I know Rob already posted about Gotcha Day, but I have to add that we were so impressed with the orphanage staff workers. We got to meet 3 of the workers and the orphanage director. They spent about 45 minutes talking to us yesterday (through translation by Helen, our guide) and then today we went back to Civil Affairs to do paperwork and they were there again. They talked at least another half hour with us today, telling us more about Matthew. The woman that you see in one of the photos was a caregiver. It was apparent that she loves him very much as she kisses him a lot and holds his hand. She made him the overalls that he is wearing and embroidered I Love China on the front and then in Chinese characters put the name of his province and the name of his city. She also made the little red shoes that you can see in the pictures. She said she wanted him to have something to take from China. I wanted to make sure to let her hold him again today, because I could tell that she was going to miss him. They were very open to my suggestion that we could email them updated photos of Matthew. In fact they repeatedly stated that they would be very much appreciative if in a few months time we could email them photos. I am going away from the whole situation feeling very good about the care that he received and they feel strongly with the more attention that he can receive with our family that he will continue to make faster progress. Both Helen and the orphanage workers thought they could see a difference in him in just this short amount of time – that he is more alert and interactive.
He came to us with three layers of clothing. It is the cultural norm to dress children in many layers, no matter the weather, but particularly in the colder months. Now that we know his size we went to Wal-Mart today and got some heavier clothing so that we can dress him in layers when we go out and about. Already today the caregiver unbuttoned his coat to see what I had put on him to make sure that he was dressed appropriately. She nodded her agreement on the warmth of the coat that we had put on him.
He came to us with a bit of a cold so he is now taking a good 2 hour nap. We will post more later.
Monday, November 10, 2008
He slept well
We are leaving in a bit to complete Matthew's adoption. He slept through the night.
Here are some more pics.
G O T C H A ! ! !
GOTCHA!!!!!
It is about 7:00 p.m. on Monday, November 10th. We are in the city of Nanjing and WE GOT OUR BOY!
How we first met him happened a little bit differently than what we had thought. We left Beijing this morning and caught a two hour flight to Nanjing in the province of Jiangsu. We landed about 11:15 a.m. and had planned to meet our escort, Helen. The plan was for us to go to our hotel and get Matthew around 3:30 p.m. at Children’s Affairs.
After we got our luggage, we then went on to find Helen. It didn’t take long for her to find us first. She told us that Matthew was there at the airport and we could meet him right now. The party that brought Matthew to Nanjing included the Director, who was catching a flight soon after we were scheduled to land.
So while elated, stunned, and completely unprepared we met our son for the first time. He looked great! As you will see from the photos, he was well bundled up. The overalls he is wearing were made by orphanage staff members. Wendy and I got to hold him for a little while and he smiled for us. We were only able to meet for about ten minutes. We also could not take him into custody until the scheduled meeting in the afternoon.
So we checked into our hotel, had a leisurely lunch, and relaxed until it was time to head to Children’s Affairs. Around 3:00 we met Matthew at Children’s Affairs. We had the opportunity to sit down with two of the orphanage staff members and ask them a lot of questions. They were very helpful and provided a lot of great information about Matthew.
While we gathered information and filled out forms, we got to get to know Matthew a little better. So far we know he has a great smile, he is easy going, and he is a sweet little boy. We also learned that his favorite game is “Grab Daddy’s Glasses Off His Face.” When he is successful at this game, he finds it quite amusing.
Like we stated in an earlier post, this has been a long and strange journey. Over the past two years there were many moments we wondered if this day would ever come. Those anxious times became a distant memory once we got to hold him in our arms. He is beautiful and everything we had hoped for.
Abby is handling the attention shift like a champ. She was sad when the orphanage staff wanted our picture with Matthew, but without Abby. Afterward, she whispered in my ear, “Why couldn’t I be in the picture?” I told her the picture was for Matthew’s orphanage and told her it would be the last time she could not be in the picture. She seemed o.k. with that.
Enjoy the pics. More to come.
