Tenley Meets Grandpa Duke and Great-great Aunty Violet

Today we packed up and headed east to Palm Springs so Tenley could meet Grandpa Duke and Great-great Aunty Violet.

It only takes about 45 minutes to get from our house to my Dad’s, and although she was due for a nap, Tenley decided not to nod off until we were on Palm Canyon Drive and were about 5 minutes away. Fortunately she wakes up pretty well, so there was no bitterness when we disturbed her. Actually, she probably thought we had gone back to China because it was well over 100 degrees today and the humidity was really high for the normally arid lower desert.

Dad & I are both cold blooded and reptile like so his house is always fairly warm which caused Jeff to break out in an immediate sweat but didn’t really bother me and certainly didn’t bother Tenley who only saw miles of unexplored carpet to crawl on and a doggy to chase.

We all sat on the floor and watched Tenley mangle the vertical blinds and crawl after Grandpa Duke’s Dachshund Heidi who really wanted to sniff and lick her but was startled by Ten’s loud noises and quick movements. After my Dad marveled at how long and skinny she was and how fast she scoots & crawls we all packed up and headed to the Senior Home my Great-great Aunty Violet lives in.

Aunty Vi is 94 and looks pretty darn good, and still has most of her faculties on most days. She’s been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first Great Grand-Daughter in the family, and when she called my Dad this morning and he told her she would see the baby today, she thought he was just pulling her leg. So she was overjoyed when we actually showed up with Tenley, and kept saying over and over how beautiful and smart she was. The only thing that was disappointing to her was that some of her friends were out to lunch (literally) and would miss seeing her. (There was one nice gentleman who was out to lunch in the figurative sense, as he cheerfully remarked “Oh, a puppy!” upon seeing Tenley crawling on the floor.) Tenley met several of the Seniors that Aunty Violet lives with and their visiting families, and particularly liked one gentleman who is the stereo typical image of a grandfather. After a couple hours we kissed Aunty Violet good bye and promised to send pictures and bring Tenley back soon.

We headed out to lunch, and then took Grandpa Duke back to his house, where he presented us with gifts for Tenley: a couple of gift certificates....and an iPod. Because that’s what every 10 month old needs- her very own iPod.

Priceless

"Hey look, I have baby Einstein hair!"

Beeps is tired of chasing the feather so Tenley decides it's time to chew on the other end.

"The cats climb on the suitcases, why can't I?"

"You wipe my butt with these things??"

Cat toy or Tenley toy? Neither one can seem to figure it out!

Motherhood 101

No one ever said becoming a Mother was easy, and I had no delusions that it would be. But I have to say that adopting Tenley may well be the hardest thing I have ever done. I don’t mean the actual adoption- that was easy. I’m talking about the process by which my life has become a hostage to a 27 inch terrorist.

The good news about giving birth is that you know this person from the moment that they arrive on the planet and you have some clues about the gene pool in which they are swimming. They also begin their quest for domination with these cute little “wahh” cries and spend their days eating and sleeping. This is not to say that biological Mothers have it any easier, they just get a longer transition period.

The bad news about adoption is that you’ve been handed a small person who has already discovered that they have lungs, and has already begun to develop a personality which you had not a cotton pickin’ thing to do with. They also have definite needs and wants, but no good way of expressing them except by blood curdling scream.

The other half of this equation is, of course, the Mother. For some people, like my childhood friend Lauren, I imagine Motherhood came pretty easily since she contributed substantially to the rearing of her 4 younger brothers. I, on the other hand, feel like I’m in the trash compactor from Star Wars. Being a Mom just does not come easily for me. I’m an only child, so I never dealt with babies or younger siblings, all the children I ever baby sat were at least potty trained, and I’ve spent the last 13 years answering only to myself and pretty much coming & going and doing as I pleased. So a complete loss of freedom and enslavement to a creature I have no experience with and feared for years is a very abrupt change. One which I have moments of anger and resentment over, and then guilt for feeling angry and resentful. This is not to say that I didn’t ask for this, but there’s no good way to prepare for the violent upheaval of your life that a child brings.

Then there’s Tenley. There are moments when I have suspicioned that she may be a minion of the Dark Lord, but I’ll get back to you when I find out. The truth is that Ten is not a bad child, or even a difficult child, but she is a challenging kid. I had hoped for a sweet docile baby, and I got the ever-busy iron-willed Warrior Princess. She knows what she wants, and has no qualms about letting you know of her displeasure when she doesn’t get it. Her temper is quick, and she has the ability to rage for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, at 10 months Tenley has no language skills yet (probably due to the fact that she heard Cantonese for the first 9 months of her life, and now hears only English) or any reasoning skills yet; so despite the fact that you patiently explain to her that Mommy has to do dishes because she has no more clean bottles and that we can play after the dishes are done, she does not sit and quietly babble and play with her toys, instead she screams this deep guttural roar that sounds like a pissed off baby lion. The roar increases in volume the longer you refuse to acquiesce, and becomes punctuated by deep gasps of breath intake and sobs until she is dripping with sweat and choking. This cycle only stops for feeding, napping, and if you are playing with her. I would guess that this desperate need for attention comes directly from a lack of attention in her orphanage – she’s afraid that if you stop paying attention to her, you might never pay attention to her again.

On the upside, Tenley is funny as heck. She has a great smile, and a very cute giggle. After 4 weeks, she has decided that Jeff and I are important: she always looks to see where we are, and there are moments when nothing will do but that one of us holds her. We’re dealing with her tantrums and crazy behaviors better now too, because she’s started sleeping through the night – which means that we are now getting 6-10 hours of uninterrupted rest. She’s been eating cereal for the last 3 weeks, and she’ll start baby food next week – this means that she’s gained some much needed weight and I think she’s gotten taller too. Happily for us she loves the water – both the bath and the pool are favorites of hers, and the bonus is that splashing in the pool for a couple hours wears her out.

While her moods and neediness are ever changing, and her frequent angry screaming fits try my nerves, I know it will get better...and the truth is that I love her dearly and wouldn’t trade her for all the world.

On The Sleep Front...

Here is Tenley having a nap. This is when she is at her cutest. She has her thumb and her lovey and is peaceful. She is currently sleeping through the night without needing a middle of the night feeding. She does wake up pretty early for a bottle but for the past couple of days has gone back to sleep for another 3-4 hours. Last night she woke up screaming and I went in to see what the problem was. I picked her up and she stopped screaming right away. Then she laid her head on my shoulder and went back to sleep. What a fabulous feeling that is. I have forgotten how calming that feeling is. Having the weight of a baby and the warmth against you is the best feeling. Throw in the occassional squeeze of your shoulder by her little hands and there is no better feeling in the world. So back to sleep she went and after a few minutes of holding her I put her down in her crib and she slept the rest of the night. Hope this continues!

