Trenton (not NJ)…

So it’s official: I’m chopped liver. At least, that’s what one particular little Chinese girl seems to think of me. We were warned that our daughter might bond to one of us more quickly than the other, so we were expecting this. She’s going through so many changes and new people that she’s simply incapable of bonding to two strangers at once. I even knew a long time ago that it would be Chuck, his dark hair, stature, and complexion would be more familiar to her. Sure enough, it’s all true!

I’m not at all upset by this, she’s a little girl whose world has been turned upside down and I don’t blame her a bit. I’m more concerned about Chuck, who in the last 24 hours has assumed pretty much all of the caretaking duties. Poor guy, if he’s not holding her she screams, if I hold her and he’s anywhere around, she screams.

She did one thing yesterday morning that was hilarious. After sitting in Chuck’s lap all through breakfast, he was ready for a break and  handed her to me so he could run upstairs and get something. She screamed, but calmed down as soon as he left. When he returned he took her into his arms and she flashed him a brilliant smile—and clapped! No joke. She’d never done that before, and there was NO mistaking the sentiment.

Yesterday we spent a long morning back at the Registry office, getting more paperwork signed and being interviewed by adoption officials about why we wanted to adopt, etc. She loved playing in the play area they have set up at the adoption office.

By the time we got back to the room she was hungry, wet, and overtired, and I spent an hour trying to get her to calm down while Chuck got some lunch. No go–she screamed and screamed the whole time. The moment Chuck laid down on the bed, she climbed onto his chest and was out like a light. After that, we agreed that we need to just go with the flow for the time being, and not force the issue until after we’re home and settled.

All in all, though, we’re incredibly lucky. Narissa is healthy, smart, clever, beautiful, and sweet. There’s nothing even remotely amiss with her, other than her taste in parents. Our good fortune was brought home to me last night, when we found out that another family in our group was matched with a baby that has something terribly wrong with it. They had to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night, and it appears that the baby may have brain damage and/or other serious congenital defects not diagnosed or disclosed by the orphanage. It’s the nightmare scenario that every adoptive parent dreads. There’s been no word yet other than that they’re running other tests, but it’s heartbreaking.

We couldn’t be happier and more in love, and so grateful that Narissa is as amazing as she is.

Tomorrow is a free day, then we fly to Guangzhou on Friday.

It’s about 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday here, Chuck and Narissa are crashed out on the bed after a long, emotional day. We got up at 6 a.m. and got ready to leave for the Registry Office by 9 a.m. After an hour drive through a smoggy, drizzly day we arrived at a nondescript building and headed to the third floor, where the adoptions happen:

When we got there we were told that most of the babies hadn’t arrived yet. There were families adopting from several orphanages around Hubei province, some of which were several hours’ drive away. Only the babies from Wuhan City orphanage were there—and Narissa was one of them. We walked into the main room and there she was, lying in her nanny’s arms. We recognized her immediately, but we had to wait until the other babies arrived, and then we had to sign papers. It was all we could do to keep ourselves from going to her, but we had to settle for some video and photos (sorry about the quality, I was crying while I was trying to take pictures!)

Finally the other babies arrived, we signed the paperwork, and it was time! We were the first family called forward, so we received Narissa in front of everyone else. The orphanage director gave us some precious gifts, including a photo album of Narissa’s early months, some information about the orphanage, and the contents of the two care packages we sent, which include two disposable cameras that are filled with photos we can’t wait to develop.

Then they placed her in my arms ,finally! She screamed at first, which we were expecting, but after a few minutes she stopped. She is so, so beautiful and we are totally in love with our little girl.

We stayed at the Registry office for about an hour as the other families got their babies. Then we piled into the bus for the hour ride back to the hotel. We spent the rest of the day getting acquainted with one another. Our agency guide recommended that we stay in the room and not take her out while she was adjusting to us, so we did. We ordered room service for food (although we broke down and got McDonald’s for dinner) and Narissa got to eat her first Cheerios and animal crackers.  It’s clear that she’s a Daddy’s Girl!  She immediately gets calm and relaxed in his arms and will play with him happily. Right now she just tolerates me, but that’s OK. By the end of the evening she and Chuck were playing a fun game of “feed Cheerios to Daddy” which they both loved. And then we saw our first Narissa smile.

Our agency arranged for a pediatrician to visit each family in their room and do a basic exam, and Narissa passed with flying colors. She’s healthy, developmentally on target, and looks fantastic. We have also discovered that she’s stubborn and she’s a stickler for a schedule. She refused to take a bottle until she felt tired, then she took it eagerly, then crashed. The crib that the hotel provided for us is way too small for her, so she’s sleeping with us for now. She seems to be fine with it, so we’re going to do whatever works. Oh, and Chuck got to change his first poopy diaper today and did it quite well.