It is about 7:00 p.m. on Monday, November 10th. We are in the city of Nanjing and WE GOT OUR BOY!
How we first met him happened a little bit differently than what we had thought. We left Beijing this morning and caught a two hour flight to Nanjing in the province of Jiangsu. We landed about 11:15 a.m. and had planned to meet our escort, Helen. The plan was for us to go to our hotel and get Matthew around 3:30 p.m. at Children’s Affairs.
After we got our luggage, we then went on to find Helen. It didn’t take long for her to find us first. She told us that Matthew was there at the airport and we could meet him right now. The party that brought Matthew to Nanjing included the Director, who was catching a flight soon after we were scheduled to land.
So while elated, stunned, and completely unprepared we met our son for the first time. He looked great! As you will see from the photos, he was well bundled up. The overalls he is wearing were made by orphanage staff members. Wendy and I got to hold him for a little while and he smiled for us. We were only able to meet for about ten minutes. We also could not take him into custody until the scheduled meeting in the afternoon.
So we checked into our hotel, had a leisurely lunch, and relaxed until it was time to head to Children’s Affairs. Around 3:00 we met Matthew at Children’s Affairs. We had the opportunity to sit down with two of the orphanage staff members and ask them a lot of questions. They were very helpful and provided a lot of great information about Matthew.
While we gathered information and filled out forms, we got to get to know Matthew a little better. So far we know he has a great smile, he is easy going, and he is a sweet little boy. We also learned that his favorite game is “Grab Daddy’s Glasses Off His Face.” When he is successful at this game, he finds it quite amusing.
Like we stated in an earlier post, this has been a long and strange journey. Over the past two years there were many moments we wondered if this day would ever come. Those anxious times became a distant memory once we got to hold him in our arms. He is beautiful and everything we had hoped for.
Abby is handling the attention shift like a champ. She was sad when the orphanage staff wanted our picture with Matthew, but without Abby. Afterward, she whispered in my ear, “Why couldn’t I be in the picture?” I told her the picture was for Matthew’s orphanage and told her it would be the last time she could not be in the picture. She seemed o.k. with that.
Enjoy the pics. More to come.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
A note from Abby to her class
Dear Mrs. Schmid’s class, I am having a great time in China. I walked on the Great Wall. Today I am getting Matthew. I met 6 friends. From, Abby
Orientation and new friends
So – it is only post 2 and it is me writing tonight (to be posted tomorrow) because Rob and Abby are already in bed even though it is only 7:00. Our days have been long and though we are sleeping longer through the night it is not the same kind of sleep as we are used to and we are still making up for some lost sleep.
This morning we had an orientation meeting with 10 other families. At the end of the meeting, our guide put an updated picture of each child on the screen to see if we could identify our child. Matthew was one of the last ones to be put up and as soon as it was on the screen, Abby yelled out “There’s mine! There’s Matthew! There’s ours!” She was elated! At this meeting we also got updated information about Matthew. Just a few highlights: It says that he likes to sleep with the lights on and that he gets up somewhere between 12-2 am to have a bottle. He still takes a bottle with formula mixed with rice cereal which he can hold himself. He also eats a few types of solids.
The update says that he is a quiet boy and that he likes to be held, especially by his favorite caregiver. He likes to be outside and he likes to play with car toys and toys that make noise. (Luckily I brought two of the cars from my friends at College Park – he will love them!) It also said that loud voices scare him sometimes, so we will see what he thinks of Abby, because she can be LOUD! His nickname is Li Li (prounounced Lee Lee).
This afternoon we went to Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven. At the orientation meeting, Abby met Maddie, who is also 5. They were inseparable all day. Maddie kept asking, “Can we have a playdate in China?” They ate lunch at the same table, sat on the bus together and toured around all afternoon together. It is taking time, but we are starting to get used to the looks we are getting to be Americans walking around with a Chinese girl. Maddie’s dad was feeling a little uncomfortable as Maddie is American and the Chinese were curious about her and would want to take her picture and touch her face. At our meeting we learned that this is culturally normal, that because Chinese people are used to living in a country with so many people and not much space, that you have to get along well with your neighbors (a.k.a. not the same concept of “personal space” that we have).
