentleman driving the car did not know English and was clearly concerned about Eliza and the van (we left no sign of the event).

We spent today walking around, getting familiar with our location and finding the subway. Eliza got a lot of attention, those of you who know her will not be surprised that…it did not go well. Several people stopped to touch her or talk to her, others tried to take pictures. The result was consistent…crying! She said “too much people”.

We hope to see the Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven tomorrow. We will see how it goes. After tomorrow we are not free agents. Our travel group will be here and we will do group tours to the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and much more.

We meet Finnian on the 19^th in Zhengzhou. It will be here before we know it.

Travel Time!

2010-06-30T22:01:00.000-06:00

We learned today that we travel on July 12th. We will be in China until July 31st. Somewhere in there we become a family of four. We are ready and anxious to meet Finnian. We will do our best to keep the blog updated day to day during our travels.

We just celebrated Eliza's 4th birthday. We are stunned at what a little lady she has become. She received a card from her Great Grand Val and Great Grand Papa...as I read it to her she spoke to the card: Me "We hope you have a fun birthday", Eliza "Oh, I will!" as she put her nose into the card to make sure the Great Grands could hear!

If you are curious about how Eliza looks traveling....

COAT

2010-06-05T13:03:00.000-06:00

So, Finnian's Chinese name is Fu Pu Qing. It means universal celebration! We are certainly celebrating!!!

There is a non-profit organization involved in the care of the children in the Jiaozuo Social Welfare Institute. It goes by the name COAT (Chinese Orphan Care Team). I found this photo on their website: eagleswingschina.org. What a lucky find!! It's our sweet boy getting some love! COAT seems to be doing some amazing work in Jiaozuo. I will do some more research, but as great as the kids look...it seems undeniably fantastic!

Jiaozuo is 43 miles north of Zhengzhou (the provincial capital of Henan, P.R. China). It is located in a transition area between the Taihang Mountains and Northern Henan Plain. It has only one social welfare institute that provides much needed care for the elderly and orphaned children. We will be staying in Zhengzhou. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to visit Jiaozuo and the social welfare institute and meet the people have loved our son.

Finnian

2010-06-02T13:42:00.003-06:00

So, here he is. Finnian Pu Qing Schurter. Born 1-8-2009. He currently resides in Jiaozuo, Henan, P.R. China.

Looks like we might travel in 6 weeks or so.

Holidays

2010-01-11T20:16:00.019-07:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We've had an active and fun holiday season this year with lots of good time with family and friends. Jane and Eliza made the long car ride from Denver to Texas to visit family. With the help of Aunt Anne and Mary Poppins. The stories from the road were smiles, for the most part. After their return, we enjoyed Christmas together as a family.

For an extra Christmas present, my parents came to visit for several days. With Jane's new sewing machine, she and Mom went to work re-purposing Eliza's old crib dressings to fit her new "big girl bed." See below for the final result. The face on the pillow is Dora. The rumple under the cover is a hiding Eliza. Bubbles on the kitchen counter were another fun treat.

I took about 10 days off from work and we all enjoyed a long stint of family time. Eliza is an absolute hoot. Her love of story telling and sense of humor seem very mature for her age. "Once I saw a whale with a turtle on it, and he had a bowl of ice cream" [loud, high-pitched laughter]. These past months have been fun, peaceful, productive, and full of new discoveries. Eliza is blossoming into a very inquisitive, fun-loving little girl who is comfortable in her own skin. I think we've hit a good groove. Must mean we're due for change.

Let it Snow!

2009-10-29T12:28:00.004-06:00

Our first big snow! Eliza has been very excited and anxious to get outside. She begged to shovel snow and Kyle obliged. They attempted a snow man, but the snow is too powdery. Maybe next time? For now...we'll stay inside and enjoy hot chocolate and Halloween cookies.

Fall Fun!

2009-10-19T13:32:00.007-06:00

Thanks to all of you have waited so patiently for our return to blogging. It has been a completely unintentional hiatus.

Eliza is doing well. We have fun, fun, fun! She is turning out to be quite a good hiker...hiking a little over a mile before requesting a break. She talks like crazy and has an impressive vocabulary. She is beginning to tell stories that start with "once upon a time", and thoroughly enjoys hearing stories of her adoption in China. She is quick to announce that she is "Fee years old" and was born in "Yunyang" but met mama and daddy in "Chongqing". She has started a second year of Mandarin Chinese language classes and is excelling. She (like most children under five) seems to have a real affinity for language.

This summer and into the fall she spent a lot of time helping out in the garden and yard. Who knew pulling weeds was so much fun. She helped plant, and water cucumbers, green beans, cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers. Harvesting proved to be a favorite activity! Next year we are planning a bigger garden. Maybe we'll plant corn and snap peas.

She relates deeply to Dora the Explorer and has given each of us a character name. She is Dora, Fairytale Princess. Mom is Snow Princess and daddy is King Bobo. I adore it when she actually introduces herself to people "My name is Fairytale Princess...this is Snow Princess and King Bobo is at work."

Life is good. We are amazed every day at what a great kiddo we have. She's fun, sensitive, sweet, smart, the list goes on. I will try to be better at updating the blog...but I make no promises...I have a lot of playing to do. Snow Princess has a busy schedule.

Just for fun...this is one of my favorite videos...Eliza is discovering her musical self.

Holiday Update

2009-01-24T14:06:00.004-07:00

Christmas was wonderful and full of cheer. Eliza caught on quickly to important concepts like presents and Santa. She adored looking at outdoor lights, and punctuated each sighting with phrases like "oh! Bunch a yights" or "Yook, Mama...Daddy...and baby Jesus".

Eliza has started to recognize letters. She confidently points out the letters A, B, C, and O. She has started counting in English and Mandarin and occasionally makes it to the number 5 without prompting. She's constantly talking and is impressively expressive. Her favorite color is green. She still equates candy with Halloween and frequently asks for a "trick or treat". A week before Christmas she asked for a trick-or-treat...I told her they were all gone. She quietly walked away and returned with her Halloween costume and said "more". When we have an exceedingly yummy meal she states "Santa Claus Lunch"...maybe because we ate so well on Christmas day.

We are finding that Eliza's memory is shockingly acute. Recently, she enjoys "reading" her books to us. She doesn't miss a line. We went to a party in Golden last week. As soon as we turned onto the main street, she recalled to us her experience at the Buffalo Bill Days parade in July. We've hardly been to Golden since July. She's even hinting at memories from when she was in China. Remarkable. In the photo above, you see her reciting "The Night Before Christmas".

Monkey Business

2008-10-28T20:23:00.008-06:00

In past weeks, Eliza has shown some resistance to to the monkey costume. But last Sunday that all changed. During her first experience with trick-or-treating, she made a solid connection between the monkey suit and sweet sweet candy. She cleverly changed the chant to "treat or eat". Now she slips into her monkey persona with the ease of a banana slipping out of its peel.

