Wheels on the Bus.

Hailey just loves watching the "Baby Einstein - On the Go" video, especially this part- The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round. She has some of the actions down and is working on her performance. It is hilarious to watch her cute little butt wiggle back and forth as she dances. It puts a smile on her face no matter what and comes in handy when she starts breathing fire. Enjoy.

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Visit with Jen, Ken, Colin and Liam!

We were going to go to the zoo today but decided that it was too cold and windy! Mommy woke up from her long morning nap (she needed it after being on night duty) and felt great! So we went to see the Pettigrews! Boy were they excited to see us, and they filled our truck with gifts again (the 3 truck loads after the shower weren't enough i guess!) Auntie Joan got us a nice track suit and swim suit. Mrs. McKay got us a Santa plate and cup. Colin and Liam were waiting at the window with a rose and a Magnadoodle! We had some great play time (and finally some adult conversation!). Thanks for the great afternoon!

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Yahhhh Weekend!

It has been great spending time with Hailey this weekend. I have been only seeing the crusty morning before i head to work and then the witching hour when i get home - Kevin and Jerry- i knew about this from you, but man it sucks! But we had a great time yesterday- Grandma came over for breakfast and then stayed all day and played, and played and played. Grandma has endless energy and knows all the right tricks to keep Hailey laughing and giggling all day long. Grandma plays with the plastic monkeys and makes a monkey screetching noise that sets Hailey giggling uncontrollably! Grandma even brought over new baking (brownies, butter tarts and rice crispy squares!). And, made us all home-made pizza for dinner before packing up and the long drive back to Bowmanville. Daddy was feeling ucky all day long (days of stomach cramps) and finally feeling flu-like, went to bed at 8pm and slept through to 6am feeling much, much better. Mommy is still feeling yucky with chest congestion and has been handling the evening shift every night. Alex is really my hero, she has really stepped up to the plate, while i have taken some time to adjust to our honeymoon in China being over. I hope to get out for some fresh air today and get rid of that cabin fever feeling. Monkey has been asleep for about an hour and a half now so i should probably get her up. Thanks for your posts, keep checking in.

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Tired Monkey.

The monkey has been very tired lately- must be all the sleep deprived days we have been putting her through. She slept last night from 8:30 til 6:30 so we were thrilled about that. She is still not eating properly throughout the day and only eating breakfast and then dinner- so that probably wears her out too. You can see the look on her face- this is the look we get most of the time now- tired, tired, tired monkey. We are loving having her home and looking forward to getting the routine straightened. We are open to some short visits (30 minutes or so), please feel free- although Alex is still not feeling 100 percent. We miss you all and look forward to introducing you to Hailey.

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

Jetlag.... ug.

It has been a difficult few days back. Monkey and us have been really affected. She wants to be up all night and sleep all day. Even when we keep her up all day, she still wants to be up at night. We are getting next to no sleep.

We have had many surprises in the form of help and welcome. People must really love us (i dont know why). Elaine and Angelo had shoveled our walk and salted, looked after the cats, etc. Robyn S. looked in on our cats. Lynda cleaned our home, grocery shopped, prepared food, looked after Cyber for the whole China trip. Dad cleaned our truck and fixed it, brought it to the airport to pick us up. Mom got our Shirley package together. Dagmar fedexed our package to China. Dagmar sent flowers to us and flowers to Hailey on friday to welcome us back. Elaine and Angelo cooked us dinner upon arrival on thursday. Mom came to live with us for days upon return and help us with Jetlag. Lynda has lived with us for days after Mom went home. Alex's boss sent us a gift card and called on friday to welcome us home. Jump has been very understanding about the Jetlag and are being very understanding about letting me ease into work. And Paula!, put together an amazing scrapbook of our trip to China. It is beautiful and must have taken days of work to put together. Now we have a beautiful book to show people of our trip!

We are sorry to the many people that have tried to reach out to us or are waiting for our call. We are really struggling with the Jetlag and it is really taking every ounce of energy just to get by at this stage. We will do better soon. Thanks for all the help, love and support.

God bless this beautiful baby i now call my daughter.

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

We are home!!!!

We are finally home! After 19 long days in China, we are finally home. Our eyes were tearing up after the long journey we have been on, both in China and for years before. We came out of the baggage area and found 25 families worth of relatives and friends patiently waiting for their new neices, cousins, sisters, Granddaughters and friends. For the first time we were pretty much first through! There waiting for us were: Grandma, Grandpa, Lynda, AJ, Kevin, Erin, Avery, and Ewan. They had all brought special toys and gifts for sweet Hailey. It really was a special moment for all of us. We will cherish that memory forever!

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey (the newest Canadian, eh)

The Long, Long, Long, Long, Long.... Flight.