We broke down tonight and ate at McDonald’s. We have had quite a bit of Chinese food and it has all been very good, but I can’t say that Abby has been crazy about it. She hasn’t really been too crazy about the “American” food served at the breakfast buffet either, although she had two helpings of French toast with some kind of chocolate sauce drizzled on it this morning. (Don’t worry Grandma Buettner – we have been feeding her snacks that we brought.)
We are reliving some of our memories from our first trip and thinking fondly of Hunan 8. There are some things that we forgot about – that you sometimes need to bring your own toilet paper and that you might need to use a squat toilet (it’s just what it sounds like). Abby is a pro at them now (with my help). Something new that we learned is that in some older parts of the city, where people might own their own homes they don’t have toilets in their homes, but rather must share a public restroom with their neighborhood. So that would be like our whole block (and probably more) sharing the same bathroom. I guess we would get to know each other even more than we do now!
Well, the next time we post we will have Matthew – we are getting excited beyond words! Get ready for some new pics! Thanks for the comments we have gotten – because even though we are on an adventure of a lifetime it is great to hear from y’all back home. We are constantly converting our watches to what time it is in Americ
This morning we had an orientation meeting with 10 other families. At the end of the meeting, our guide put an updated picture of each child on the screen to see if we could identify our child. Matthew was one of the last ones to be put up and as soon as it was on the screen, Abby yelled out “There’s mine! There’s Matthew! There’s ours!” She was elated! At this meeting we also got updated information about Matthew. Just a few highlights: It says that he likes to sleep with the lights on and that he gets up somewhere between 12-2 am to have a bottle. He still takes a bottle with formula mixed with rice cereal which he can hold himself. He also eats a few types of solids.
The update says that he is a quiet boy and that he likes to be held, especially by his favorite caregiver. He likes to be outside and he likes to play with car toys and toys that make noise. (Luckily I brought two of the cars from my friends at College Park – he will love them!) It also said that loud voices scare him sometimes, so we will see what he thinks of Abby, because she can be LOUD! His nickname is Li Li (prounounced Lee Lee).
This afternoon we went to Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven. At the orientation meeting, Abby met Maddie, who is also 5. They were inseparable all day. Maddie kept asking, “Can we have a playdate in China?” They ate lunch at the same table, sat on the bus together and toured around all afternoon together. It is taking time, but we are starting to get used to the looks we are getting to be Americans walking around with a Chinese girl. Maddie’s dad was feeling a little uncomfortable as Maddie is American and the Chinese were curious about her and would want to take her picture and touch her face. At our meeting we learned that this is culturally normal, that because Chinese people are used to living in a country with so many people and not much space, that you have to get along well with your neighbors (a.k.a. not the same concept of “personal space” that we have).
We broke down tonight and ate at McDonald’s. We have had quite a bit of Chinese food and it has all been very good, but I can’t say that Abby has been crazy about it. She hasn’t really been too crazy about the “American” food served at the breakfast buffet either, although she had two helpings of French toast with some kind of chocolate sauce drizzled on it this morning. (Don’t worry Grandma Buettner – we have been feeding her snacks that we brought.)
We are reliving some of our memories from our first trip and thinking fondly of Hunan 8. There are some things that we forgot about – that you sometimes need to bring your own toilet paper and that you might need to use a squat toilet (it’s just what it sounds like). Abby is a pro at them now (with my help). Something new that we learned is that in some older parts of the city, where people might own their own homes they don’t have toilets in their homes, but rather must share a public restroom with their neighborhood. So that would be like our whole block (and probably more) sharing the same bathroom. I guess we would get to know each other even more than we do now!