It seems that Eliza very much enjoys Halloween [week]...and scarecrows.

Halloween Prep

2008-10-18T14:21:00.009-06:00

Most of the trees in Arvada are either yellow, red, or bare. Our tomatoes are finished for the season and the mountain tops are white most of the time. We've had lots of fun playing inside and out during these days of fickle weather.

We and Eliza are engaged in a long and heated debate regarding her Halloween costume. Her faithful parents believe the monkey suit is the best choice for both aesthetic and practical reasons: it is very cute, cozy on a cool night, and sports a ripe banana. Eliza on the other hand, prefers the fish-head-ballerina costume. It's fashioned from her own developing sense of beauty. She does have some strong points in her argument.

This morning we drove to a pumpkin farm just to the north of town. As we approached from a few miles off, the land appeared to turn from brown to bright orange. This place had acres and acres of pumpkins. A hard freeze earlier this week minimized surrounding foliage leaving the gourds exposed. Given the ample selection, Eliza had no problems picking two of the best specimens.

Eliza and Mom have been attending a weekly Mandarin class for the past couple of months. One of the little girls who traveled back from China with us is also in the class. They have fun. Weekly art projects magneted to the fridge are a great addition to home decor. Eliza seems to pick up the new vocabulary quicker than we do. She knows her colors and body parts as well as please and thank you in the official language of China.

The Summer in Retrospect!

2008-09-09T13:28:00.005-06:00

We have had a wonderful and happy summer. It's been great spending time with our families. Eliza has a fantastic memory and really warmed up to everyone. She was free with hugs and kisses for the grandparents and aunts and uncles.

She has taught us lots about fashion. Pink boots go with everything...so do purple flower headbands. Bows, however, must be removed promptly and without argument.

Eliza learned all about the wonders of the great outdoors. She spent hours in her car, sandbox, pool, dumping sand into the car and pool, leaving piles of sand all over the back yard, hauling little cups and water pails from the pool to the flower pots and tomato plants, picking red tomatoes and green cucumbers (with absolute glee)...the list goes on and on. A highlight of her outdoor experience was hiking in the mountains with her grandparents.

She clearly understands the importance of the telephone. She calls her dad every morning (using a meat thermometer) and tells him all about the plans for the day.

Belated Birthday!

2008-09-08T13:29:00.008-06:00

Since our last entry Eliza celebrated her second birthday, grew two new teeth, traveled to Texas twice and the mountains once, learned to run, started Mandarin class, and grew another inch. There is so much more, but I realize it is much less interesting to you all than it is to Kyle and myself...we are slightly over the moon, you know.

Eliza's birthday outfit was hand crafted by her late great-grandmother, "Nana". What a wonderful way to celebrate Nana's gifts as a seamstress and Eliza's bug themed birthday.

The guests sported antennae, ate ladybug and bumblebee cake, and helped us release 1750 live ladybugs.

The highlight of the event was releasing the lady bugs into the yard. Everyone seemed to be pretty thrilled by all the orange critters.

Eliza seemed to enjoy the party, but the truth was expressed quite clearly during the night when we heard her cry from her slumber "NO BUGS!" I guess we'll have to rethink recycling birthday party themes.

Almost 2

2008-06-09T20:18:00.009-06:00

Well Eliza just finished up her 726th day. It was a happy one; the joys in her life are many.

Smiley face stickers--one for each pudgy hand
Strawberries and blueberries
Peek-a-boo--an old favorite
Proudly pronouncing her own name on request
Gently patting the feet of a baby we met at a store
Cruising around the block on her trike
Planting hear head on the ground from a standing position and waving her hands around
Helping to feed fishy
Getting close to doggies, but not too close
Throwing rocks in the creek
Putting anything we allow in the trash can
Walking in other peoples yards
Dancing to the 1980 rock band Duran Duran
Seeing her reflection in her dinner spoon
Watering the pavement with her yellow pail
Flushing the toilet and saying "bye bye"

The joys in our lives are many as well.

A Tricycle!!

2008-05-22T15:03:00.001-06:00

Eliza's God parents gave her a tricycle...and it's a hit! The second she saw it she got excited, requested help to climb aboard and boldly said "bye-bye" as she looked up at me with "O.K. lady push me" in her eyes. Her feet don't quite reach the pedals, but it won't be long at the rate she's growing.

Mother's day was fantastic. It was the kind of day you can't plan. Everyone was happy, the weather was perfect, and we had a great day together. We worked in the yard a little...Eliza included. She was very helpful.

The two pictures below were taken one year apart on Mother's day. It's hard to believe it's the same sweet girl, but it is. Where did the baby go?

Related News

2008-05-16T20:26:00.002-06:00

Several years ago, the founder of our adoption agency, Joshua Zhong, started a great organization called Chinese Children Charities. For years, he and his wife have traveled to China to lead medical missions, to teach child care training courses at orphanages, and have successfully lobbied the government as child care advocates. The have founded several well equipped child care facilities in China all the while applying state-side cash donations to the purchase of critical orphanage supplies such as formula, clothes, blankets, and heaters.

All of us with strong emotional ties to China, have been deeply saddened by the recent earthquake in China's Sichuan province. The epicenter was only several hundred miles from Eliza's orphanage. Recently Joshua did an interview discussing the situation in the earthquake area. Here is a link to the video.

Barney Leg

2008-05-08T14:10:00.007-06:00

May 2nd was a rough day for Eliza. She fell...over and over and over! By the end of the day she wouldn't put her left leg down for standing or walking. We didn't know if the falls were a result of the leg pain, or if the leg pain was a result of the falls. I talked with a nurse at Children's hospital and the verdict was..."bring her in". We ended up in the Children's urgent care center from 8:45 pm to 12:45 am...YUCK! Xrays were negative, but little Eliza still wouldn't put her leg down. The nurse practitioner on duty decided to splint her leg and recommended we follow up with our pediatrician on Monday. So, you see above the splint. Eliza got a little upset about it until we called it her Barney leg...ahhh, Barney. Turns out "Ba Ba No Wak" (translated: Barney legs don't walk). We are fortunate in that our pediatrician has office hours on Saturday. I called and we decided to give her leg a test run before any more visits or diagnostic testing. The test run occurred Sunday at 4:00pm and she was fine. No more Barney leg, no more doctor's visits, no idea what happened. Just happy it's over!

Now back to work.

Spring!

2008-04-29T14:17:00.011-06:00

It is amazing how fast the time is going. I am amazed every day at how big Eliza is getting and how much she is learning. She got two molars for our "Gotcha Day" anniversary. Two more and we're through with teething. I can't wait. I am sure I speak for Eliza as well.