Well, we made it. Left the hotel at 11am (10pm Toronto time). Got to the airport at 12pm (11pm Toronto time). Checked in. and waited. Got delayed. Finally loaded the plane at 3:30 (2:30 am Toronto time). Sat on the plane with 25 crying babies for 1.5 hours. Plane took off at 5 pm (4 am Toronto time). Hailey went to sleep at 8:30 pm (7:30 am Toronto time) and slept, and slept, and slept. Hailey woke up at 6:30am (5:30 pm Toronto time) just as the plane was coming in for landing - also in time to feed a bottle for ear popping. Landed at 5:30 pm Toronto time. Made our way through customs, immigration and finally out to see our waiting family!

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Bye Bye Shirley.

Well, we said a sad goodbye to Shirley as we left for the airport today. We will deeply miss her (and already have). Nobody could calm Hailey down with her soothing voice like Shirley. Shirley is off to her home after 19 long days with us Canadians and will have a week with her husband and daugther, plus a trek to see her father. We boarded the plane for Canada!!! Yah, see you soon.

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

Monkey in a stroller.

Peking Duck Dinner.

We had a lovely Peking Duck Dinner the other night. We were not much on the authentic Chinese dinner. It looked great. This is one of the things we wish we did before we got Hailey, i think we would have enjoyed it more. Hailey melted down halfway through and we bee lined for the exit. Kirk and Deb came of course (we were inseparable) and we hailed a cab outside the Silk Market. I dont think he was a legitimate cabbie cause he gave us a very high rate ($15 cdn) and then broke every law in the book to get us home in 5 minutes- it had taken us 40 long minutes by bus to get there! He pointed at red lights and said "Broken" and then proceeded to run all of them. He drove in the bicycle lane and honked at bicycles to get out of his way. It was worth it though to get crabby babbies back to the sanctuary of the hotel room.

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Special Thanks.

Special thanks go out to these people who have helped us while on our trip (sorry if i have missed anyone).

Mom and Dagmar. We received the package yesterday and everything is great! Your help is so appreciated! Shirley has been so amazing, we just hope this will show our appreciation enough! She walks with us while out like today at the Forbidden City, and talks to Hailey in Chinese reassuring her that we love her in her soothing voice.

Kevin. For solving our blog IT problem. I am back. thanks.

Deb and Kirk. For keeping us on your blog when ours is down and for putting Hailey video up on your blog. Also for the hours i have spent uploading pics and blogging in your room.

And our family and friends, keeping an eye on our home, pets, and preparing for our return.

2 more sleeps till we see you!

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

Tinnamen Square and the Forbidden City.

We spent the morning here. It was quite cold, windy and overcast. Not a great day for the babies. The Forbidden City is enormous. We walked 2kms through it without really going into and exploring rooms. There are 9999 rooms in all. It could talke weeks to see it all. Quite amazing. We are off to the Silk Market this afternoon followed by Peking Duck dinner afterwards with our group. Everyone is going to be wearing their traditional Chinese clothes that we had tailor made in Guangzhou. It is going to be fun. I will blog more soon.

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

TGI Fridays!

We decided that we had enough local cuisine (McDonalds and KFC), and walked 15 minutes down to the TGI Fridays. Deb, Kirk and Olivia joined us for lunch. It was so great! Mmmm... real food. We ated until we couldnt move and then went accross the street to the Hagendas for ice cream cones.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to meet Shirley and pick up our scroll and stamps that we had ordered. They are awesome. We also sent out for some laundry (We would kill for a washer, dryer, and dishwasher!!!!!!)

Then we headed back to the Silk Market on our own. We wheeled and dealed- Alex was on fire. She was lowballing them like crazy. She was convincing them that she had already bought from them and just wanted more at the same low price! Some of them gave up easily, some yelled to us as we were walking away. We did much better the second time around. We bought a Chinese table runner- the lady started us at 850 yuan and we managed to get it for 60 yuan. Its nuts there. Kirk and Deb bought 6 pairs of shoes- all for $10 each- Adidas, Nike, Puma (or so the logo said), but the quality looks good. Who knows. We came back with a tired girl and had a quite night in our Suite.

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

We checked out!

Well, we had our last official stop on our China tour today- The Doctors office. We had a short bus ride to the Bejing International Hospital. We were there for about three hours and it was quite easy. Just some basic things with the nurse- weight- 8.3kg, length- 71 cm, heart rate, and then a wait for the doctor. The doctor was from the US so it was great to finally see a North American doctor. She was great. She checked Hailey over in some detail and went over the medications we have been using since arriving. Everything is Perfect. This is the last step to get Hailey her Visa from the Canadian Embassy. (Shirley will pick up Hailey's passport on Wednesday for our flight on Thursday).

Love Alex, Jason and Healthy Hailey.

Authentic Chinese dinner with fries.