Well, the next time we post we will have Matthew – we are getting excited beyond words! Get ready for some new pics! Thanks for the comments we have gotten – because even though we are on an adventure of a lifetime it is great to hear from y’all back home. We are constantly converting our watches to what time it is in Americ
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Sunday morning
It is early Sunday morning in Beijing.
Like we said in the previous post, the flight was long. The direct flight from Chicago to Beijing was about 13 hours. Abby was a great traveler. She kept herself busy and was a real trooper. She by far got the most sleep out of the four of us. Abby slept about three hours. Wendy, Grandma Sieling, and I got about an hour combined.
We got into Beijing around 4:30 p.m. and got to our hotel about 7:00 p.m. To say the least we were exhausted. We went to bed around 8:00 p.m. and woke up about midnight. Between midnight and our 6:00 a.m. wake up call, sleep was intermittent. Abby and Grandma could not fall back asleep, so they had tea parties with raisins and played games. We are staying in the Peace Hotel in downtown Beijing. This is the same hotel we stayed at five years ago.
On Saturday morning, we met up with about twenty other people, who are also here for adoptions, and began our day of touring. This time around is a little different than when we were here five years ago. We will be with these families through Monday, then we travel to various provinces to get our children, and than arrive in Guangzhou on different days.
With Abby, we had a travel group of about sixteen families. All of our children were in Hunan Province, so we traveled together on tours in Beijing, traveled and lodged together in Hunan and Guangzhou. Most families in this travel group (“Hunan 8’) have kept in touch over the past five years through e-mail, Christmas letters, and an annual reunion. We are the only family going to Matthew’s province, Jiangsu. So we guess it should be pretty easy coordinating reunions for the Jiangsu travel group.
On the plane ride, we met a nice couple from Louisville who is adopting a daughter through another agency. Wendy spent some time on the plane talking with the mom and Abby played with their four year old son, Nate. We will try to connect with them in Guangzhou. We also are getting to know a family from Chicago that is with us during this time in Beijing. They have two little boys, ages 5 and 8 that are entertaining to Abby.
Beijing has changed a lot in five years. Lots of new construction, even more traffic less bicycles, more wireless devices, and lots of lights at night. Our guide told us Beijing has about 15 million residents and about 5 million registered automobiles (Wisconsin’s population is 4 million). Traffic is beyond description. During the week they restrict by license plate numbers who can drive which days of the week.
The tour of the Great Wall was, well, great. Abby was so excited on the trip to the Wall. We were, too. Wendy and I did not see the Wall the last time, so it was a first for us all. It was cooler yesterday (mid 40’s). As we arrived at the Wall, Abby was so excited. From the parking lot, it is a twenty minute uphill walk to a lift that takes you up to the Wall. You are bombarded by souvenir vendors as you make your way up. We also learned there are more vendors on the way down. The best way to describe the experience with the vendors is to say it is like camping during peak mosquito periods. Abby had the best phrase to deal with the vendors: “Whatever it is…I don’t want it.”
But the Wall was worth it. We spend an hour actually on the Wall and Abby had a blast running up and down different sections. Hopefully, we can get some pics posted today.
After the Wall, we had lunch at a tourist trap connected to a pottery/porcelain factory and then proceeded to an older section of Beijing being preserved by the Government. Abby fell asleep on the bus ride back. We could not get her up, so she slept through the rickshaw ride and the tour of the traditional Beijing home.
When we got back to the hotel, we were able to get Abby somewhat conscious and just ate at the hotel. Abby kept falling back asleep at dinner, so we got her in bed around 7:00 p.m. I am writing this around 4:30 a.m. and Abby is still asleep. Hopefully, she will be adjusted to the time. I think we will all feel less like zombies today.
Today we have a three hour orientation and then we tour Tiananmen Square and the forbidden city.
We will try to post again tonight. The tours are nice distractions as we wait to meet Matthew, which will happen tomorrow.