She is fun, fun, fun! We go to the park, the zoo, music class, swimming...she loves it all. Our first really warm day occurred on April 15th. Eliza wore shorts and ended up getting her first skinned knee/ "boo-boo". We had to keep a band-aid on it for 10 days even though it had healed. She would burst out crying at the sight of her well healed knee and say "boo-boo" over and over. Very funny.

The video below was taken on the April 15th. It was quite windy, but over 80 degrees outside. The following day it snowed and was below 30 degrees all day. Crazy. I apologize for the sound...the wind is bad, but the girl is sure cute.

One Whole Year!

2008-03-27T13:25:00.005-06:00

How is it possible to put the gratitude, joy, love, compassion...into words. It is absolutely incredible to be celebrating our one year anniversary with our sweet Eliza.

The memories of our trip to China are fresh and sweet. Seeing her for the first time, watching her while a nanny from the orphanage soothed her, watching as the same nanny approached us and presented Eliza to us!! Remembering the first few days with Eliza is still very emotional.
She was so weak, gentle, and scared.

Now our dear girl has such fantastic energy and joy. We are beyond blessed. She is changing so quickly. Thank goodness for pictures and video. My memory just can't retain all the information I want it to. My heart is a different story...it remembers everything and grows in love everyday.

Easter

2008-03-24T13:28:00.006-06:00

Eliza is walking independently now. She took off on March 14th and is better every day. She's making some attempts at walking outside, but has less success on uneven surfaces.

She spent the week before Easter battling a cold and sleeping rather poorly. She perked up on Easter Sunday and seemed to enjoy Easter festivities. For Kyle and myself, Easter was very sweet. We brought Eliza home one year ago on Good Friday.

Today is the one year anniversary of our arrival in Hong Kong. We were crazy excited, anxious, and ready to love our girl. Not much has changed...although the source of the anxiety is different (will she sleep, hope she doesn't fall, did she eat enough, is she sick or is this teething...poor kid has neurotic parents).

The Explorer!

2008-02-28T06:34:00.005-07:00

Eliza's first steps were witnessed on February 15th. It was very exciting. Since those first steps she has blossomed into an all out explorer. She went from a kid that could care less about the outdoors to one that sits in front of the glass door pounding, crescendoing into a very loud "OOUUSS" (for outside)! She holds onto one of us and plods around the yard bending over to touch mud, sticks, rocks, grass, rotten crab apples....the list goes on. Periodically she cues us to sing one of her favorite Barney tunes or the itsy bitsy spider (evidence that she has a soundtrack in her head that supports whatever activity she is engaged in at the time). A very wonderful benefit of all this activity is a very sleepy Eliza at the end of the day.

A trip to Texas at Christmas, followed by a brief attempt at daycare sent Eliza into a tailspin. It was rough for about 7 weeks, but things have settled down into bliss. She has been so happy lately. She squeals in delight over little stickers on her hands, giggles endlessly when tickled and bursts into spontaneous laughter at forks.

She continues to amaze us with her language development. She is using at least 10 words that most people can understand and over 30 that mom and dad can understand. She still incorporates sign language regularly and has 18 signs that are different than the 30 or so words she uses.

We think we have a budding musician on our hands. She is constantly asking for music. She has her own CD library and is quite particular about the music she likes. She prefers upbeat music to ballads or slow tunes. At least once a day she pulls herself up at the piano and walks along the keyboard from low notes to high notes and cheers for herself and her clearly superior piano talent.

Eliza is such a happy, loving, sweet girl. She is free with the hugs, kisses, and smiles. She has overcome so much and continues to amaze us. We are speechless in the joy of our blessings.

Oh...I almost forgot. We have initiated the process to adopt our second daughter. We are in the paperwork phase and expect to have our information in China sometime in May. Once the paperwork gets to China the waiting begins. We anticipate the wait to be anywhere from 2 to 4 years this time. The good news is, Eliza will be old enough to travel with us when we go to complete this adoption. I can't believe she will be close to 5 years old when we meet her sister.

First Steps

2008-02-09T13:16:00.005-07:00

Sweet Ladybug!

2007-11-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Eliza enjoyed Halloween. We did not go trick-or-treating, but we did visit Daddy at work. Her costume was a gift from mom's closest friend, Regina. Very sweet!

Fall is a wonderful time of year. Eliza is reluctantly getting used to wearing hats and hoods. The next step is mittens (yikes! It's kind of hard to suck on your fingers when they're stuffed into a ball of yarn).

Eliza is struggling with separation anxiety. She is clearly curious and wants to explore, but struggles with getting too far away from Mom or Dad. As she gets more proficient with crawling, we hope she gains more confidence in herself and us.

She has 14 teeth and will most likely have 16 by Thanksgiving. It looks like her two year molars are on the way. Maybe we'll just power through this teething business and be finished soon. Turns out, teething hurts.

Communication is getting much easier these days. Eliza is vocalizing and using a couple of baby signs. The best sign is all done accompanied with Eliza's sweet voice saying "Ahh duh".

Crawling!!

2007-10-14T15:02:00.000-06:00

We are having a great time! Eliza is sleeping better, crawling, and close to pulling up to stand. Her little ankle braces are working well. She is fantastic.

We spend our days going to the park, taking walks, playing, and exploring. Eliza is crazy about being outside and loves to experience nature. She is quite the treasure hunter...picking up rocks, twigs, leaves, and crab apples.

Her language skills are improving rapidly. She babbles constantly and parrots all kinds of words. Her word list includes: apple, slide, rock, night, hi, mama, daddy, fish, outside, up, yum, and there are several more in the works.

She enjoys books, toys that make a lot of noise, and being tickled. Her favorite activity right now is standing. The braces make her feel secure and she is quite proud of her new found ability.

Life is Good!

2007-09-23T12:57:00.000-06:00

Eliza has grown beautifully over the past months. She is developing a very fun personality. When Mom and Dad do a good job at managing teething and sleeping, Eliza seems to be in a natural state of happiness. Lots of smiles, giggles, and contentment. The amount of affection she craves and shares is growing as well. The jury is still out on whiskery dad kisses.

Eliza's physical development is racing forward as well. She was accepted into the early childhood intervention program here in Colorado. She now has a home health physical therapist twice a month in addition to her weekly physical and occupational therapy at Children's hospital. We signed her up at My Gym too (it's good fun and a chance to interact with other kids her age while working on strength and mobility).

To help with her weak and flexible legs, she was casted for ankle braces. We picked them up last week. Though they are covered with brightly colored butterflies, she's not that fond of them yet. They help her stand, but she prefers to sit and bang the heels on the hard wood floors (really cracks her up).

Eliza is standing with assistance and getting better at it every day. It's fun to see her progress.
She's still not crawling on all fours, but is regularly getting up on her hands and knees and trying.

