One Week Home

Drew is adjusting and doing so well. We are just amazed. He sleeps great, is eating good and enjoys exploring toys...He loves TJ and Tara and I think is a little bored when they are in school. We play lots of Candy Land, and have pulled out some other games he also can play. He likes to win, but does fine when he loses. Yesterday we went to the dentist and he did wonderful. The dentist speaks Chinese so that was great. He was not scared at all. He has a loose tooth that we expect will fall out any day. He seems to enjoy getting out so we have been doing that as well. I am posting some new pictures.

We are home

We arrived home after 24 hours of traveling. It is early in the morning and we managed to get a few hours sleep. Drew did very well on the trip and slept pretty good last night. It will take us a few days to adjust. Drew is so happy to be home and loves his new brother and sister.

Guangzhou Zoo

On Sat. morning we went with our guide to the zoo. It was a nice outing. The bears were the most active. We also went to an animal show which was quite entertaining. They had monkeys riding bikes, a bear who walked on a high rope on his back legs holding an umbrella...I am adding a picture of Drew holding a monkey. He loves monkeys and Curious George too.

Medical Exam

This morning, after a very long sleep, Drew seemed ready to go. However, we had to stay in the hotel room and do paperwork with the guide. We also convinced him to try on some more clothes we brought him. He definitely will tell you if he likes something or not. The guide was able to interpret what Drew was saying while we were finishing up our Skype conversation with Tara. He told her that he has some glasses that she doesn't have. (We bought him some sunglasses.) He asked where TJ was. We told him that Tara has been at dance class and he asked if she was still dancing now while she was talking to us. While I was doing paperwork, he said that his Mom was the best at paperwork. He also said that his Mom was perfect. That was so nice to hear. I think he knows already who he should butter up.

We went to get his passport photos and he was laughing and talking with our guide and the man in the office. Boy was he wound up. Then we did the medical exam and he cooperated nicely. He was 42.5 pounds and 45 inches tall. We also were given his immunization records from the orphanage.

Yuexiu Park

Today our guide Wensi took us to Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou. It has amusement park rides and areas where people exercise as well as a beautiful walking path. As soon as we got in and Drew saw the rides he dragged me running to a ride. We bought some tickets and let him go on four rides. He had so much fun. After that we walked around and people watched and saw beautiful scenery.

Back at the hotel, we just swam and Drew and I went back to another park area near the hotel and hung out and then shopped while Dad rested. Drew is very tired tonight and will fall a sleep early.

Drew likes to swim

This morning we wandered around the island and we saw a group of school children exercising in a big yard. It was neat to watch. It was and is very hot and humid too, but they are obviously used to it. After exercising they are given free time to jump rope and play the Chinese yoyo. Drew saw a lady with an infant and he went up and played with the baby. Then he wanted to take their picture too. It was sweet.

After that we went back to the hotel, doing a little shopping along the way, and went swimming. Drew loved the water and was so excited. He slipped and went underwater which scared him a little, but didn't keep him out. He also doesn't understand that we just don't go up to others and splash them. He would splash me and I then splashed him back. He, however, figured out he could turn around, still splash me and not get splashed in his face. He is very clever. Also, when I said we have 5 more minutes until we get out, he said 6. He has learned how to bargain.

One thing I have to watch with him is his lack of fear. He loves to climb on anything and doesn't worry about getting hurt. He is very tough. He has bruises on his legs and I am sure he earned them all on his own.

He is resting now and at 3 we head to the police station to take his passport photo.

Best Friends

On Tuesday afternoon, we met Jadon who was Drew's best friend in the orphanage. He is going to a family in Wisconsin. They were very nice and it was so fun to see the boys interacting and talking. We will keep in contact which I believe will be special for Drew.

He is officially our son

Tuesday, May 12, we went back to the Adoption Registry of Guangdong at 9:00 a.m. We woke Drew at 6:50 a.m. so we could go eat breakfast and Skype his new brother and sister. He enjoyed showing off for them and showing them toys and drawings. At the offices we had two interviews and signed a bunch of papers making him officially ours. There were to be about 30 official adoptions today. He was so good through all the waiting. He has made friends with the little girl names Lu Jiao who is being adopted by a couple from Bethany in Alabama. He seems to make many friends. We have gotten many compliments on how handsome he is.

He is used to being independent and wants to do everything on his own. He cleans up after himself, even in the restaurant for breakfast. He holds our hands with no problem and even asks to hold our hands. Today, we both got our first hugs initiated by Drew. Bill got his first belly smack too - it was quite funny.

Gotcha Day

Monday, May 11th, we left the hotel a little after 3:00 p.m. to get Drew. We were waiting where there were many families and they said we will take you upstairs so you can get your children in a quiet setting. (There is one other woman with us picking up her 8 year old girl.) I was waiting for the elevator when all of a sudden I look down the couch and there he is sitting. Bill was great with him. He went right up and gave him hi five and they hit is right off. I went over and tried not to cry. He saw the tears and looked a little frightened so I worked hard to keep them in. We then went up to the quiet room. The orphanage director, paperwork lady, his social worker and teacher were all there with him. He is even more beautiful in person. He has a sweet personality and loves to help and share with others. He was very excited and moving up and down after we got him. I had to deal with the business side while Bill got to see the folders of work he brought with him. He seemed a little more nervous of me, but went right to Bill. Then I was able to ask questions of the social worker and teacher and we exchanged email addresses. They seemed concerned to hear how he is doing. They described him as smart, clever and tricky. They said he likes to move from one thing to another not keeping a lot of concentration on one thing. We haven't seen that too much. Then we went back to the hotel together. He said he wants to go to America. In the room he began to draw and then got teary for about 10 minutes. We showed him the DVD of his home we made and that helped. We went and got some wonderful food at the deli next to the hotel and took it back to the room to eat. He loved taking a bath and smiled a lot. He slept great. Bill and I wish we slept that good.

Touring Shanghai

After a pretty good rest, at the beautiful Park Hotel, we had a wonderful breakfast and went exploring. (The Park Hotel is one of the oldest, and at one time was the tallest building in Asia.) There was a public park across the street so we wandered over and saw people doing exercises like Tai Chi and playing badminton. It was very beautiful and relaxing. (Bill is watching it on TV as I type this as it is a big sport here.) Our guide picked us up at 9:00 a.m. and we headed to Yu Garden. Yu Garden was built over 400 years ago by an emperor from the Ming Dynasty. After that we went to a tea house and sampled 7 kinds of tea. The tea ceremony was very cool even if I don't drink tea. Apparently a new tea of the year comes out every April so a new one had just come out. After tea, we went to a silk company where they told us about the silk worm and showed us how silk is made. Pam got to help stretch some silk into a quilt. We also learned that there are two kinds of silk cocoons which are used to make thread and the other makes quilts. Then we took a relaxing cruise down the Pu River. It was by the Bund. It was warm but a nice breeze. Pam loves the weather but Bill is hot. After that we went to a shopping district which had restaurants too. It was too expensive for us. Then we went to a different airport and flew to Guangzhou. It was dark when we arrived.

We are in China

After a long flight, which was 14 hours from Chicago, we sat on the plane for 30 extra in. while they took everyone's temperature. Thank goodness everyone was healthy and we got off the plane. We met our guide right after we got our luggage and she spoke very good English. She took us to our hotel which is about an hour from PuDong International Airport. Our hotel was right downtown Shanghai. I felt like I was in New York City. We were so tired that we showered and went to bed early.