1st Family Gathering

Our family loves to get together and sit around eating and talking. We'll use almost any excuse. So this last week, Auntie Meg rounded up the family and had everyone over for a BBQ to celebrate: the birth of Sarah (July 4), Mary's pregnancy (due Jan), Kristy's pregnancy (due March), Vikki & Kipp's purchase of a new house, and the arrival of our Little Empress.

Tenley finally met all the menbers of our extended family that have been anxiously awaiting her arrival for the last year. She got passed around from person to person, and while she was rather stoic to most everyone, she did have big smiles for Aunties Meg & Lisa whom she's already seen & spent some time with. She cheerfully chased Meg's dog Reveille and scooted all over the floor (which eventually turned the front of the cute dress Meg had bought for her quite gray). She ate, took 2 naps, and did really really well considering all the new people and noise.

And then we went home. She ate, had a bath, and then had a 2 hour screaming meltdown. She was so tired, but so wound up and over excited. She refused to be comforted. We thought it might be her teeth, so we gave her some ibuprofin- but it didn't help. We tried a small 4oz bottle, which she ate...and then resumed screaming. Finally, at 11:00 at night we loaded her into the car and drove around town in our pajamas listening to Journey until there was silence from the back seat. We went home around 12:15 and carefully moved the sleeping monkey to her crib, where she mercifully slept until 7:00 am the next morning. And so did we.

Climbing Monkey

Here the camera captures the elusive dad climbing monkey as she attempts to scale dad's chest on her way to drool on his head.

Climb on Dad Part II

Dad or Jungle Gym?

Like most kids, Tenley doesn't like to be in her pen by herself. Even though she has all the toys on the planet she would rather have dad to climb all over. People spend so much money on backyard play equipment when all they really have to do is lay on the floor.

Out of The Frying Pan...

...And into the pool. It was over 100 degrees again in Riverside so Tenley decided to kick back in the pool at Grandma Susie's house. Mommy respectfully declined to be in the picture. The bigger pool is not really Tenley's favorite as all she really wants to do is crawl around in it. We are getting her a smaller kiddie pool so she can crawl around and splash to her heart's desire.

Geek Squad

Auntie Megan got a new computer. Daddy was going to set it up for her but I decided I wanted to help. If I could just stand up a little more I could knock this thing over and chew on it.

Hey Kitty, Play With Me!

Here Tenley enjoys some quality play time with Fred at Auntie Megan's house. Tenley learned very quickly how to swing the feather to make the cats run around like crazy.

Camera Hog

"Oh, oh..hey Mom, take a picture of me!"

Friends

"What are you lookin' at?"

Welcome Home Amanda

On Sunday we made the 84 mile trek to Northridge to see our new friends from Group 104 at their 2nd daughter’s Welcome Home party. Scott & Gaynor already have 1 precious daughter, Lauren, and they traveled with us to bring home her sister Amanda.

Tenley’s 1st playdate was with Amanda while we were in China, and she was the first baby Tenley evidenced any interest in. Amanda is a much sweeter soul who has little interest in sitting up, and none in crawling since she can roll anywhere she’d like to be. Unfortunately for her, Tenley is like a baby bulldozer and has this tendency to plow over Amanda and anyone else (including us) who might be in her path. Gaynor refers to her as “Tenley: Warrior Princess”- which is oh so appropriate, and I’m only sorry I didn’t think of it first!

Scott & Gaynor have a great house up on a hill in a gated “stepford community” that has a design reminiscent of what was being built in No. Kansas City in late 1996- which I loved for it’s open feeling and yet still compartmentalized rooms. Tenley loved the plush carpet in the den which she could run her fingers in, I envied the kitchen, and Jeff was trying to figure out if he could sneak the baby grand piano out the door and tow it home behind the Accord. We had a fabulous spread from a nearby deli, and Gaynor made brownies and a yummy coffee cake for dessert.

The best part was meeting Scott & Gaynor’s great families, and seeing the babies together again at home. Joe & Sue who were also in 104 came and brought their 2 beautiful older daughters and their new sister Katie. It was so interesting to see the girls together and see all the things about them that were so alike ...and all the things that were so different. I look at Lauren and wonder what they’ll all be like in 3 years- and I hope we’re all still together so I can find out.

Grandma Susie Shoots and Scores!

As you have seen by the pictures, the ever on-the-go Tenley has started pulling herself up to a standing position. She actually started this a few days ago when I was doing baby sit-ups with her, but instead of happily attaining a sitting position and then being lowered to the start position, she began doing roll ups like we did in dance class until she was standing. Then she started trying to haul herself up using the side of the couch. Then the coffee table, which is when we decided to put her back in baby jail because Ten is great a conking her head on things anyway, and we saw the un-bumpered coffee table as a 17 stitches disaster waiting to happen. However, she quickly discovered that the play yard is perfect for getting to a standing position because it’s very design gives her nifty handholds (I only hope it takes her awhile to figure out they could be used as foot holds as well). Anyone holding Tenley has also discovered that their primary attraction for the little monkey is to be used as a ladder. Once she has convinced the holder to assist her to the standing position, she begins to bounce and boogie until your thighs are black and blue.

It was for this very reason that Grandma Susie’s eyes lit up when she saw the Jump-A-Roo. Unlike the old Johnny Jump-Ups that attached to doorframes and caused children endure a variety of injuries as they bounced off the door frame like a pinball, the Jump-A-Roo is a free standing gadget with a seat and covered springs that allows little bounders to jump until their heart is content without the fear of a concussion as the door molding crashes down on their head. Given Tenley’s desire to stand and get her groove on, Grandma Susie rushed out and purchased one and brought it over.

Jeff accomplished the set-up, and when our little monkey awoke from her nap, we plunked her in it. We lowered it so her little feet could touch the ground, and she was happy to be in a supported standing position. She checked out the toys attached to the seat frame, but then seemed at a loss. So, I grabbed the sides of the seat frame and gently bounced her a few times. She got it....and then spent the next 30 minutes happily bouncing on her own. The only time she stopped was when she was stunned by the pretty lights on the detachable play tray, and when she accidentally bonked her head on the kangaroo on said tray.