With only a few breaks over the past months, she has been marathon teething and having a tough time sleeping. We were awake anywhere from 4 to 7 times a night when she started getting her molars in early July, and it just didn't get much better. Needless to say, it's been tough on all of us. She got used to Mama coming in all night long and decided she liked it. We are trying to help her learn to soothe herself better, but it's taking time. She's a smart girl, I'm sure she'll figure it out. In the mean time, Mama will learn to nap in the afternoon.

We took our first trip to Texas to see family and friends. She did great on the plane ride both directions. It was wonderful to spend time with people we don't get to see enough. Eliza met some cousins, aunts and uncles, her great grandmother, and lots of friends and extended family. It was hard to come home after getting so much love, attention, and support.

According to her pediatrician, Eliza is doing well. She still has very weak muscles, but we are confident she will catch up with mobility tasks. She is in the 50th percentile with her height and head circumference, and the 25th percentile with her weight. She certainly doesn't look underweight...she just doesn't have the lean body mass typical of children her age. She is fun, delightful, exhausting, and the absolute best. We adore her.

Kisses are Sweet!

2007-08-12T14:47:00.000-06:00

Eliza, or "Eye-Za" as she refers to herself (and everyone and everything else) is giving sweet kisses these days. She started with hugging and kissing a little stuffed frog, and has progressed to kissing herself in the mirror "Eye-Za!" [kiss, kiss, kiss...]

She is pulling herself around on her stomach and is trying to get up on all fours. She is starting to push up with her legs and will stand with assistance, but she is not pulling up to stand on her own. She has been growing quite the little garden of teeth...she now has all four of her first set of molars and looks like she'll be cutting her K-9's early too. She has 12 teeth...and we are sleep deprived to prove it.

We took her to Santa Fe, New Mexico the weekend of August 4th for a good friend's wedding. She did great on the six hour drive both directions. It took her about three days to unwind once we got home, but now we are back in our routine and moving right along.

She is scheduled to get her little ankle braces molded on August 22nd. The orthotist will cast her legs so she can make custom braces for Eliza. Once the braces are made, Eliza will wear them to support her hyper-mobile ankle joints when she is learning to stand and weight bear through her legs. We hope that the extra support will help Eliza learn to stand and walk sooner. Once she is walking well, she will no longer use the braces.

I started work on Saturday, August 11th. I will work two Saturdays a month until the first of the year and then we will re-evaluate. That means...Jane will be working more than two Saturdays a month, but how much more is not yet determined.

Viruses, Ear Infections and Molars...Oh My!

2007-07-19T16:00:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful birthday party at the CCAI annual reunion on June 16th. It was great to see families from our travel group. We had the opportunity to see Marie (our CCAI representative in Chongqing). It was wonderfully emotional and sweet. Marie was absolutely fabulous while we were in Chongqing. She is a very patient and caring person.

Eliza was baptised on June 17th. Both sets of grandparents, several aunts and uncles, cousins and lots of friends and loved ones were present. It was very memorable and special.

My mom spent a week with us after Eliza's birthday...what a gift.

Eliza continues making progress...eating only table food and whole milk now, pushing herself into sitting and lying back down on the floor, scooting backward on the wood floors and forward on the carpet, resting her head on our shoulders, babbling more...you name it! We will schedule a visit with an orthotist soon to have little braces made for her little legs. She has too much mobility in her joints and needs a little more stability to be able to weight bear safely.

We went to the mountains for the fourth of July and had a great couple of days. When we returned home, Eliza had trouble sleeping. She was awake most of the night for four nights. July 7th Eliza started running a low grade fever, throwing up at night, not eating during the day, and digging in her ears like she was mining for gold. Monday, July 9th, her fever peaked at 103.4! We took her to the doctor...she had a virus (causing fever, vomiting and diarrhea, and a crazy red rash), both of her ears were infected, and she cut both bottom molars. Of all of those things, the molars were by far the worst and caused pain for 6 days. She's sleeping through the night now, we're finished with yet another course of antibiotics, and she's starting to roll around and sit up again (she pretty much didn't move for 7 days).

She's playing peek-a-boo (little fists in front of her nose equals "you can't see me"). It's very sweet! We think she's saying "Hi", "Dada" and "Mama"(and what we think matters). She Loves the water now. Bath time is fun, little swimming pools are fun, and big swimming pools are the best.

She cut an upper incisor this week and it looks like she'll be getting an upper molar soon. Yippee?!?

Day 359

2007-06-09T21:27:00.000-06:00

Eliza will be one year old on June 16th. She has been with us 9 weeks and 4 days. It's incredible to watch her grow, learn and change. We reminisced recently about our trip to China. It often seems ages ago. Day-to-day life has a way of distracting us.

We have a pretty smooth routine during the day: Get up, bottle, play, sleep, bottle, play, eat solids, play, more solids, bottle...and then it's bed time. Bed time is less smooth these days then when we got home. As Eliza's awareness of us increases, so does her need to be with us. She struggles with the separation that happens at night time. It is taking about 30-45 minutes for her to calm down and go to sleep. All in all, it's not that bad. Last night she actually went to sleep on her own after I went in two times to help her relax (and she slept through the night without us).

She has been particularly happy despite teething. We are sure having a great time playing!

This is a birthday candle we purchased in Chongqing for our friends. It is a lotus flower that opens after it is lit. It plays happy birthday too (forever!!! We left the party 45 minutes after cake time and the candle was still going).

Spoon! Glorious Spoon!

2007-06-04T19:58:00.000-06:00

We had a picnic at the park this evening, and Eliza ate her dinner from a spoon. Yippee!!!

Time Flies!

2007-06-03T10:26:00.000-06:00

Things are going well these days! Eliza seems to have kicked her ear infection habit. She wakes up once or twice during the night, but is quick to soothe and returns to peaceful resting. She's beautiful all the time, but there is something very very sweet about a sleeping baby. We don't mind the few minutes of holding her during the night...so we can enjoy her serene little face.

She is eating better every day, and beginning to manage a few finger foods. She is showing great interest in table food and I think she will progress quickly. We have been able to feed her with a spoon a couple of times. Hopefully she will decide to take a spoon more frequently...it might make for less time devoted to clean up after she eats.

Her therapy is going well. She makes gains every week. She is using both hands to grasp and hold toys. She is reaching for objects on her left with her right hand (crossing midline). She hates being forced to support herself on both arms, but is getting stronger and better at it. We aren't spending too much time with putting weight through her legs yet. We are hoping she progresses with crawling first.

We enjoy our sweet girl. We're getting ready to welcome grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for her first birthday and baptism the weekend of June 16th. We can't wait for the family to meet her. She will enjoy it...she's very social and really responds well to new people, new environments, and new situations.