On the way back from the Great Wall, we stopped for an authentic Chinese dinner. (scary) We were delighted to find that french fries and white sticky rice found the table. I have shown the Chin family doing what any sensible parents do when their children are behaving, "Eat, and eat quickly". They even tried the fish- which came to the table- head and all! We were surprised to find many things which we could eat. Kirk even mangaged to eat something! He had been planning on a snickers bar.

Love Alex, Jason and Mantou.

Jade Market.

On the way to the Great Wall we stopped at the Jade Market. This one is closely supervised by the Tourism Board so it was kinda trustworthy and expensive. After a lesson in Jade- where we learned that Jade increases in value the longer you wear it, and the colour changes too- we went shopping! Alex managed to pick up a circular pendant to wear as a necklace (this symbolizes "family") and one of those jade balls. It is actually three balls, one inside of each other, with holes to see and feel through.

One of the Children's Bridge ladies we met a long time ago, talked to us about how her daughter asks to hold them when she is thinking about her birth parents or her beginnings. It will probably be another gotcha gift. Alex, of course, worked out another great price deal. She has turned into a real bargainer now!

Love Alex the Bargainer, Jason the stroller pusher, and Mantou the "Small Steamed Bread".

A great big "Hello, eh" from the Great Wall.

Sorry for the delay. We had some problems accessing the blog. But we are back. We definately struggled with the late flight from Guangzhou. The flight was fine, but Hailey didnt sleep much that night and again not much during the day on Saturday. We checked into our room at 12:30 and then waited for our bags until 1:15am. Our room really sucked too! We had such a great room, new and spacious in Guangzhou, and now a closet, with more bags. We literally couldnt get our stroller into the room, will seven bags laid out, two beds, a crib and room furniture. So, we upgraded! We have had a suite since Saturday afternoon and we are loving it again. Hailey is getting more and more attached to us each day and Alex said yesterday that "It is like she has always been with us". So bedtime has been a struggle. She had been used to just being put in her crib all the time, and in Guangzhou, we just put her in easily. Now, she complains if we put her in, and complains if we try to snuggle her to sleep. She has realized that Daddy is the "Closer" and really complains if Daddy snuggles her at bedtime.

So, Sunday morning we went to the Great Wall. It was about 1:20 from the hotel in downtown Bejing and was well worth the drive. We passed an abandoned Disney World that they ran out of money to build. The Great Wall was pretty cool. We couldnt walk much of it because the stairs are steep and the steps are high. (really high) You have to really hold onto the handrails (a later addition to the wall). Of course it was a beautiful sunny day (we havent seen rain once since we got here two weeks ago). The day was mild and a good day to walk.

Love Alex, Jason and Mantou.

Don't get excited...

...it's just Kevin. Jason's been unable to get into the blog (some type of password issue)...he called me tonight to help him out. They're all fine, and enjoyed the Great Wall today (yesterday?).

Jason, this is just to let you know that I got in (obviously). I went to www.blogger.com, then in the top right corner I clicked 'Old Blogger' (or something like that), then tried the username and password that you gave me. It then told me that I (you) had upgraded to the new blogger and had to login with my Google account. It automatically entered your email address as the username, so I tried the same password, and I was in. It was that simple.

Hopefully this works for you, and everyone can get back to enjoying your posts, rather than mine!

Quick Upate from Bejing.

We have arrived. I have to be very quick as Alex thinks i am photocopying important documents that are due for the Canadian Embassy. We are fine. Arrived in Bejing last night, arrived at hotel room at 12:30 after midnight. Has thrown Monkeys schedule out the window and she is quite crusty, not to mention that it is 5 c and she has never felt it this cold in her life. (February is the cold month with temperatures for us that were 25-30 c) She doesnt much like her snow suit and is letting us know.

Our trip to the Orphanage was amazing. What highs and lows. How the nannies loved little monkey. They greeted her with "Mantou!, Mantou!, Mantou!". (Chinese name for a little steamed bread) They had nicknamed her! We didnt hear of anyone in our group with a nickname. A group of them even followed us back to the gate afterwards singing her nickname and clapping the whole way. We saw her crib and found out that Sophie was next to her. We put them back in their cribs and they started playing together.

The trip to all the finding locations was quite emotional. Some children found on busy stree corners, others in the bushes at the side of the road. While we will all have great difficulty in explaining this part of their story to our children, i think that some will have greater difficulty. A street festival was on at our finding spot and the traffic was diverted onto the sidewalk at the location of Hailey's finding. It was difficult for us both to handle.

I will have to go into more detail later.

Love Alex, Jason and Mantou.

Chinese words to practice.

Wha-i-ni (i love you)
Gw-eye, Gw-eye (good girl)
Sow (good morning)
Chula-ma (have you eaten- a common way to great people in the morning- answered by "Chula")
Ni-how (hello)
She-a-she (thank you)

A mission for Mom.