With a little luck, the Jump-A-Roo will keep Tenley entertained long enough for Mommy to wash her bottles, and she’ll never know that her little legs & ab muscles are getting a workout that any supermodel would envy.

Feat of the Feet

Tenley's newest feat is to stand on her...well, feet. She just loves to grab onto the sides of her playpen and pull herself up. The problem here is that babies learn to stand but cannot sit down yet so they don't know what to do. Tenley knows, she screams. You either have to pick her up or help her sit down so she can do the whole thing all over again. This child is dying to walk. She still doesn't crawl properly but is almost there. I imagine that the leap from crawl to walk will be a very short one. And then this very active and curious child will be mobile. God help us!

After a hard couple of hours being adored by everyone in the office it was time for a nap. It's nice work if you can get it!

This is Your Desk??

Tenley takes over my desk and makes off with my red pen.

Tenley Goes To Work

Today I took Tenley to work with me to meet all of my coworkers. They have all been following the blog and were very excited to meet her in person finally. Tenley did not disappoint anyone as she was happy and bubbly and babbled at everyone.

It's 2 am...Do You Know Where Your Child Is?

We do.
She's in her play area babbling contentedly at the cats and banging her keys against the floor.
That's where she's been since 12:30.
Again.

I had hoped a nice visit playing with Auntie Meg would wear her out, and it did... for 45 minutes. However, if she follows last night's pattern she'll go to sleep somewhere around 3, and not wake up until after 9 am. Which at least enables one of us to get 6 hours of sleep in a row.

The really funny thing about this is that just 2 months ago, I routinely stayed up until 2 or 3 and then didn't wake up until after nine, and I wasn't tired at all!! Maybe that's because my days consisted of leisurely running a few errands, painting the Disney Princesses on Tenley's closet and then having a nice little snooze until Jeff got home around 6ish and we began the "what do you want for dinner?" negotiations. Now my days involve trying to find activities to entertain someone barely 2 feet tall and with a vocabulary consisting only of grunts. At 10 months she doesn't have a long attention span; so my limited repertoire of peek-a-boo, itsy-bitsy-spider, patty cake and this little piggy is going to have to grow. My only respite comes when Sesame Street is on because like all children, she is riveted by Elmo. When she takes her minimal naps I load bottles, boil water to have on hand for bottles, and do dishes. If I'm lucky I can squeeze in an e-mail... generally to another more experienced parent for suggestions of other activities or advice on how to get her on a decent schedule. By the time she's finally in bed I no longer have the energy to paint my toes, download music, watch "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" or whatever it was I used to do until 3.

Well, I've now used up my 15 minutes of Tenley entertaining herself, so It's time for me to climb back into her corral and begin banging stacking cups together until it bores her to sleep. Then maybe I can sleep. I hope.

Aunt Megan Visits

Aunt Megan came home from a trip today and drove right to our house to meet Tenley. Tenley was very happy to meet her and was more than happy to try to take her sunglasses, earrings and necklace. Aunt Megan was very happy to jump into the pen with Tenley and play for quite a while.

Chinese Italian American

Aunt Meg came over and we put the family motto, "I Could Eat", to good use. This was Tenley's first trip to Joe's our favorite Italian place. Tenley dined on a small amount of rice cereal while we all had pasta. She quite enjoyed her time at Joe's and I'm sure we will have many other dinners there.

Cage Intruder

Not one to be left out of things, Beeps the cat moved right in to Tenley's playpen enclosure. There was a nice quilt on the floor so she could recline and have a quick bath. Tenley doesn't mind sharing her enclosure in fact she quite enjoys the company.

A caged and tired little monkey known as Tenley peers out of her entrapment and wonders "if I make cute faces at them will they let me out?"

The SuperYard turns out to be a Super purchase. It creates a nice environment for Tenley to play in and allows the cats to stick their paws through the holes and grab Tenley's toys. She doesn't appreciate that much. We're thinking of having a sign made that says "Don't Feed the Monkey"

Cat Toy / Baby Toy

Tenley has the Fisher-Price stacking rings that go on the post like most of us had as kids. She can't seem to figure out how to put those rings on that post but she figured out right quick if she swings this feather around, Beeps will chase it around and make Tenley giggle.

Here Tenley is holding the offending feather as Beeps looks down from above ready to pounce at any moment.

Whoa, formula rush!

Arrival Part 2

Here is Tenley meeting her Grandma Susie

Here is Tenley and her Grandpa Dave and Aunt Beth.

Here is Grandpa trying to get his sunglasses back from Tenley.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled blog of Taming Tenley.

Arriving At LAX

It was pointed out that there were no pictures of us arriving at LAX on Saturday. Just for clarification, due to the nature of our look there will still be no pictures of us arriving at LAX. Here are a few pictures of Tenley meeting some family members.

Here is Tenley and her Grandma Barbara and her Great-Grandpa Bob

This is Tenley meeting her Grandma Barbara and her Great-Grandmother Loveta.

Still Searching

It's now 2am and Tenley is still operating under the assumption that she is still in China. After what would have been a very healthy 3 hour nap she is up to play for the rest of her day. Still searching for that elusive California Time and the ever elusive sleep.

Defending Your Dinner

In our house there are three cats and two servants. Now that the little empress of China has moved in, the cats adopted her as royalty and now there are three cats, the little empress and two servants. The oldest cat, Smudge, only cares for chicken or turkey but little else in the people food arena. The middle cat, Hobie, doesn't care for people food at all. The youngest cat, Beeps, thinks she is a seagull. This cat will eat anything, preferably off of your plate. So we always call it "Defending Your Dinner." Beeps will climb up to where you are eating and paw at your fork, spoon or plate in an effort to get what she wants.

Tonight, as you can see in the picture, Tenley got to play her first round of Defending Your Dinner. Although it was a bottle with formula in it, Beeps saw no reason that she shouldn't be allowed to share some of that. She perched right on the side of the crib and occassionally stuck out the paw of death to make a grab for the bottle. At one point she stood on my hand and tried to come over to Tenley for a more direct assault.

It will be a more interesting game once Tenley is eating solid food. Until then, I think Tenley has the upper hand in this round.

Bath Time

Today after a nice breakfast, Tenley slept for 4 hours. Michelle took this opportunity to have a nap herself. I was passed the tired point and could not sleep even when I tried. So when Tenley awoke I was there to change her and feed her so she could start playing again. After Michelle got up we took a nice walk outside in the sunshine so our bodies could get used to the fact that it was daytime and not nighttime.