Progress

2007-05-21T09:31:00.000-06:00

As soon as I published the information about a clean bill of health, Eliza started pulling on her ears again. I was up with her until 2 am on Mother's Day. We started another antibiotic on Tuesday. I certainly hope this is the last of the ear infections, but our history with Eliza doesn't leave much room for optimism.

Eliza has embarked on another journey with solids. Oatmeal until Thursday when we figured out it was making her tummy upset (and interrupting everyone's sleep). We introduced sweet potatoes and re-introduced rice. She seems much better, and has been consistently eating. She has even let me put a spoon in her mouth a couple of times, but she's still not sure she likes the idea.

On Sunday morning we had a super happy kiddo. She laughed spontaneously and grinned for at least an hour. Good thing the camera was handy (it has become attached to one hand...I'm like Inspector Gadget)!

Kyle took this while we watched Eliza eat solids for the first time in almost three weeks. Pretty sweet! Have a good week!

Every Day is Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T15:37:00.000-06:00

Early this week Eliza started holding toys...she then proceeded to stuff them into her mouth and chew! Two great achievements! We are working now on getting her to eat solid food. After her two day adventure with oatmeal two weeks ago, she quit cold turkey and hasn't eaten any more oatmeal or rice.

The doctor gave her a clean bill of health on Tuesday. She still has fluid in her ears, but the infections are gone. We take her back in 5 weeks for round two of vaccinations and an ear check up. For now, she's eating and sleeping and smiling and giggling (every once in a while), and teething like crazy!

Today Eliza woke up at 5:30 am. She couldn't wait to tell me "Happy Mother's Day". She was quite a good sport...she allowed us to dress her up pretty and take lots of pictures.

We are loving every second of this. She's amazing and an absolute blessing. Today in church she rested her head on Kyle's chest for a minute. We both cried. She doesn't get close very often, but when she does it's great. She's relaxing more and showing signs that her trust in us is increasing. We are looking forward to hugs in the near future!

All Ears

2007-05-06T20:51:00.000-06:00

Eliza snuck a couple of ear infections home with her from China. She unpacked them about ten days ago, and we've spent much of this week trying to get things back to "normal". She almost totally gave up eating for three days. We all agree that having liquids force fed through a plastic syringe is no fun at all. In the midst of it all, she tearfully received four inoculation shots in her chubby little legs. Not a happy baby. After steady dosing of love, attention, and strong antibiotics, Eliza is on the mend. To make up for losses she is now eating double time and is much less stingy with the smiles. Through it all, she still had time for learning how to remove mother's eye glasses, smiling for the camera during her weekly manicure, and stuffing five toes into her mouth. She's the greatest.

Mmmmm....Oatmeal!

2007-04-26T09:37:00.000-06:00

Eliza started eating oatmeal yesterday. We have temporarily given up on the spoon and opted for allowing Eliza to explore the texture and taste of food with her hands (this was the recommendation of her pediatrician and therapist). Turns out, Eliza is an over achiever! She was offered oatmeal three times yesterday and received each with increasing enthusiasm. The photo was Eliza's final endeavor of the day! All I have to say is..Yippee!

Two Weeks at Home

2007-04-22T13:24:00.000-06:00

We start physical therapy on April 24th and occupational therapy on May 3rd. It has taken a long time to get these appointments scheduled and by the time we get to PT on Tuesday the therapist is going to wonder why we were so anxious. Eliza has started rolling from front to back and back to front. On Friday afternoon she sat up unsupported for 10 minutes. She has started at least putting her feet on the ground when she's assisted to stand, and she accomplished all of this with bilateral ear infections.

She has been having some difficulty digesting her formula and started to get fussy. I called the pediatrician and suggested maybe we change her formula. The nurse requested that we bring her in before we change anything...so that's what I did. We left the pediatrician's office with a prescription for antibiotics for her ears, a stool softener to put in 2 bottles a day (for up to three months), two suppositories to clean her out, and ear wax softener. Poor kid!!! Apparently she has had the ear infections since we got her. She just doesn't fuss. She's so used to not having her needs met she just puts up with pain and discomfort (and smiles through it).

The Sunday school class at church put together a quilt to welcome Eliza. It was presented to us on Sunday April 15th. Members of the congregation added their well wishes with permanent markers. It is a treasure!

Eliza is still pretty sure she does not like baths. She at least smiles when it's over. So do we!!

Kyle goes back to work on Monday. We've got Eliza on a pretty good schedule, and since her ears are getting better I think we'll do fine. Hopefully we are through with suppositories.

To Sleep or Not to Sleep?

2007-04-12T07:03:00.000-06:00

We arrived home safely on Friday. Eliza did very little sleeping throughout our journey. She became a US citizen in San Francisco when we went through the immigration line before customs. It was anti-climactic for our Eliza, but a sweet moment for mom and dad. She now has dual citizenship as long as relations with China are good.

She spent the first three days waking up at midnight and playing heartily until noon with some fussing and short naps in between. Needless to say our schedule was exactly the same. We started waking her up early from naps and playing the "stay awake" game on day three. Last night she slept through the night!!! Yippee!!!

She met her pediatrician on Tuesday. I would like to say she enjoyed it, but I'm a terrible liar. It was unbelievably traumatic. After the exam a nurse attempted to draw blood. Little Liza has such chubby arms the nurse couldn't find a vein. We will head over to Children's hospital today or tomorrow for the recommended lab work for children adopted internationally. Big fun, I'm sure.

The pediatrician recommended physical and occupational therapy to help with her leg strength, functional use of her arms, and hopefully speed up the process of developmental mile stones such as sitting and pulling up to stand. We hope to start therapies next week. We have successfully transitioned Liza off the formula from China and onto an American version. We initiated stage 1 solids on Wednesday. So far, Eliza is not impressed with spoons or sweet potatoes.

The weather has not been the best so we are limited in our outings. A foot of snow is predicted over the next couple of days...so a few more days of homebound.

Going Home

2007-04-05T07:21:00.000-06:00

Our flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong will leave tomorrow morning. Then its to San Francisco and finally to Denver. We are ready to be home and to begin a life of stability and predictability with Eliza. These last two weeks have exhilarating and exhausting. Homecoming will be sweet.

Many thanks for all the messages of encouragement and support you've all left for us. We have enjoyed posting the days events before bed and then eagerly checking for comments the next morning. From the other side of the world, this connection with you helped us through these fun and stressful weeks. Thank you.

We will continue to update this blog in the future but with a bit less frequency. It seems to be a good way to include others on our journey with Eliza. We hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Touring in Guangzhou

2007-04-04T06:11:00.000-06:00

Eliza's adoption is complete. Our CCAI representative came to our room this morning at 11:00 and said all of her paperwork was accepted and her visa approved. The only major event left is "the oath" at the US consulate. We aren't exactly sure what we are oathing, but we'll do it if it means we can come home on Friday.