Like we said in the previous post, the flight was long. The direct flight from Chicago to Beijing was about 13 hours. Abby was a great traveler. She kept herself busy and was a real trooper. She by far got the most sleep out of the four of us. Abby slept about three hours. Wendy, Grandma Sieling, and I got about an hour combined.
We got into Beijing around 4:30 p.m. and got to our hotel about 7:00 p.m. To say the least we were exhausted. We went to bed around 8:00 p.m. and woke up about midnight. Between midnight and our 6:00 a.m. wake up call, sleep was intermittent. Abby and Grandma could not fall back asleep, so they had tea parties with raisins and played games. We are staying in the Peace Hotel in downtown Beijing. This is the same hotel we stayed at five years ago.
On Saturday morning, we met up with about twenty other people, who are also here for adoptions, and began our day of touring. This time around is a little different than when we were here five years ago. We will be with these families through Monday, then we travel to various provinces to get our children, and than arrive in Guangzhou on different days.
With Abby, we had a travel group of about sixteen families. All of our children were in Hunan Province, so we traveled together on tours in Beijing, traveled and lodged together in Hunan and Guangzhou. Most families in this travel group (“Hunan 8’) have kept in touch over the past five years through e-mail, Christmas letters, and an annual reunion. We are the only family going to Matthew’s province, Jiangsu. So we guess it should be pretty easy coordinating reunions for the Jiangsu travel group.
On the plane ride, we met a nice couple from Louisville who is adopting a daughter through another agency. Wendy spent some time on the plane talking with the mom and Abby played with their four year old son, Nate. We will try to connect with them in Guangzhou. We also are getting to know a family from Chicago that is with us during this time in Beijing. They have two little boys, ages 5 and 8 that are entertaining to Abby.
Beijing has changed a lot in five years. Lots of new construction, even more traffic less bicycles, more wireless devices, and lots of lights at night. Our guide told us Beijing has about 15 million residents and about 5 million registered automobiles (Wisconsin’s population is 4 million). Traffic is beyond description. During the week they restrict by license plate numbers who can drive which days of the week.
The tour of the Great Wall was, well, great. Abby was so excited on the trip to the Wall. We were, too. Wendy and I did not see the Wall the last time, so it was a first for us all. It was cooler yesterday (mid 40’s). As we arrived at the Wall, Abby was so excited. From the parking lot, it is a twenty minute uphill walk to a lift that takes you up to the Wall. You are bombarded by souvenir vendors as you make your way up. We also learned there are more vendors on the way down. The best way to describe the experience with the vendors is to say it is like camping during peak mosquito periods. Abby had the best phrase to deal with the vendors: “Whatever it is…I don’t want it.”
But the Wall was worth it. We spend an hour actually on the Wall and Abby had a blast running up and down different sections. Hopefully, we can get some pics posted today.
After the Wall, we had lunch at a tourist trap connected to a pottery/porcelain factory and then proceeded to an older section of Beijing being preserved by the Government. Abby fell asleep on the bus ride back. We could not get her up, so she slept through the rickshaw ride and the tour of the traditional Beijing home.
When we got back to the hotel, we were able to get Abby somewhat conscious and just ate at the hotel. Abby kept falling back asleep at dinner, so we got her in bed around 7:00 p.m. I am writing this around 4:30 a.m. and Abby is still asleep. Hopefully, she will be adjusted to the time. I think we will all feel less like zombies today.
Today we have a three hour orientation and then we tour Tiananmen Square and the forbidden city.
We will try to post again tonight. The tours are nice distractions as we wait to meet Matthew, which will happen tomorrow.
We made it!
Hello from Beijing!
We made it! The flight was long, but safe and uneventful. It is Saturday around 6:00 p.m. and we just got back from tours of the Great Wall and Beijing.
That's all I'm going to post right now. The technology is giving me some problems that I need to figure out. More to come.
We made it! The flight was long, but safe and uneventful. It is Saturday around 6:00 p.m. and we just got back from tours of the Great Wall and Beijing.
That's all I'm going to post right now. The technology is giving me some problems that I need to figure out. More to come.
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