After a quick trip to Target, in an effort to keep Tenley awake, we came home to bath time. Tenley loves the bath although because she cannot sit up perfectly yet she can't splash as much as she would like. So we brought out the bath duck. This was the perfect size for little bodies that need to be cleaned and like to splash. She immediately felt more comfortable and splashed so much that daddy had a bath too!

Bath time over, it was time for dinner and sleeping. We'll see if she makes it through the night or not. The search for sleep continues.

Breakfast at Rubys

Today Mommy & Daddy took me to my first breakfast at Ruby's. It was very cold inside but the silverware was fun to throw on the ground. I met a nice waitress named Keleigh. She took this picture of my family. Now that breakfast is over maybe I should let Mommy and Daddy sleep a little. Nah!!

Sleep? Who Needs Sleep!

Our first night home was indeed a long one. Tenley fell asleep around 11pm and we finished up a few things and hit the bed at midnight. 2:30am on the dot that kid was up and ready to go. She showed no signs of sleep and had an absolute fit of the screaming variety if you tried to get her to sleep. At one point, I think around 5am, she was just asleep and I rocked her for a few more minutes before setting her in her crib. The second her head hit the mattress she started screaming again. Finally Michelle and I decided we were up and we would just wait to see when little miss busy pants would hit the wall and crash hard. Little did we know what we were up against.

Everything is so new she just doesn't want to miss anything. She was so tired that she would just sit glassy eyed and stare off into space. If you even tried to hold her or make like you were going to lay her down she would start screaming again. Then she was off playing again. Food didn't help it only seemed to fuel her for another few hours.

Finally around 7am we decided since we were up we would go to breakfast. Tenley fell asleep in the car on the way there but stayed awake through our breakfast and even ate some rice cereal. On the way home, after a little protest about being in the carseat, she fell asleep again. This time it seemed like she was out for good. I carried her in the house and put her in the crib and apart from a few moments of stiring, she is still out. We will see how long this lasts.

WE ARE HOME!!!!

We are home! What an interesting journey it was too. 45 mins of making friends with all the surrounding passengers by screaming before the plane ever took off, then the Benadryl kicked in and she was out. 8 hours later she awoke, had a bottle and looked to be wide awake for the rest of the flight. Great. But then while playing on the floor she dropped back off to sleep for another 3 hours. That was great. Then woke up about an hour and a half before the flight ended and then fell asleep again as we landed. Strange trip. Everyone was very nice about it and no one complained.

We had family meet us at the airport where Tenley met her Grandparents and Great Grandparents. Then it was off on the long drive from LAX to Riverside. One thing though, Tenley had never been strapped into a carseat before. This was going to be fun. Naturally about 10 mins into the drive she registered her complaints. This was followed by sleeping for most of the way home. She woke up in the terrible traffic of the 91 Freeway and pretty much let us know about her displeasure the rest of the way home.

Home. What a fabulous place. Who would have thought that 3 weeks could seem like 3 years. Tenley took to her new environment with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. There was carpet to scoot all over, tile to feel and cats to chase. As far as we know Tenley has never seen any animals before but she seems enthralled by the cats. They move independently and make sounds. They are the best toys she has ever seen. For their part, the cats are very tolerant of Tenley so far. We are watching the progress closely. The best part is when one of the cats lays down on the floor and Tenley spots them. Off she goes in her fastest scoot to grab a tail or to just stare them down. It is hysterical. I foresee many funny posts about cats and Tenley in the coming months.

So the Quest For Tenley is over. A few minor paperwork items are left but the quest itself is at an end. What now you ask, The Taming of Tenley! Check back as we will be blogging daily about the antics of our precious daughter and her unshakeable will of iron. Stay tuned!

Slippers Are Fun Too!

After a good night's sleep, a bottle, bath and new outfit, Tenley was ready to tackle her day. That of course began with playing with the hotel slippers. We went down and had some breakfast and now we are getting ready to check out and go to the airport for the long journey home. Next Stop America!!

Asleep

The plan worked and the little monkey was out cold. Now to just move her into the crib.

Kickin' Back

After some dinner and play time, Tenley and Daddy kick back on the floor of the hotel room in hopes that someone will become sleepy. No it's not daddy!

Hong Kong At Last

We have fled Guangzhou and arrived in Hong Kong at last. Our train trip down was very nice and uneventful although getting to the train station was quite the brouhaha. Our train was at 3:45 pm so we were told we should leave by 2:15pm. Our bad, we assumed we would have a car or bus so we were not concerned. Turns out that we were taking the China Hotel shuttle and it left exactly at 2:15pm while we were checking out. We jumped in a Taxi with Philip, one of the China Team members, and sped off to the train station...for exactly 30 seconds. That was when we hit Guangzhou traffic. Luckily Philip, being Chinese, was able to give play by play driving directions to the taxi driver. The drive there was slower than LA traffic on the 91 freeway.

We finally got to the station, hired a couple of on the spot porters for our massive amounts of luggage and ran for our train. The line for customs was huge and Philip and our on the spot porters were not allowed to go into that area because they had no tickets and no passports. That left Michelle and me to carry Tenley, two huge duffle bags, two rolling carry-on bags, our backpacks, the extra bag and the stroller through customs and to the train. What a mess.

We got through customs ok, and then on to the train waiting area. Once there we were told we could check our luggage so I went over to the check-in desk and was told to take my bags on the train. By the time I came back Shel had made friends with a nice lady from Hong Kong who offered to help us. She went to the desk and argued with the people there. As it turns out, we were too late to check our luggage. She still was very helpful and carried the stroller down the escalator to the train platform for us. We didn't get her name but she helped us out so much just with the stroller.

The train was very nice. We were in Premium class and it showed. Tenley was not too happy about having to sit down for the ride but had some toys to play with and did ok. She finally fell asleep with about an hour left to go. The train got to Hong Kong around 5:45pm and thank God, people here speak english. The taxi driver was exceptionally nice and got us to the hotel post haste. The staff at the hotel was fabulous and we were put into our suite where Tenley promptly christened the room by having 3 poopy diapers in the space of 15 mins. I think she had been saving up for a special occassion. The first even involved a wardrobe malfunction that caused a change of clothes. We know our friend Tina will feel our pain on that one.