Hi Mom, i wonder if you can help us with something. Our guide Shirley has been so wonderful through this trip. She really cares for us and our baby! She has a kind heart. She talks to Hailey often in Chinese and reassures her that we are her family and love her very much. She has taken us to the hospital, gotten us medicine, phone cards, you name it. We have really connected with her and would like to do something more for her.

I was talking to Shirley today about the book i read on Chinese adoption- "Wanting a daughter, but Needing a Son" (not sure if this is exactly right, but close". She had not heard of the book and i said that i would send her a copy. If you could get one and send it to me in Bejing by Fedex it would be most appreciated. We are at the International Hotel- i sent you the contact info before leaving. Also, Alex and I were talking about a Roots Canada sweatshirt for her (small), and one for her daughter (i will confirm the age, but i think 6 yrs).

Thanks Mom, you rock. Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Dinner at the Hotel.

We decided to venture out of our room tonight for dinner, but not far, just down to the lobby. We had a fun dinner with Katie, Sarah, Donna, Darcy, Kirk, Deb and Olivia. We had laundry done outside of the hotel and cost us next to nothing. Its great to have some clean clothes, we travelled lightly to Guangzhou, and its hot and muggy here. Sarah has been eating the cream of corn soup- she has been eating huge bowl fulls, so we were inspired to try it out on the monkey. She loved it and made loud monkey sounds all through dinner. I had the best meal of the trip- a tenderloin steak with broccoli and snow peas... mmmmm. followed by only my second brewed coffee of the Guangzhou leg of the trip. Did you hear that Lee? 1 new monkey. 6 days. 2 brewed coffees! We passed a Starbucks in the bus today and i licked the window. Sorry, back to the story. We went back to the room and had a blast. Hailey is really attaching to us. It is amazing. We have five more things every day that we communicate with! We are really starting to read her moods and understand her needs. Daddy set a new record tonight and put her to sleep in his arms in five minutes. As soon as she is out, she has been sleeping though the night without having to be picked up! Sorry Jerry. I am sure i will have my time. I just hope its after i get home. Alex and i still have this throat thing, but it doesnt seem to be getting worse. I wonder if its all the smog here. Thick like pea soup. Well, it is 9:45 and i should probably get to bed. We are off to the Orphange at 9 am and we really hope that this trip will include a trip to her "Finding Spot". We still dont know exactly where the Dali Market is in Foshan City, but hopefully close enough to stop at, photograph, and look at the people, smell the smells. Nevertheless, the Orphanage visit will be awesome. How nice it will be to be able to talk to Hailey about it in the future. We have the name of the Nanny that she was attached to, and hope to speak with her in detail. We also hope to see her crib. We know that she only slept one to a crib and that has probably helped in her transition. Off to bed. Another incredible day to come.

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

The Tea House.

Tea is a way of life here and many people dont start their day without a few cups of tea. We stopped at a very nice Tea House and Bonzai garden on the way back from White Cloud Mountain. We were shown by the owner how to pick out a good tea pot and it was quite interesting. Afterwards we sat at large wooden tables and women prepared all different teas for us to try. We were told what teas could help you with your heart, mind and spirit. How to drink the tea with three fingers from very small cups, in 3 sips to finish the cup. It was facinating. Auntie Robyn would have loved it. We bought a tea pot and cup for us, plus a tea set for Hailey. Then we walked the Bonzai garden by a small lake. It was beautiful, with the sun shining off the water. It is the kind of place where you could spend all day with a good book. Apparently the Bonzai tree originated in China and was stolen by the Japanese. We were feeling pretty tired and went back to the hotel. On the trip home, Little Monkey fell asleep in her Bijorn and i managed to lay her down for an afternoon snooze. Ma Ma had a shopping date with some of the other Mothers to buy things for the Orphanage. Wasnt she surprised to come home and find Monkey and Daddy still asleep at 4pm! Daddy missed the bottle.

Love Alex, Jason & Hailey.

White Cloud Mountain.