Yesterday after the medical exam there was time for a little shopping. We purchased a little traditional outfit for Eliza...so she would look authentic for the group picture. Our group gathered in the lobby for the famous " red couch" photos right around nap time. It was a little crazy. Eliza was a little upset. Meadow tried to calm her down by pulling her hair.

Today we had a slow morning. We waited in our hotel room until confirmation of the visa approval was given. Once we knew everything was okay we took off for more sight seeing. We took a tour to a couple of interesting sights: a formerly private estate about 140 years old called the "Old Chen House", and the Six Banyan Temple. Six Banyan Temple is a very old Budahist monastery. Both sights were quite beautiful. While at the monastery Kyle and I lit nine sticks of incense in thanksgiving: three for each of us to represent our past, present and future.

We had lots of play time today. Eliza is really beginning to respond to us. She is smiling and giggling more. She's eating better than ever. She opened her little bird mouth as I drank my Starbucks drink today! We had to race back to the room to make her a bottle...we didn't expect her to be hungry so soon after breakfast. She had us both laughing as she learned a new trick...sticking our her tongue and blowing bubbles while wiggling her fingers in front of her face. Kyle told her it's funny now, but it won't be if she's still doing it in 12 years.

Yesterday after breakfast housekeeping came to the room and delivered a surprise. Our very own "Going Home Barbie". She is exclusive to families adopting Chinese children and staying at the White Swan Hotel. It is Barbie doll holding an Asian baby. Interestingly, the package says "for ages 14 and over. This is not a toy".

Trip to the Doctors

2007-04-03T01:26:00.000-06:00

Our group had a trip to the Doctor's office this morning for a quick (very quick) exam. The visit is a requirement for all visa applications of adopted kids so the place was packed. We all got in line and visited three stations. The first was two ladies who weighed and measured. At the second a doctor checked vision and ears. The third station is where the oldest and wisest looking of the doctors checked heart, lungs, and cranium size. I think she passed. Eliza got progressively more and more upset as the poking continued. I think the leopard print pants make her feisty. The doctor didn't mention it, but she has a healthy cry.

On our way back to the hotel Jane and I saw some folks out for their morning exercises. It's something we watched in Chongqing as well. This country is so great that even the adults have play grounds. Swings, spinny wheels, and other things. Back at the public plaza in Chongqing we also saw a group of middle aged and older ladies, a few hundred, doing choreographed exercise dances to loud music. One of the moms from our group joined in. Another small group of ladies did synchronous dancing with red cloth fans. The men didn't dance but stuck to the exercise equipment or simply walked briskly while rhythmically swatting their own arms or chest to get the blood flowing. I might get out there and join them tomorrow morning.

Last Leg of the Trip

2007-04-02T17:01:00.000-06:00

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday evenening after a long day of travel. The flight from Chongqing was only about an hour and a half but there happened to be 13 wailing babies on board. Eliza loved it though. See the photo? Actually she was a trooper. Takeoff was difficult but even after missing a nap and eating only a little during the day, she was still full of smiles at the end of the day. We arrived at the White Swan hotel at about 6:30 in the evening. After a diaper change and a bottle she became very chatty. She's so fun.

Tomorrow our agenda includes a medical exam for all the babies, filling out visa paperwork for our trip to the American consulate on Thursday, and the famous red couch photo. This is another crying baby group photo in the lobby of the hotel. Its a tradition for adoptive families staying at the White Swan.

Last Smoggy Day in Chongqing

2007-03-31T23:46:00.000-06:00

Things are looking up. Eliza is eating better and sleeping better. She seems to be moving into a schedule...what a relief. Yesterday we spent the day in the room. Eliza took a six hour nap (she's got quite a cold), and I had the worst flu I've ever experienced. Kyle did an amazing job taking care of the Schurter ladies! He had the opportunity to change Eliza's diaper a few times (one time involved poopy! This is a big deal here in adoption land...the kids get pretty upset, and so do their systems).

Today we took a tour of Chongqing. We went to the People's Hall (didn't get to see much since it's completely obscured by scaffolding). We also went for a walk to see the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers. The air is even thicker today then the previous days, so I'm afraid viewing was difficult. During the walk we posed in front of a real dragon and listened to a musical band of piggies. According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the year of the pig.

Confluence of Rivers
Smoky the Dragon
Piggy Dance Party

We took group picture in the lobby around four o'clock. Everyone together and then just the babies. The event was a little over stimulating for some.

Group #1148 in Chongqing
Happy Babies

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou. We'll get Eliza's visa and passport there. We'll see how the plane ride goes with the little one. Speaking of...she's waking up from her nap. Stay tuned.

Rocky Theme Music

2007-03-30T20:40:00.000-06:00

Getting Stronger.

It's amazing to watch how Eliza changes day to day. We mentioned on the 27th how she had weak trunk and neck muscles. Well see how much stronger she is today (P.T. ladies--if needed, help out the non physical therapists here). The two photos below were taken three days apart. It's currently nap time, but we head back to the gym this evening.

Going to the Zoo

2007-03-30T00:52:00.000-06:00

Eliza had a rough day yesterday: constipated, teething, adjusting to lots of new things. We stayed home instead of going on the tour of old-town Chongqing. She loves to be held and bounced. In fact, she insisted on it during all of dinner last night. I'm pretty good now at eating with baby while standing up. Parental skills are coming on fast.

This morning things were much brighter. After a mouthful of Motrin, the smiles came back. Just in time for our trip to the Chongqing zoo. Most of our group was able to make the trip. The 30 minute bus ride was an adventure in itself--harrowing and full of new sights to American eyes. This city is know to have some of the worst air pollution in China. Today was particularly warm and thick.

The zoo was a great time. Chongqing is home to six giant pandas. Our tour guide stated that there are now only about 1000 left of the species. We also saw red pandas (from the Himalayas), kangaroos, hippos, and lots of great birds. Our tour group was on display as well. We enjoyed many smiles, questions, and "hello"'s from the other zoo visitors. There were loads of kids there on school field trips who enjoyed practicing their English greetings.

Afterwards, we stopped in to an art gallery where we received five minutes lecture from an art professor on Chinese painting. We purchased a very nice set of four scroll painting that depict the four seasons. We also picked up a few small paintings of old cityscapes applied to the skeletal structure of a banyan tree's leaf. We were told that these are a Chongqing speciality.

Tonight at dinner we experience another of the city's specialties--hot pot. It's like hot and spicy fondue with meat and vegetables. My forehead is beading with sweat in anticipation.

Day Two

2007-03-28T02:33:00.000-06:00

Fun day today. Eliza got her first bath. She didn't really care for it. It was the first time we heard a full-on cry. Afterwards, we had a good morning play session. It was the first time we heard a full-on giggle. Very rewarding.