Tomorrow we go back to the Registry Office to sign more papers and take our first family photo  for her documents. Then the rest of the day is free, so we’re not sure what we’re going to do. Right now, though, it’s bed time. We’re hoping Narissa sleeps through the night, we’ll see if that happens.

Hey all,

Allison and I had a *really* long day yesterday and didn’t get a chance to post.  First and foremost, tomorrow is “Gotcha Day” – the day we get our baby!  I’ll post photos as soon as I can.

Yesterday, we did a few cool things – the coolest being that we went to see the Great Wall of China!  I’ve already put a bunch of photos up on this post.  We also saw the Olympic Village, a Jade Factory, and an Acrobat Show.  Check out the photos below:

Acrobat Show in Beijing

The Great Wall

The Bird's Nest at the Olympic Village

So we got to see the Great Wall yesterday.  It’s about hour or so outside of Beijing.  We were told that there are 1,100 steps to the top of the section that we were visiting.  No big deal, right – only about 9 or 10 stories.  The problem is that the steps are about a foot tall each, and the climb is nearly vertical in some places.  Allison got about a third of the way from the top before she conceded defeat.  I was stupid enough to push through to the top.  After I got back down, my legs were jelly and I was still breathing hard – like I’d done a really long run.  My legs still hurt right now – almost 24 hours later.  Check out some photos below.

Good morning from Beijing!

We had a few technical difficulties with the power yesterday, so I couldn’t charge my laptop and get online. We were able to get a power adapter from the hotel and charge up, so we’re back online!

The last couple of days were busy days. We had a 13 hour flight from Chicago to Beijing. Suprisingly they fed us pretty well.  The flight was uneventful except for the last 15 minutes, which were extremely turbulent.  So much so that we  were eyeing the barf bags and wondering if we’d actually have to use them. Fortunately, we landed safely and the barf bags got saved for the next passengers.

We got to Beijing, met our CCAI representative, and got back to the hotel at about 5pm or so local time.  We’re staying at the Holiday Inn in downtown Beijing – a really nice 5 star hotel!  We had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants – the one that serves Chinese food.  It was not too different than then Chinese food we’re used to in the states – spiced just a little differently, but really good.

We crashed early after that and I woke up at 4am ready to go (yay jet lag). Allison wasn’t quite as ready to get up, so we managed to snooze for a while longer. The hotel has a pretty stunning breakfast buffet that includes American and Chinese foods, but we figured we could eat bacon any time, so we tried the Chinese style breakfast of noodles, dumplings and coffee, and then off to our days tourist destinations.  We started out at the Forbidden City, which was huge and very beautiful. It was a gorgeous day, and deep reds, golds and yellows of the buildings stood out. After fighting the crowds there, we headed across the street to Tianamen Square, then lunch.  After that we got a tour of a silk factory and then a rickshaw tour of  Hutong – an area of Beijing that’s much more like it was in the 1950s.

Here are a few photo highlights of the day, we’ll post more later. Today is the Great Wall, a jade factory, and an acrobatics performance.

The first picture is of us at the back gate of the Forbidden City. We’re watching workers make a silk comforter in the second photo. And we’re in our very own tour rickshaw in the last one.

Our flight out of Memphis leaves at 6 a.m. Thursday morning, so we’re leaving here around 2 a.m.—just nine hours from now! Yikes! Other than some last-minute cleaning up, we’re actually ready. For those of you who know us, this is as close to a miracle as they come. We managed to stuff two weeks’ worth of clothing, baby stuff, baby clothes, baby toys, electronics, and Chuck’s laptop into a rolling duffel, a carryon-size suitcase, and two backpacks. Years of SCA packing has obviously  paid off!  Here’s what it looks like:

The stuff on the stairs is supposed to go into Chuck’s backpack (the light one) and it all fit. Yay us.

We finally got Narissa’s room emptied of junk and now it actually resembles a child’s room. I painted some furniture, we set up the crib Mom gave us (we found the hardware this afternoon, so we have an unopened crib to return when we get back) and broke out the toys we’ve been hoarding for four years. Alyssa, I hope you approve of the wall color!

The dogs are cozy and safe in their favorite kennel, and we’re going to try and take a nap before we head out. More later!

Yesterday our agency sent us a new photo of Narissa. We think it was probably taken at the same time as the yellow horse picture, which would make her about 12 months at the time. Don’t you just want to squeeze those adorable cheeks? We do!

Narissa at about 12 months