After a restful night for all, (10 hours for monkey, 9 for Daddy, 8 for Mommy) we got up, showered, changed diapers (poo poo is regular now and a happy girl for it), had our bottle and medicine and headed down to breakfast. (best meal of the day, and no, i am not trying any of the local dishes) We boarded the bus around 9am and drove for about 40 minutes, just outside of town to White Cloud Mountain. It was a freezing cold Winter day on White Cloud Mountain, the temperature coming in at about 26c with a humidity of about 32 c. Needless to say, we had all dressed for colder weather thinking that a mountain would be cool. Another beautiful day, it never rains here and everything is so lush. White Cloud Mountain is surounded by some beautiful man-made lakes with incredible walking bridges throughout. We got off the bus (still havent seen one single accident here- it is incredible how close everyone comes to hitting each other!) and made our way up to the Gondola loading area. The Gondola is a fairly new addition and was very trustworthy to ride in. We rode for about 15 minutes up the mountain into a cloud that surrounds it. The view of the city was worth the trip, although very smoggy. But the air on the mountain was fresh and clean compared to the city. Side note: I dont know if i mentioned in earlier blogs, but the locals all over China use coal for heat- you can see it stacked up beside their home and we saw firsthand how it is used in their stoves. Anyways, we took some photos and watched families exercising and playing a version of hacky-sack with a ball with feathers on it- looks like a shuttlecock. I bought one to bring home. The largest bird sanctuary in China is on the mountain and we walked through. Their was a performance area where we watched birds doing all kinds of ridiculous things like: riding a bicycle, bowling, roller skating, pulling a wooden duck with wheels, singing, and flying through the crowd as you hold up paper money so that the bird lands on your head and takes the money. Not much for the babies to watch but fun for the adults. We walked through the netted in sanctuary and saw many strange birds. We returned to the cable car and rode back down to the bus. Hailey really loves the Baby Bijorn. We have had her faced out the last two days and it keeps her cooler. When she faces in my heat knocks her out. She loves her Ba Ba anyways and doesnt mind shouting out a million times a day "Da, Da, Da, Da, Da". I told Ma Ma that she is saving the "Ma, Ma" calls for dirty diaper time. We are still getting used to remembering her feeding time, and with all these outings, the schedule is messed up all the time. But like Shirley says "She is a kind child, she never complains".

Love Alex, Jason and Man Man

The Pearl Market.

After the Six Banyan Temple, we headed to the Pearl Market. Guangzhou is the mecca for pearls as the Pearl River meets the Ocean, Freshwater and Saltwater Black Pearls are abundant. The Pearl Market looks like a crappy mall that only sells pearls. So there are hundreds of vendors all selling the same thing. We were told to be wary of vendors taking our money and then switching it with bad money and telling us our money was no good. Or giving us change in Tawain dollars or Indonesian dollars which they say can be easily mistaken by us westerners. It doesnt help that China just released new money with a new design and all denominations are available in the new money. So you have $.50, $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100. All of these are bills of different size and now there are two different kinds. They have coins too, but these are almost worthless when you consider that $1 yuan is about 15 cents cdn. Anyways, we were pretty tired from bad sleep and a good walk at the temple, so we just went to a couple of stores and Alex found Hailey a pearl bracelet and a pearl necklace for Gotcha day gifts. We walked back to the hotel. Alex was pretty exhausted, so we put Hailey down for a nap and got some sleep ourselves. We did dinner in from Room Service. We think we have got this bed time thing right this time. We did the bath, lotion, bottle, medicine, cuddle with daddy (standing and rocking of course), and then into the crib and out like a light. We got her down around 8:30pm and we were both asleep by 9pm. Sweet.

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

Six Banyan Temple

After a quick breakfast, we got ready and went to Six Banyan Temple today. (Tuesday) Even though we had hardly slept, it is much less work for us to go out than to stay in and occupy Hailey. Both of us woke up feeling lously from lack of sleep and colds setting in. We jumped in the bus for a half hour ride to this ancient temple. The temple dates back 1500 years and is a Buhdist temple. (James would have loved this). There are many huge golden budhas all over the place. This is kinda the equivalent of visiting Notra Dame or Westminster Abbey here. It is said that having the monk bless your baby is good luck and many people do this here. There is a large tower that can be climbed (if not sick) for a great vantage of the city. (The temple is in the heart of Guangzhou) I knelt down before the monk in the temple with Hailey while the monk chanted for a short while. When he finished the chant, he splashed some water onto Hailey's face and went on the other babies. At the end of the ceremony we went outside and lit incense to complete the ceremony. We really enjoyed it (although Hailey waved to the monk throughout the ceremony). Locals came up to us and gave us oranges, which is a symbol for luck! There are many symbols (peanut, flower, etc.) We witnessed a traditional ceremony in one of the buildings, with locals and monks chanting. It was breathtaking, i wished i could buy the cd. We finished exploring and went back to the bus.

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Dinner... somewhere new.

Charlie and Juanita had been recommending this restaurant close by for Western style meals, so we decided to join. We were pretty tired and Hailey has been fussy at night time, so it was kinda a bad idea. Soon after we joined them, three men sat at a table next to us and chain-smoked. All three of us with our scratchy throats probably should have left but decided to stay. Alex's rice came with Shimp (of course that wont do) and it was difficult to explain what Shrimp was. I had a bowl of creamed corn soup. It was delicious until Hailey pulled the tablecloth (she is strong as heck!) and dumped the whole bowl over dadddy and Hailey. So it was a wet dinner from then on. We finished quickly and went back. No outside dinners for us for a while. It was a difficult sleep for some reason and Alex and I did not sleep much that night. Hailey slept 11 hours! She is so great.

Love Alex, Jason and Man Man.

The Police Station...