The three of us ventured out to the department store to purchase "squeaker" shoes. Then to the grocery store for bottled water, soup for lunch, bananas, potato chips, and a sampling of four Chinese beers. The grocery bill was $4.14. The price is right. And the chips tasted so good: transfats and MSG.

When walking the town, lots of folks approach us to see Eliza and find out who we are. It gives me a chance to practice what I learned in Mandarine class. My language skills are pretty poor though. Probably more effective just to smile and nod.

Gotcha Day!

2007-03-27T00:55:00.000-06:00

What an amazing day we've had. Twelve girls and one little boy took a 150 mile, six hour bus ride from Yunyang this morning and arrived at the hotel around 12:20 pm. Kyle and I were relaxing in the hotel lobby lounge waiting for time to pass and decided to go up to our room. On our way someone asked if those were our babies in the lobby. We high-tailed into the lobby and sure enough our girls were there. We picked out our sweet Eliza and followed them to the elevator. She watched us for a few seconds. It was unbelievable. We were handed a tired and hungry girl about 30 minutes later.

She had a bit of a rough time initially, but was able to relax after a 30 minute nap. We had two hours with her before we went to the registration office to complete adoption paperwork. That being done, we had a celebratory dinner at the Pizza Hut with a few of the families in our group. We spent the rest of the evening playing and getting to know our girl.

The doctor made rounds starting at 7:00 pm and made it to our room at 7:45. He wasn't scheduled to visit until the tomorrow, but several of the girls are a little sick). He was impressed with Eliza's skin...she's in great shape...no diaper rash or anything. He, however, promptly noticed what we did. Our girl has pretty weak muscles and clearly has been in a crib most of her short life. She has poor head and trunk control, she doesn't pull up to sitting with assistance, she slumps completely forward if she sits up, and she has a mean cough. He suggested we give her some antibiotics because her little lungs sound full of fluid. He showed some techniques to help her start getting stronger, picked her up and hugged her, and told us she would catch up developmentally within a couple of months. We have work to do.

Eliza is a sweet, sweet girl. She has been snuggling up to both of us. When she lies on her back she is most engaged...giggling and smiling if you play with her and talk to her. By the end of the night she was talking to us and seemingly happy. We've been told that day three is potentially the toughest. The girls begin to realize they are not going back t0 the orphanage and tend to have melt downs. We'll see how it goes. Now, we are rejoicing and enjoying every minute of our family time. This is amazing. Our blessings are abundant.

2007-03-27T00:45:00.000-06:00

Wonderful Day

2007-03-26T16:18:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Jane and I spent our time quietly and away from the group of families. We watched a movie in our room in the morning and rode the ferry to Hong Kong Island for exploration. The city is built on steep slopes so there are lots of stairs to climb and decend. The roads of this huge city are not on a grid, but are based more on what the landscape will allow. They resembled a roller coaster at times. We walked a good 8 miles and saw plenty: an ultra-contemporary 1200 foot tall skyscraper, an exterior escalator that takes 20 minutes to ride from bottom to top (makes the hills easier), traditional apothocaries on small streets showing their large jars of dried "things", a leopard at the public zoo, and old British churches and government buildings. That evening our group flew to Chongqing.

The long walk helped us to sleep last night. That's important because today is a big day; we will meet Eliza in a few hours. After breakfast, we will meet in the hotel lobby to fill out paperwork and then we're off to the Registration Office. More later. Time to get our things together and head out for a wonderful day.

Views Around Hong Kong

2007-03-25T07:45:00.000-06:00

We arrived safely in Hong Kong at 5:45 pm on Saturday the 24th. We got to the Regal Kowloon Hotel around 8:00 and were fast asleep by 9:30...only to awake at 2:00 a.m. and doze on and off until we got up at 5:30. After a great breakfast we toured Hong Kong with our travel group. The tour included a visit to a roadside market with lots of little shops, a sampan ride in the Aberdeen fishing village, a tour of a jewelry factory (really just a store), and a trip to the Victoria peak for a stunning view of Hong Kong and Kowloon. We all shared dim sum at a restuarant close to the hotel, and were then left to tour on our own for the rest of the afternoon. Kyle and I struck out into Kowloon. We found our way to Kowloon Park and watched a Kung Fu exhibition and then wandered back to the hotel along the water front. On the water front is Hong Kong's version of Hollywood's walk of fame. We saw Bruce Lee's star and monument, and took a picture of Chow Yun Fat's star for my friend Regina (she's quite the fan). Tonight we are heading back to the water front for a laser show. We have a more time for touring in the morning. We plan to ride the ferry and maybe visit a museum. We are heading to the airport at 3:00 p.m. for a 6:30 flight to Chongqing. We're getting closer.

Gotta Fly

2007-03-18T21:45:00.000-06:00

We have airline tickets to China! Jane and I will fly out from Denver at 8:30 this Friday morning. No less than 20 hour later we will arrive in Hong Kong (home of two out of the ten tallest buildings in the world). Our hotel is in Kowloon (translation: nine dragons), just a $2 ferry rid away from the big city. Sunday will be a day of rest before we fly to Chongqing, the where we will meet our daughter. On Tuesday at 12 p.m., Eliza will be handed to her new parents at the municipal registration office. The following hours and days will be spent getting to know Eliza, but more, Eliza learning to adjust to a new life with us.

There are 12 other couples in our travel group. Hopefully, these will be families that Eliza and we will maintain ties with into the future. Optional tours are arranged for the group including a trip to the Chongqing zoo (panda-ville), a visit to The People's Hall, and potentially a trip to a local orphanage. It is will not be the one where Eliza is currently living. Yunyang is 150 miles from Chongqing over pretty rough mountain roads. That visit will have to wait for another time. The three of us will fly to Guangzhou on April 1, the place of our appointment with the U.S. consulate. Eliza will receive her visa on the 4th and we will head back to the States on the 6th, Good Friday. We depart at 11:45 a.m. and arrive in San Francisco at 11:15 a.m the same day. Flying over the International Date Line makes it seem like a quick trip home.

Check back for updates during the trip. Please send your prayers.

Pending Travel

2007-03-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

On March 5th we were notified that the agency received our travel notice and had requested a US consulate appointment for April 2nd. Today's notice stated that we have a verbal confirmation of a US consulate appointment in Guangzhou on April 4th. It looks like we will depart for Hong Kong on March 23rd and return from Hong Kong on April 6th. We can purchase tickets as soon as the adoption agency receives written confirmation of our US consulate appointment which is expected to occur on Monday. Two weeks seems bearable! We are anxious to have firm travel arrangements and an itinerary. I suspect that we will meet our girl on March 26th or 27th. The objective now...hold it together!

Girl Power!

