Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Van's Jan 4th Post

It's morning time, and I'm up very early again. I get Garrett dressed, he is just precious in the morning and is a chunky monkey when putting his clothes on. I can't wait to get some cleaner clothes. I'm wearing my really old blue jeans today, and at least three times while kneeling down to assist Garrett, hear the pants rip more, lovely! I put on Garrett's clothes, and immediately have to change him. He didn't even finish breakfast before going. I'm sure he'll eat a lot know at breakfast.We go to the breakfast buffett and after several trips back and forth, we're ready to eat. I finally find the bananas that Garrett loves. The other Asian fruits (uglies, star fruit, some type of white kiwi, and asian pears) Garrett doesn't care for, but will try. I'm eating all the various fruits. While eating, Garrett is flirting majorly with all the waitresses. It get's so bad, he keeps getting out of his chair and running to them. This isn't funny anymore for me since I can't eat. I finally put him in the baby chair to prevent him from running all over the place. He doesn't seem to mind since he's still facing all the ladies, and he continues to eat, and flirt. This morning, it's the visit to the medical center for the checkup. We first stop and get our visa pictures made for our paperwork. The walk to the medical center is easy, a very nice day. Last time with Gracie, it was a torrential downpour that probably ended up making me sick at the end. This was very different. we walk slowly to the medical center and pass-by a kindergarten on the island. I take a few pictures since Gracie and Garrett will be in one before you know it. I meet Lori from North Carolina. who is adopting their 7th child. She has been a bit ill, but also doesn't like to see any needles or blood at any hospital, so she is not liking this part at all. We go back to a special room for adopted children to be examined. After some paperwork, Garrett is the first one to be examined. I sit holding his hand, he is a bit nervous and looks at me for comfort. The doctor doesn't make him remove all his clothes, and checks his heart and then looks through his medical record given by Inner Mongolia. He does a brief check of his skin, and his little scar that was on his head when I got him in Hohhot. We're done, and then we go to the next station, which is out of turn, but the ear, eye, and throat doctor. He asks me to hold Garrett in my lap, he plays some music which Garrett reacts appropriately. He uses a freshly unwrapped (it was sterile) tongue depressor and checks his palate. Garrett is then weighed, and he is a hefty 14.7 KG. Only the 6 year old girl Jorja I believe beats his weight. The conversion chart didn't read that high but he is around 32 pounds. We wait for some of the other children who had heart afflictions to finish so we can walk back as a group. We walk and stop at a few of the stores to buy some items. On the way back, we stop at the local playground. This is great for the kids and parents. Garrett does pretty well on the playground, but runs away from me a few times. The slide is a double slide for two children to go down, but Garrett continues to slide down the middle of both. It is great to see him play. He has taken a major liking to Catherine, Pam's and Robert's girl. I believe Gracie and Catherine were close at the Krispy Kreme as well in Fredericksburg, VA. We meet a couple from Louisiana as well, their name escapes me, but they have just adopted as well. We continue to the White Swan, but on the way back, I take Garrett through the local park with plenty of statues. There are tons of people kicking a feathered "hacky sack" in various groups. I have Garrett sit on a little pug dog statue, and then take some pictures. We continue to enjoy the day and walk slowly through part of the park. This day has allowed Garrett to be a boy the most since we've met. He is all boy! I stop at the local 7-Eleven and look for lunch items. We've been eating so much, that a lighter meal was appropriate this day. I choose some noodles for both of us, and some cookies and drinks. We go upstairs, it's past Garrett's normal lunch time. I fix the noodles, and then remove a small portion of them to cool. He loves them and is quite good at noodling up into his mouth. I give him some juice, which I mix with a 1/3 of water. I know he has a sweet tooth, but don't want so much sugar in his diet. He falls asleep pretty peacefully, the first time without having to hold him to sleep. He just zonks out! I have made the major transition. I also stop calling him Chen Guang and he responds well to Garrett. During lunch, I'm trying to keep within two days of my detailed journals. I'm feeling a little tired now. I really want to rest, but getting this information down will last a life time for our son. I wake Garrett up at 2:30 p.m. We are to meet in the hotel playroom to do our paperwork for the U.S. Consulate. This is the last of the major load of paperwork. Madeline and I worked on the checklist the whole weekend before flying here. I was positive that we had done a good job. I was just hoping something major wasn't missing. Only one parent needs to attend, and there are three of us that are the only single parents adopting while our spouse was at home. During this time, Garrett is playing with several kids, but as the paperwork continues, Lauren, a very sweet 11 year old of Doug and Lucy's, watches Garrett and keeps him out of major trouble. I really appreciate her taking care of him. The paperwork is still a bit confusing, and Rebecca, our guide, helps us with a checklist. She handles the group very well, and we finish some of the paperwork that had to be filled out in Guangzhou. A lot of us finished some of the sheets before arriving. After one and half hours, we seem to be finished. My mind is blank at this point. The paperwork is painful, but we seem to be done with it until the actual U.S. Consulate appointment. Let's pray we all did well!Now it's time to prepare for the big dinner at the Cow and Bridge restaurant for some unique Thai food. We walk slowly, and the whole group is upbeat. We sit down and immediately celebrate Lucy's birthday, I think she just made it to 29 like the rest of us. We get to eat the cake as an appetized, and it's very good. I got two pieces. Garrett only likes the cake portion, while our girl Gracie at home loves only the frosting. I look at the menu and order something that is different, but won't be taking an unnecessary risk of health either. I decided that "Goose cooked in Red Curry" would be nice to have tried. I love curry and never heard of goose getting people sick. I ordered a rice with beef item for Garrett since most of the items here are not meant for children. I also ordered to drinks for Garrett and myself. Well, those drinks come out, and mine is the most foo-foo drink I've ever seen, and I get chastised by the whole table. It is very funny, a purplish clear punch with two lychees floating and I believe a cherry, topped with a beautiful purple/white orchid-looking flower. I even had to raise my pinky when drinking! Garrett's apple juice comes in a similar glass, garnished with the purple/white flower as well. The food finally makes it, and my first piece of the goose, well, tasted a bit like 3 day old Thanksgiving turkey. I wasn't too impressed, and slowly started eating the bluish tomato style vegetables floating inside. Well, after eating so much of that unknown blue vegetable, I tried other pieces of the goose, which were so much better. I must have just eaten that one with the rauncy taste. I continue to eat it, and then get to try something new. Robert had ordered fried pigeon and offered me a wing/breast piece. I wasn't sure about it, since I'm more of a country pigeon eater and didn't know if this may be a city pigeon or not. I eat it and it's very flavorful. I continue eating as much as I can, while Garrett is eating a lot of steamed rice mixed with the soupy rice and beef that I had ordered him. We finish and then all head out. I stop and pick-up my clean laundry from Jennifer's Place which makes me happy! I end up sleeping for awhile, but wake-up around 11:30 p.m. our time to talk to Madeline and Gracie via video conference. Always a great way to end the day. The hard paperwork is almost over! Wake-up for VC

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