After a great morning with daddy, we packed our bags for the police station. The bus ride was only a short twenty minutes. One of the kids in our group (Justin) has been diagnosed with Nemonia (spelling?). But since the time of this post has really recoved well. Everyone is still battling illnesses of various types, but overall, ok. Back to the story. At the police station, we went to the second floor and waited patiently for an entry/exit officer to meet us. I tried to take some photos, but was told firmly not to. (lucky to be alive really- not as close of a call as when Bob Okamoto tried to take pics at the UN building in New York Eric) Well we were called up after ten minutes for a brief interview with the officer in which Hailey waved the whole time to her (i have been working on this with all strangers- probably not the best thing). She took a photo and we showed her our adoption documents, and in five minutes were done. Short and sweet. Now just to wait for the Visa to be processed so that we can fly back to Bejing. Speaking of which, our date to fly to Bejing has been pushed back now to Friday from Thursday but does not affect our final travel date arriving in Toronto on the 15th as planned.

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

A good Monday morning!

After an exhausting day of not wanting to be put down at all- we literally spent all day on our feet, we had a great nights sleep and a yummy breakfast. Ma Ma did not feel all that good today (cold coming on), but i feel well rested. We were up at 5am and things have gone well. Hailey went back to sleep on my chest for another hour and then we went to breakfast and our bottle. We have gone completely back to the Congee and her poops have been regular since. The medicine is making a difference today. Ma Ma went up to the room and back to bed after breakfast and that gave the little monkey some one on one time with Ba Ba. Just what she needed to wrap me around her finger. First we went to the roof to watch the pink glow of the morning sun on the buildings- a great view from here - but smoggy. Then down to a 4th floor garden and play area. She really has been diggin her stroller- and that has been saving our backs today. She loved the garden and play area- basically some foam mats with a swing, slide, rockers, etc. We had tried to get her crawling yesterday, but with limited luck. Today, she was crawling non-stop and pulling herself up onto the little plastic stools. I lined up four of them and she walked along them for balance. We even tried the slide a few times. She didnt want to leave, but another poopy diaper called. Up to the room to wake up Ma Ma. (just kidding, i did it Erin)

A bunch of the group have been having various health problems with their babies, so a hospital visit was organized this morning and i have been using Kirk and Debs computer and room to write and post all of these pics. Thank god for them!

What a close call over dinner last night as a server brought coffee and passed within Olivia's reach. She pulled the hot coffee down all over herself. Kirk saw it happening and had a great reaction time, pulling the shirt off right away. I think Olivia was ok. What a close call.

It is tough here in a lot of ways. Everyone is homesick and wants to get back to a normal existance in their homes. These kids are a lot of work, between the health issues, adoption issues, their mindsets, etc. Then pile on that you cant even get a normal meal or do something as simple as laundry. A trip to the doctor has to involve a guide. You dont have access to music to calm the baby.

We are off to the Police Station today (we are having her criminal record cleared up). Just kidding. We are getting a passport for Hailey.

Will post later. Love Alex, Jason & Man Man.

The Zoo.

Or not. We decided that sweet little Man Man could use a little break from being out and about. So, we skipped the zoo. (We heard later that the zoo kinda sucked- the animals were scrawny and the cages too small. Apparently the kids are a little too young to really enjoy it anyways). So we hung out and tried to do a morning nap. We tried and tried and tried, but there was no napping for this little girl. She found her little (or not so little) voice today too and has figured out that if she complains that Ma Ma or Ba Ba will pick her up. It was a difficult morning (and day) as she would not even let us sit down and she would start to wail. We think that she must have had an upset stomach.

Projectile Vomit... another story for Kevin and Erin.

Well, we tried to give little Man Man a little too much food today. We actually got behind while out and tried to catch up. Plus maybe the medications and excitement. Well, Ba Ba was feeding her the last bottle and up it came- probably two bottles worth! All over Ba Ba and Baby. Of course you can all imagine Ma Ma's reaction. But wasnt little Man Man just thrilled to have all that badness up and out. She thrashed around on the bed giggling her little heart out. She slept very soundly that night (as she has every night). What a cutie.

Love Jason, Alex and Man Man.

Pizza Hut....KFC... mmmm...

Sorry Eric, i am a company man and as such have to eat almost exclusively at our clients restaurants here in Guangzhou. I consider it local food because the locals prepare and serve it, and they love it. These places are packed here.

Well, let me go back to my story and pick up the thread. After returning from Shaimen Island we had our bottle (which, may i add, Hailey is taking quite well) and some quiet time (we needed it). I ventured out and found the KFC. They have picture menus for us non-chinese speaking folk, and i managed to explain that i didnt want the corn cup and koolaid, but rather good old fries, pop and some chicken. Thankfully they dont use the local oils and it was delicious (but had the same effect as at home). The place was packed and families will purchase buckets to eat in the restaurant, rather than take home. The shopping street was packed, as it is the weekend here and people are really starting to come out in droves leading to Chinese New Year. I made my way back to the hotel and joined Alex.