2007-03-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

My work threw a great party for Jane and I yesterday. So much support helps to make the wait more bearable. Chris did a great job making all the arrangements including this wonderful cake. Her daughter is teaching English in the Sichuan province and helped with the caption. It reads "nǚ hái zǎi zhì." Translation: Girl Power!

Right on.

New photos of Eliza

2007-02-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken around the 12th of February. Apparently our little Eliza was not up for a photo shoot. We are patiently waiting for China to send the adoption agency our travel notice. Once the travel notice is received our agency can send a request to the US consulate in Guangzhou. The request is for an appointment to get Eliza's visa. Once we have a consulate appointment...we're on our way. The count down to travel is less than four weeks. We will know our departure date 7-14 days in advance.
We sure appreciate all the comments, well wishes, prayers, and support. We'll keep you posted as events unfurl.

Happy New Year!

2007-02-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of the lunar year. As always it begins with the new moon. Legend tells us that long ago, Buddha invited all the animals to meet him on the Chinese New Year. Twelve came. Buddha named a year after each of the them. This year, 2007, is the year of the pig. The new year is traditionally celebrated with family gatherings, shared meals, dragon dances, and fire crackers.

On Saturday, Jane along with her lady friends and family celebrated the anticipated arrival of Eliza. They played games, exchanged gifts, and enjoyed traditional Chinese dumplings (pot stickers). The decorations were great. Some I know, will be enjoyed for a long time: Chinese lanterns, red envelopes of good fortune, traditional candies, and red roses.

One of the games was a timed event where participants used nothing but chops sticks to retrieve diaper pins from bowls of uncooked rice. Not so simple, I'm told, but relatively easy to clean up. Another activity involved an English/Mandarin dictionary, several calligraphy pens, and a stack of high quality card stock. To start, people picked a word they thought best described Jane as a friend and mother. They then found the corresponding Chinese character (or hanzi) and transcribed it on a card. The cards are now collected in a scrap book. A sampling of the words include treasure, honorable, beautiful, devoted, teacher, silly, and big human (the last lovingly submitted by 5 year old Sidney).

Thanks to everyone who planned, set up, and celebrated. We can hardly wait to bring Eliza back to such a supportive group of family and friends.

Where We Will Travel

2007-02-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

Currently, our time of travel is uncertain. Our agency tells us we will leave for China in four to seven weeks. However, there is some certainty of where we will be going. After a quick stop at the San Francisco airport, we'll hop on a 15 hour flight to either Beijing or, more likely, Hong Kong. After a day or two to reset out clocks, we'll fly to Chongqing, the municipality that is home to Eliza's orphanage. Day three of the trip is also known as Gotcha Day. That's when Eliza comes into our arms and becomes a physical part of our family. The next five days or so will be spent in Chongqing filling out paperwork, making a doctor's appointment, and hopefully visiting giant pandas at the zoo. Roughly translated, Chongqing means second celebration. The city itself is known for several things: as starting point for the three gorges area of the Yangzi River, as China's new gateway to westward economic expansion, a huge population, and dense and ever present air pollution. The urban center is home to 12.4 million people. That's 1.5 times more than New York City. The municipality itself contains 32 million people and is about 8 times smaller than Texas--very crowded. Eliza lives in the city of Yunyang. You can spot it in the north east corner of the Chongqing map.

Then we three fly to Guangzhou (pronounced 'gwaung-joe'), the capital city of the Guangdong province. Guangzhou was formerly known as Canton and a couple centuries ago was the only regulated Chinese port to trade with the westerners. Most importantly for us though, it houses the U.S. consulate. This is where we complete more paperwork, entertain more interviews with officials, and gain a Chinese passport for Eliza. All of these are required for our travel back to the States. We'll stay in the famous White Swan Hotel, the final stopover for most adopting families from around the world. The hotel is located on Shamian Island, a former western enclave. The area is relatively peaceful with open parks and many examples of western colonial architecture. Did I mention babies? There will be gobs of them. After about a week of plowing through red tape and getting to know Eliza, it will be time for the long trip home. And then I suppose, the real journey begins.

Here are a few more interesting facts about China:

China has almost exactly the same land area as the U.S. (They have an extra Wyoming).
China has a population of 1.3 billion. That's about 4.4 times the number of people here in the states.
About 900 million Chinese (about 14% of the world's population) are rural peasants working primarily in agriculture or as unskilled labor.
Eliza was probably born to a family in this demographic.

What's in a name?

2007-02-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

According to the documents we received form the orphanage, Eliza's first given name was Yang Fu Xue. Since she was abandoned, as were most of the children at the orphanage, she was named by the caregivers at the orphanage . No information is known about her biological parents. In Chinese culture, a person's surname is written first, followed by their given name. All the children in Eliza's orphanage share the surname of Yang. This comes from the county in which the orphanage presides, Yunyang County. Yang, 阳 , in mandarin can be translated as "sun". As I've been told, the first part of her given name, Fu, is given to all children who come to the orphanage during a given period of time, say the month of June. Fu, 福, is mandarin for "good fortune". Finally, Xue, 学, is a name the orphanage gave uniquely to her. It means "learn" or "study". Here's a pronunciation guide to help:
X is like sh in she
u as in rule, but with more lip rounding
e is like the u in full.

Eliza Fu Xue...a beautiful name.

Introducing...

2007-02-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

We are very pleased and proud to introduce Eliza Fu Xue Schurter. These beautiful photos were taken when she was four months old. She is now about 7 1/2 months. Her birthday is June 16, 2006. Her orphanage is in the municipality of Chongqing, located just east of the Sichuan province of China. We plan to travel to her in 5 to 8 weeks. WaHoo!

Note her classy socks.

News From China

2007-02-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs has posted that matches are complete for families whose paperwork was received in China before October 13th of 2005. Our paperwork was logged into China on September 29, 2005. We expect a call from our adoption agency in the next day or two. We're pretty anxious.

In the mail...

2007-01-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

The stork is in the air! According to our adoption agency, the matches were mailed from China on 1/30/07. The agency expects to receive the matches in 2-4 business days. We'll keep you posted.

Waiting for News

2007-01-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

Our adoption agency posted an update on January 24th that stated that China is working on the next set of matches. That means the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs is currently picking out our little girl. If all goes well, we will have a picture of her by the end of this week. We'll post her picture and any other information we get.

The Nursery is Ready

2007-01-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

Jane and I, with the help of several important contributors, have worked on and off getting the nursery ready for our daughter's arrival. Fresh paint on the walls, updated furnishing, and a closet renovation are a good start to making this room a comfortable and fun place to be. Special thanks to Grandma Schurter for the Funny Bunny wall hanging, crib bedding, and quilt. Thanks also to Aunt Elaine for the fun window treatments.
-KS

Nursery

2007-01-28T16:00:00.001-07:00

Color Scheme for the Nursery

2007-01-28T13:26:00.000-07:00