Mmmmm....Oatmeal!

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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.