After a little unpacking, room service was ordered and we are beat. We leave for the airport tomorrow afternoon and then on to LAX. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Box

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is The Box. Not quite as ominous as The Monolith from 2001, but should probably be said with the horror as The Blob. It looks innocent, right? Apparently not to the Chinese govenment. Here's the story:

When we got to Hong Kong the 1st time Jeff got a nice little cold. Which he shared with me. So by the time we got to Guangzhou, I was sick too. Sadly, I didn't pack too well in the drug department, and I had too little cold medicine for 2....and we were getting Tenley on Monday and we didn't want to share with her.

So I commandeerd Sarah on the China Team to take me to a pharmacy. This turned out to be a real pharmacy, so while I couldn't get Tylenol Cold or Robitussin, I did pick up a couple extra asthma inhalers and some Zithromax. I also got some Chinese cold capsules and some herbal cough medicine that came in these funny glass vials that you had to suck with a tiny straw. They helped a little, but it wasn't doing the trick. I was going to have to resort to desperate measures.
Knowing that California was 1 day behind us, and that Megan had a Fed Ex discount, I called Mom and asked her to hit the Sav-On and have Meg grab some of Ten's Link-A-Doos (which I forgot to pack) and ship the whole mess to us at the China Hotel! With one little caveat: you can not ship "medicine" to mainland China, so the contents of the box would have to be listed as something else. This is the point where the whole thing goes to hell.

The nice idiots at Fed Ex told Meg to list the medicine as "mineral products". This little care package weighed in at three pounds, so Meg wrote 3lb in the total weight, and guessed the value was about $18. Off it went!! Now, judging by the previous to packages we sent to China, it should have arrived on Thursday June 30, or Friday July 1st at the latest.

Except that the Chinese government guys can't read. Somehow they read Meg's "3lb" as 321lbs, which would be 146 Kilograms...and of course something that heavy couldn't be worth only $18. So the customs goons flagged down my box and sent me a 3 page fax (in Chinese) telling me that I needed to write down the contents of the box in Chinese, tell them what company I was with, what company the box was for, and re-valuate it. I was more than happy to do it, but I don't speak, read, or write Chinese.

This would now require the help of the China Team. First I tried to get Jackie (who is a Buisness English major) to help me out. That didn't go so well. So Jackie & Mary pawned my little problem off to Philip. Philip was helpful, but by now it was Saturday and there would be no one at Fed Ex until Monday. Philip finally got a letter written explaining that my little 6x8 box only weighed three pounds and contained cold medicine, baby toys and a personal letter. This was faxed on Tuesday. On Wednesday, my Fed Ex caseworker called Philip and said that the customs goons wanted to see copies of my prescriptions, or a note in Chinese from my doctor. Philip called her back and explained that these were not prescription drugs. That was ok, but now the customs goons wanted a letter listing the ingredients of each drug in the box in Chinese....sure, no problem...if Philip had nothing else to do, and if I knew exactly what was in the box!!!!! But I didn't send it!!!!! I eventually got online and found the ingredients to Halls coughdrops, Robitussin, and Chloraseptic...and somehow Philip figured out how to write dextromorthorphan in Chinese. Now, I called my case worker to impress upon her the urgency of a decision- it was already Thursday morning and we were leaving Friday afternoon, so if they couldn't get it to us by noon Friday, I wanted it returned to sender. At 5:18 on Thursday night, Philip found out that the customs goons had cleared my package and it would be delivered by 12 noon on Friday.

At 10:27am it arrived, and I sprinted downstairs to fetch my cold medicine, despite the fact that my cold was pretty well done days ago.

Farewell Dinner

Tonight was the farewell dinner at a local seafood restaurant. It was very nice and the food was pretty good. The babies were all dressed up and everyone was in a good mood. Probably because they are all going home tomorrow. Norman spoke for a bit and then the Martin and China team gave out gifts to all the babies. Dinner came next and was the usual BBQ Pork, Fish, Veggies, Goose, Jellyfish, Rice, Soup and these really yummy pastry things that you dipped into a creamy sweet sauce.

After dinner was mostly done, Martin and the team went around table by table for the Rice Wine toasting. After several shots of this stuff at each table Martin was sufficiently hammered. Then the singing began. Jimmy sang and really nice song for us, the China team sang a song and then Martin sang a song for us. One of the gentlemen on the trip with his family noted at this point "Great, I flew 10,000 miles to hear a drunk Chinese man sing a song." It was really funny.

At this point it was getting late for the kids and very, very loud in the room. A few families left to go back to the hotel to begin the long night of packing. The rest of the families stayed and I'm sure had a wonderful time at the farewell dinner.

Brothers and Sisters

These were all the kids on the trip. They are all now big brothers and big sisters!

Hunan Group

These are the families who adopted from Hunan.

Chengdu Group

These are the families who adopted from Chengdu including the "Pockers" who were all united with their families successfully.

Guangdong Group

These are all the families who adopted from the Yangxi SWI in the Guangdong Province.

Waiting for our photo

Here is Tenley waiting for our turn in the group photos today. It was hot. Africa hot! and the cute little outfit we had her in was not exactly weather friendly.

Benadryl Test Results

The Benadryl test was a rousing success. Tenley had a little at 7pm and by 8:30 was out cold. She slept almost a full 12 hours. We asked the pediatrician, Dr. Ng, about it and she said given Tenley's weight of 16 lbs. we could have given her more. Excellent news.

Bring on the flight home!

The Benadryl Test

We have a 13 hour plane ride looming in our future. We have a very squirmy little girl. This is not a good combination.

So, on the advice of no less than 2 pediatricians and leigions of adoptive moms, we have decided to see if we can dope our daughter up and induce sleep with Benadryl. However, you can't just dope them up blithely because while it has a sedative effect on most kids, there is that small percentage that it works on like little baby speed.

Therefore we have administered the Benadryl Test: Tenley woke from her nap just before 6. We gave her a very heavy bottle (which she sucked down 10oz of!)at about 6:15 to make a nice base for the medicine. At 7:15 we hit her with 1.25ml of "plesant tasting cherry" Benadryl, tossed her in the Bjorn, and headed out to the Park & Shop for another package of Pampers. She was looking pretty loopy at 7:45 as we waited for the subway back to the hotel. The eye rubbing and yawning started at 7:55 as we rode the escalator out of the subway station. Her eyes popped right back open at 8:00 when I tripped on a sidewalk tile sticking up and almost took a header. We got back to the room and tossed her on the bed to have her diaper changed and get into her pjs, and she was just laying there babbling and chewing on her hand. As usual, she protested her diaper and clothing change, but there was little fight in her. Then she happily rolled around on the bed babbling and giggling and chewing on my watch. At 8:00, I called and left a message for one of the other moms who has done this before to check her dosage and see if we didn't use enough. At 8:10, Jeff decided to begin the holding and rocking and I decided to hit the shower. The phone rang at 8:25 and Jeff popped into the bathroom to tell me to call my experienced mom back, and to tell me Tenley was out cold. Jeff moved her to her crib at 8:30 and she's still snoozing. Looks good!! Now we'll see if she sleeps all night.