At 5:30 we joined some of our group and went out to Pizza Hut! Yummy pizza. If you saw the food here, you would agree. All the little babies in high chairs were very excited. The menu is extended here to include many local dishes as well. We found pizza on the last page of the menu. It was very loud and exciting. When we came out after dinner, the local market was busy and really lit with neon and spot lights. There is neon attached to every surface, kinda like a Times Square. It was amazing. We pused through the crowds back to the hotel for an eary night.

Saturday, February 3.

It is Sunday morning now and Alex and Hailey are looking over my shoulder as i write this. We had another great night as Hailey slept straight through.

Lets start from yesterday morning as i signed off to go to Shirley's room to meet with the Tailor. I joined Ma Ma who was already excitedly leafing through the catalogues and material samples. All of the new parents and babies were together in the room and Man Man had a chance to sit and play briefly with her sisters from the Orphanage. We picked out a beautiful jacket and pants for Man Man in a traditional Chinese children's style. Ma Ma also picked out a stunning 3/4 length jacket in matching fabric. The pattern is a light green with a simple flower motif. They will look beautiful together! I picked out a jacket in a darker green but with a more manly cool dragon pattern. We are anxiously looking forward to getting these back and trying them on.

After a quick rest we packed up for an adventure out to Shaimen Island. This island in the Pearl river is a quick half hour walk from the hotel. It was another beautiful day, 20 c and sunny and hot. We wound our way down winding streets filled with street vendors, teaming with hard working locals. We saw stores of chicken parts, baskets of spices, huge mushrooms, and more. They recycle everything here. There are stores with old water taps, wall switches, plugs, almost anything you can imagine, they repurpose. The sights and smells are so unusual, and laundry hangs from every window. The people here are very kind and love children so much. We are constantly engaged by locals that want to look and talk to the baby. They try to practice their english, while we try and practice our new (limited) Chinese vocabulary. (try being the operative word here- i find myself greeting people with "thank you"). We made it down to the highway that crawls along the water side and crossed the bridge to the walkway. Then we crossed one of the many old bridges to the island. The island is an old part of Guangzhou, as there are many British and French buildings here. We enjoyed haggling with local souvenir vendors over future Gotcha day gifts for the cute little princess. We picked up a handmade chess set, 4 traditional size dresses at different sizes, a bracelet, and some other small things. After a few hours of shopping, we found a Blendz coffee shop and picked up some brewed coffee (our hotel only has instant- yuk!). We made it back to the hotel after an adventure in the winding streets. It is a good thing you can see our hotel over the rooftops, because you have to keep turning onto new streets and making corrections to find your way back. It would be impossible to drive here without a knowledge of the city. What a contrast from Bejing with its wide, straight streets.

More to come, diaper to change.

Another great day!

Ok, so we missed a day of blogging but i am back now with a minute to update. Sorry, yesterday was quite hectic and amazing! Before i go any further, i sent you the BringinghomeOlivia blog but here is another one.

http://carmodyadopt.blogspot.com/

I am going to start from the end of the last blog and go forward to today. When i left you hanging we had put Man Man to bed and i came down to sit at the computer and cry and write. We had a great night, with no complaints and a straight sleep through the night. Ma Ma and Ba Ba didnt sleep well and woke often to check to make sure we weren't dreaming. We woke up at 5am and got showered and dressed before the little princess had woken. She woke up and looked at us, but did not fuss. In fact, she hasnt complained but once since we met her (i usually have this affect on people). We got up and changed her, ordered her some Congee and made her bottle. Others have been having mixed luck with the bottle, but little Man Man has been taking the bottle from either of us quite hungrily. Others have also been having the difficulty where she will only take to one parent, but, although Man Man prefers Alex (how could you not), she will happily be picked up, carried, snuggled or fed by either of us. Although she adores Ma Ma's voice. Well, back to the story. It took us a few hours to do all of that (where does the time go?) We joined the group for breakfast, what a sight that is. We compared stories to find that we have it pretty good. Our amazing guide Shirley keep commenting that "She is a kind child, she doesnt complain much". After a quick breakfast, we joined the group in the lobby to go back to the Civil Affairs office to make our adoptions official. A short bus ride, (15 min) and we were there. Another beautfil winter day in Guangzhou (pronounce Guang-jo), with temperature at 19 C and blue sky and sunny. We went up to the fifth floor to the room where we first met. First on the list was a photo of Us and Man Man for the Registry. Next an interview for the Notary with some easy questions like: When did you get married? Do you promise to never abandon or abuse this baby? Why did you want a girl? Why China? Are you satisfied with this child? (I asked if they were offering an extended warranty, just kidding) Then we paid 1750 yuan. (6.5 yuan = 1 cdn $) Next was our Registry interview with similiar questions and payment of $3000 yuan. Afterwards, we all went back down to the street and walked down a block to a photography store to shoot a passport photo for Man Man. We sat her down while the photographer tried to get her attention, and finally got the shot. Locals were coming up to us and talking to the baby. People here really love children, you cant pass by anyone without them wanting to practice their english and talk to us. We have a badge that Deb made all of us with a photo on one side and translation on the other side explaining the we are from Canada, have adopted this child, her age, name, etc. They pronounce Canada as Cha-na- da with deliberate pauses inbetween. So you hear that alot as we pass through crowds. Of course we are totally decked out in Canadian garb. Well, after getting our passport photos, we got on the bus and travelled back to the hotel for a 30 min break before meeting back at the lobby so that Connie could take us out to the market to pick up essentials. The hotel is on a busy walking-only shopping street. It is beatiful as Chinese New Year is almost upon us and they treat it the way we treat Christmas. The city is a buzz! Red lanterns everywhere. They showed us a bookstore, local restaurant, and a supermarket with groceries, clothes, strollers, etc. We picked up a stroller, bath toys, bottle, music toy, rice cereal (so that we dont have to order Congee from Room Service), baby food (which she doesnt understand yet) and a soother (she loves to suck her thumb, but didnt know what the soother was and has tried to put it in a bunch of different ways only to spit it out and go back to the thumb)- whatever keeps her content. She slept soundly in the Bjorn (this has been a godsend- Tracey/Chris you rock!!!) Every time she gets in, the heat from my body knocks her out) We got back to the hotel and were lucky enough to get our first poopy- green pudding, mmmm.... We count ourselves lucky because it can take 3-4 days for some babies and have to go to the doctor- they say it is from the stress.