Standby for final test results in the morning.

Meanwhile, Later in the Day...

All the toys on the planet and what does she want...the empty wipes bag. Go figure!

Tenley, the Yoga baby, does her best Downward Facing Dog move.

You can't be mad at me, I'm too cute for words!!

Uh oh. Caught with the Laundry.

This thing has strange skin. Maybe I can tear it off!

Contemplating the Laundry

Hmmmm. What could I do to this??

Salvation In the Paddy Field

No, it wasn't some Buddist revival in the countryside- it's an Irish Pub.

The group dinner was once again at Food Street, and we were just done with Chinese food and particularly with Food Street. Don't get me wrong, Food Street isn't serving anything horrible like the fried snake, but that would have been our fourth dinner there and the food is always the same. Which means there wasn't alot I was going to be into eating (it's amazing how excited I get over a bowl of steamed white rice), and last time the service was slower than molasses in winter. We decided to boycott!

I had heard tell of an Irish pub near the Garden Hotel and I had copied the directions from some wonderful fabulous person who has been through this before and was kind enough to share the information with unfortunate souls coming behind them. It was like telling Indiana Jones that you'd heard of a priceless artifact from a lost civilization. So we grabbed our fedoras, bullwhip, and baby and hopped a cab to the Garden Hotel. We followed the clues and found the North Tower exit and all but ran down the driveway to the street, toward the 7-11 at which we were to turn left. And sure enough, there just a half a block ahead on the right was The Paddy Field.
Inside was dark and quiet with lots of wood benches and low stools surrounding long tables. There were also tall tables, and some of those were old wood barrels. Another room had a small stage and dance floor, so live entertainment must occur. There were Guiness posters everywhere, and better yet- there was Guiness on tap! The only downside was that there was no highchair for Tenley, but having learned from the Farm Fiasco we had brought her stroller. There was, however, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Guniess & beef pie, rack of roast lamb, potato skins, stew, soft rolls, pasta...it was the Holy Grail. Jeff chose the Cordon Bleu, and I opted for chicken stuffed with a cheese mixture and roasted in a mushroom sauce since they were out of the chicken and mushroom pie. Both entrees came with mashed potatos and gravy and soft rolls. Mmmmmmm.

Neither of us could actually finish our entrees because we haven't had rich food like this in almost 3 weeks. The food was suprisingly good, and even if it had been the worst Irish food on the planet I think at that moment it would have been better than the best Chinese food in the galaxy.

Some Dis-Enchanted Evening

About the farm...

Jeff was the one blogging in his heat blinded anger last night, so I felt that perhaps I should give you all more information about our dis-enchanted evening.

The farm is about an hour from Gunagzhou, and while I think the temperature is a little cooler the humidity is still very very high. The first thing we saw upon entering was a wide open space with a windmill of sorts and a small flock of Guinea Fowl trotting around. They have lovely plumage- dark gray with white speckles and the make a soothing cooing noise like a dove. I took Tenley over and showed them to her and then explained the various methods for roasting Guinea Fowl and the traditional sauces and side dishes with which they are served. Chris remarked that I might not be in the proper agrarian spirit.

Then we were treated to the duck and pig diving races/ show. First, a Chinese man with a bull horn attempted to whip our crowd into an excited frenzy, and possibly solicit bets, but we have no way of knowing because he was speaking Chinese. We were dazed and unmoved. Then he went and tapped on a large box and there was alot of quacking to be heard. Then this small flock of ducks toddled up a steep ramp until one of them took flight and landed happily in the water below. He was the winner. His friends decided it was a good idea, and then they all jumped in, got themselves thoroughly moistened, and paddled to shore where they waddled back to their box and their naps. Then another larger box was tapped and the next thing we knew there was a clacking of hooves and squeeling as the herd of small farm pigs headed cheefully up the ramp and then came to a screeching halt at the precipice and tried to back up only to find a solid wall of bamboo and other pigs behind them. Finally one of the pigs in the back, mistakenly thinking there was food involved, climbed over his buddies and fell head first into the water. He was none too happy about it.The nice Chinese man with the bull horn declared him the winner and then pushed the rest of the herd in. Thus ended the "show". Then it was time for the cock fight.

Yes, you read that correctly: cock fight. Yep, the kind where 2 of Colonel Sander's finest kick and peck to the death. I refused. I personally think cock fighting is cruel and disgusting and I was not going to be party to it or subject my 9 month old (who would have no idea what was going on) to such a spectacle. (*Note: Jeff who did watch informs me that they don't fight to the death here, and they only allow the birds to kick. Whatever) I did take her over to view the future combatants still in their coops; but we stayed outside of the cock fighting area and saw the ponies, avoided the biting ostrich, and met a sweet cow. The cow was my favourite part of the whole farm. We walked over and found her standing in her water trough, and when I cheerfully said "hi cow!" she mooed and lumbered right over to the fence. It's quite hard to pet the animals because the "corrals" are made of rough hewn wood that is strapped together and more closely resembles a cavalry fort that an corral. But, I found a wider than avarage opening to get my hand in and help Tenly pet her head and her rough nose, and then I lingered for a moment to scratch behind her ears and rub her muzzle.

We then wandered down a brick path past mini fields of crops grown in China which were also the front yard of guest houses, so apparently you can stay on the farm. Then we got to the part that as a new parent, horrified me. The "Water Paradise". It was this really fun looking obstacle course where children could climb ropes, go hand over hand, swing across gaps, etc....built over a rice paddy. So if you fall off, you fall in the rice paddy. In theroy, this sounds great, but God only knows what is in that water (besides the rice plants)!! I said the only way my kid would do it was if Dr. Ng was standing by with a hypodermic loaded with an amoxicillin/zithromax cocktail in case she hit the water. Water Paradise...I think the water might send you to paradise.