What i probably havent mentioned is that she had very dry skin when we got her and had red marks on her back and some rashes on her arms, legs and cheeks. Shirley looked after we got back and decided that we should go to the Children's Hospital to get it checked out. We got into a cab and went with Shirley. The ride was about 10 minutes through the winding streets, narrowly missed people, bikes, trucks by inches. We arrived at the hospital which was an interesting experience. This is a local hospital and as such saw only locals there. After registering, we walked up to the third floor where we immediately walked into a doctors office and had the marks checked (no hour wait like Toronto). The doctor decided it was Ecsema and prescribed accordingly. Then we went to see another doctor about her bloated little belly. The doctor felt around her stomach and thought that she may have an enlarged liver and suggested an ultrasound! All the while the little monkey didnt mind at all and took it all in stride. So up to the fifth floor and straight in to an ultrasound room. The doctor did this immediately and determined that everything was quite normal. Little Man Man didnt even flinch! So, back down to the stomach doctor for some more prescriptions, including her chest infection. Then back down to the main floor to pay for the drugs (20 yuan to fill 5 prescriptions! -thats $3 cdn total!) and then over to the pickup counter and back outside to get a cab. All in all it took about 45 minutes to do all of that- boy is our healthcare system messed up! In total, for 2 doctors, an ultrasound, 5 prescriptions and 2 cab rides, it cost under 150 yuan ($25 cdn)! Little Man Man complained for the only time since we got her (including up to now) when a doctor sternly reprimanded her for the thumbsucking by pulling it out of her mouth. She wailed for 3 minutes and then stopped cold and went back to her happy self.

So we came back to the hotel and changed her and put her to bed for the night. Boy were we tired. She fell fast asleep and we ordered some room service. The food here is very oily and we look forward to our American breakfast with enthusiasm. We were asleep too by 9pm and slept straight through. Alex was up at 5am to wash bottles and clothes and then shower. Man Man woke up as i started charging my bank for joy capturing devices. She was happy to get up and play, and daddy changed poopy diaper 2 (Erin and Kevin will enjoy this part of the story). It was no problem and i think i pulled it off. I even managed to get the tape stuck to the Elmo head! Ma Ma was very hungry and we set off for breakfast at 6:30 am. We were second down and joined Kirk, Deb and Olivia. We tried some honey cheerios but she mostly played with them. We switched her to the rice cereal instead of Congee and she doesnt seem to care what we do and is happy with whatever comes in the bottle. We are soooooo lucky! I just left Man Man and Alex in the room for a little snooze while i have been typing for an hour, but Alex was just here with the monkey and she and i have just read all of your posts.

36 posts! You guys have set a new record! It is so amazing reading them although some of you have vague names and we would love it if you could sign your posts better. thanks. So lets press on for all new numbers of posts and i will try my hardest to get more photos up.

Time difference is 13 hours. The way i figure it out is that we are ahead of you by 13 hours. So, it is 10:30 am so i minus one hour and go to the other side of the day- which makes it 9:30 pm yesterday in Toronto.

I have to sign off now as we have a tailor coming to fit the babies for tradional chinese outfits and some parents too. The tailor is bringing different materials and patterns. So exciting. This is a free day, so i may be able to work out some photos.

We love and miss you all. But we are having such a great time- and easy so far.

Jason & Alex.