Eventually we made it to the restaurant which was a round room with windows built over this small lake. Sort-of scenic, but the room was hot and stuffy as the sun was still streaming in the windows (no shades or drapes) and the air conditioners hadn't been turned on prior to our arrival. They also had no highchairs. Dinner was pretty tasty, but it was a good thing Tenley was drained and that Jeff eats well with chopsticks. We finished dinner around 7:15. The acrobatic show was beginning at 7:30 and we were informed that we would leave in the middle at 8:30.
The acrobatic show involved various kids and adults forming human pyramids, spinning giant flower pots on their feet, juggling from a swining trapeze, and the requisite magican. Somewhere after the female emcee finished her second ballad (which she tossed glow sticks into the audience for us to wave in the air and sway with like people did with lighters in the 70's & 80's), we finally got the signal and we left.

The things that made it horrible were:

1. The oppressive humidity, and the bugs.
2. 6-14 month olds don't care. ...and neither did their non-Chinese speaking parents.
3. Most of our kids go to bed somewhere between 7-8pm, so not leaving our outing until 8:30 was not the best plan.

The things which made it Jeff & I's private hell were some classic new parent blunders, and sheer bad luck and stupidity:

1. The opressive humidity, coupled with the fact that Jeff lives in his own personal summer anyway.
2. Tenley apparently also lives in that same summer, and is hot and sweats profusely.
3. Jeff felt that bringing the stroller might be a mistake because who knew the terrain? Turns out that NOT bringing the stroller was a huge mistake. Tenley and I were both soaked and limp after I carried her in the Bjorn for an hour and a half.
4. Nobody- me, Jeff, or Tenley- had a nap. Tenley had nodded off for an hour in her stroller at Shaiman Island, and had been asleep for 20 minutes when we had to get ready to leave. We managed to change her and creep from the room, but she woke up still tired and cranky when we hit the lobby. She cried the entire way to the farm. She settled down in the Bjorn. She was stunned all through dinner. She was bitter during the show because she wanted to get down and crawl and lick the filthy disgusting moldy ground and we wouldn't let her. And she screamed half way home, and then nodded off but woke right up in the lobby. We gave her a bath, and then she screamed in anger for the next hour until she finally wore herself out and went to sleep.

All in all- it sucked. I would not recommend that future adoptive parents join the group on this one unless it's April or October and you woun't die of heat and humidity, and unless your kids have had a really good nap or you've doped them with Benadryl. But if you do go, kiss the cow for me.

Smiley Girl

Just another cute photo of Tenley having a good time with mom.

Paperwork Meeting

Today was the great paperwork meeting where one member of each family meets to fill out the papers for the US Consulate. For our China adoption the paperwork was fairly straight forward: a couple of signatures, fill out your names, etc. Then everything is final and Tenley is ours.

Then there is the US Gov't. Fill out the baby's name, fill out your name, sign here, sign there, put down your address here in China, put down your address at home and then do it all again and again on 7 redundant forms. Gotta the love the good of US Gov't. What a bunch of morons.

I wrote the same info down so many times and in so many different ways that I might have just applied for a no interest loan in my daughter's name and not even known it. It was crazy. The best part about it was that Norman sits right at the front of the room and tells you line by line exactly what to write. I'm sure I could have figured it out on my own but it helped to have someone telling me what to write and where.

While I was doing the paperwork, Michelle and Tenley went to our friend Gaynor's room and had a play date with Gaynor, her 3 yr old Lauren and their newly adopted daughter Amanda. Tenley took to Amanda right away and they smiled at each other and touched hands and spoke their funny little baby language. Michelle was very grateful to Gaynor for the invite.

After the paperwork meeting Scott, Gaynor's husband, and I joined the ladies and the kiddos and had lunch delivered by Danny's Bagel (the saving grace of Guangzhou). It was great. We ate food and our girls rolled around on the floor and played. Soon it was time for Tenley's nap so we left Scott and Gaynor to enjoy the rest of their day.

After a quick check of the paperwork later this afternoon, we are going to have dinner at an irish pub here in Guangzhou. We'll let you know how it is.

Tenley's friend Ivy doesn't look too thrilled about the so called "Farm" either.

"Why am I here and not at the hotel having a nap?" "You people are stupid!"

Stupid Farm

Tonight we went to a farm in another town. This was quite possibly the worst thing we could have done. Tenley had absolutely no nap today and was already so tired she was cranky. This farm is anything but appropriate for these kids. We were there for hours. There was nothing to do and then there was dinner. Which was really good. We should have left after dinner but no we had to stay and watch a semi-acrobatic show. It was strange but again, totally inappropriate for babies.

On this tourist trap farm there were some animals. Some ducks, ponies, cows and chickens. There were plants. All kinds. Tenley met a nice cow and she got to pet his nose. This was followed a healthy dose of Purel to clean her hands. We saw the strangest little show ever...Diving Pigs. The pigs were pushed up a ramp and then forced to jump about 6 ft. down into a pool. They probably liked it because once again it was like 1200 degrees outside at 5pm. One of our group noted that there is a fine line between pig jumping and pig tossing. That line was almost crossed.

We didn't get back to the hotel until well after 10pm and having no sleep during the day and just a very, very short nap on the ride back to the hotel Tenley had a monster of a meltdown. I'm sure people 10 miles away were waking up going "What is that noise?"

The whole thing was a waste of time for the babies. I understand why we go to these things as it gives us something to do other than sitting around the hotel. Which, by the way, we will be doing for the rest of our eternity here in the hottest place on earth.

Medical Exam

Tenley's Med Exam went really well. Other kids were screaming but Tenley just took it all in stride. Of course no one tried to poke her or draw blood. We'll save that fun for when we get home. She currently weighs in at 16 lbs and is 27.7 inches long. She is healthy and active. Very active.

After the Med portion of our day we went shopping again on Shamian Island. Tonight we are going to a farm and to see an Acrobatics show. Should be fun!

Last was this guy with really weird ear things. I think I'll grab them and stick them in my mouth!

"oh great, now she is shining a light in my eyes." "When will these people stop bugging me?"

Next up was ears, eyes and throat. "Who is this alien and why is she looking at me?"

"Look, I weigh 16 lbs, I'm a big girl now"

First up was Weight and Measurement. This nice lady looks friendly enough!

Today Tenley had to go for her Medical Exam before getting a visa to enter the United States. Here she is lounging in her stroller waiting her turn. None too sure about the screaming sounds coming out of the other rooms.

While waiting for the doctor Tenley decided it was lunchtime. She is a very healthy eater. Healthly enough for say a large horse!

Rats, distracted by bubbles.

Look Dad, I'm getting into the drawers.

Look drawers. Today I am definitely getting into these.

Look, I'm Cute

"Fine! If you're going to point that thing at me then I'll just lay here and be cute."

Ready For My Close-Up Mr. De Mille

"I'm coming to chew on your camera and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Balloon Girl

Tenley enjoyed the party. Especially the balloons which she found she can almost get in her mouth to gnaw on. She also likes to flick it with her fingernails. One day she will flick too hard and POP!

Sophie Lu

Our friends Shana and Micheal flew to Chengdu to adopt this little cutie pie...Miss Sophie Lu Rosengarten.

Drinks Anyone?

Norman puts on the hat and apron for this party and is the bartender/host. He seems to enjoy this party more than others.

Pizza Party

This is the Pizza/Reunion Party that USAA throws every trip. Today was the first day back for the groups that went to other provinces and so Norman always has a pizza party. There were pictures all over the walls of the rooms that show all the groups that Norman has worked with over the years. For those who are back for their second or third child it is a chance to look on the wall and see themselves and their kids from a couple of years ago. By Norman's next trip with Group 105 our picture will be up on the wall. Hopefully we'll get to see ourselves in a few years when we come back to China for Tenley's sister.

Hello Binky

By the time we got back from the Temple and shopping Tenley had been overstimulated and missed her normal nap time. This resulted in screaming and sobbing which daddy fixed by starting a bad habit. The Binky!

Everyone Say Cheese

This is everyone in the group that came to the temple for the blessing. The other half of the group will be coming behind us by an hour because they got in very late last night from Chengdu. We will meet everyone tonight at the Reunion Pizza Party!

As usual, we are somewhere of some importance or cultural significance and Tenley sleeps through it!

This is the tower that was built over the bones of Buddha. It is 9 stories tall and is said to have 1,000 images of Buddha in it.

Blessing Today

Today we took the babies to the Temple of the Six Banyon Trees to be blessed. The temple area had several buildings and one of them was a tower that was 61 meters tall. It is said that some of the bones of Budha are buried under this tower.

This was an interesting place. There were lots of statues and nice gardens to look at. The babies of course didn't care and Tenley slept through almost all of the temple. She was awake for the blessing and decided that was the time she was going to tell us that she was hungry. After the blessing, we all posed for a picture in front of the Quan Yin statue - the giver of children. Tenley was unimpressed by any of it so we went outside to have some liquid lunch.

Two Good Looking Babies

Hey Baby!

Preceding the nap this afternoon was Tenley's first accident that caused many tears. Michelle was on the phone getting a message, Tenley was on the bed playing with her toys and I was standing around. I walked into the bathroom to blow my nose when all of a sudden I heard this loud thud. I came back into the room and Tenley was in a heap on the floor. The side of the bed proved too much for her and over she went. Landed smack on her head. Needless to say there were many, many tears. All of this was way too much for her and she fell asleep crying in my arms. When the nap was over all was well and forgiven. Happy baby returned.

After a trip to the pool we decided to take a quick trip on the Guangzhou Metro two stops up to a store that we have been told about. The subway and the two stops were the easy part. Finding the store when we got there was another thing altogether. We asked a policeman who didn't know and he directed us to subway employees who also didn't now. Of course none of them spoke or understood english so it was pretty funny.

We eventually found our way into this really weird underground shopping mall with a cave motif. I used to think the Japanese were strange but this is really weird. We followed it around looking at all the stuff for sale when we ran into the store we were looking for. It is sort of a cross between a grocery store and a smallish Target. We looked through the store and picked out a few things we wanted to buy. As always, two white people with a Chinese baby attract a lot of attention. Other mother's come up and introduce us to their babies and they like to touch the baby's hands together. I was beginning to wonder if we were being set up for an arranged marriage or something.

We finally left the store and found our way back to the hotel. It was getting rainy outside so it was good we were in for the night. When we got back it was time for Tenley's bottle. After her dinner she was scooting around on the floor looking for things to put in her mouth as usual. She heard Michelle in the bathroom so off she went that way. As she passed the closet doors she saw another baby crawling along as well. This needed some investigation. She had never seen that kid in here before.

She looked very carefully, putting her hands up to the mirror and look - the other baby did that too! She was having a good time when all of this was interrupted by a dirty diaper. This ticked her off so much that once again she started screaming. It took both of us to change her diaper and we were trying not to laugh at her. We got her diaper changed, pajamas on and then Michelle held her tight. She was all tired out from the pool, her two subway rides and meeting various people in the store. This was all too much for her and she conked out pretty quick.

It's 8:10pm on Saturday night and Tenley is out for the night. Tomorrow we are going to a Budhist Temple so all the children can be blessed by the monks. We will have loads of pictures from our trip to Budha land. Stay tuned!

Mirror Mirror On The Closet

That baby looks like me!

Yummy Paper

After a brief nap this afternoon, Tenley was back up and trying to put things in her mouth again. One of her favorite activites.

New Hat

Grandma Susie said I needed a hat...so Mommy & Daddy bought me one!

Local School Kids

Peacu Hi Cheese!


Today we had to go back for a quick trip to Shamain Island to get our chops and pick up a few misc things, like a hat for Tenley. (Someone keeps making that suggestion) When we got there it was time for some quick lunch for the little Monkey. While Shel fed her I went to get her orphanage camera developed. We had sent a camera several weeks ago and they took some pics of Tenley in the orphanage and gave the camera back to us on Gotcha Day.
When I returned from the camera shop, Michelle was completely surrounded by school kids on an outing with their teacher. They were all fascinated by Tenley and all wanted to practice the little english they knew. Everyone was saying Hi and How are you. Michelle was talking to them and asking them how old they were and the teacher was talking to us about Tenley. These kids were really cute and very inquisitive. Tenley, who was sucking down a bottle, was fascinated with the kids as well but not so much that she forgot about the bottle. I told all the kids to jump in next to Shel and Tenley for a picture. I held up two fingers and made the peace sign and said "Peacu Hi Cheese" and they all held up their fingers and I snapped the pic.
After a few minutes the kids had to leave. So we said goodbye and they all walked away to continue their outing.

Miss Tenley is ready for her day out.

The Big Sneeze

Michelle, Tenley and I were having a nice breakfast this morning in the dining room. Michelle was having hash browns, yogurt and fruit. I was having beef steak, hash browns and bread. Miss Tenley was having some warm rice congee. She already had the first course in our room when she woke up this morning. Anyway, as Michelle lowered the spoon with a pile congee on it, Tenley made a funny face and then sneezed. The sneeze itself was really cute but the resulting wind storm is what provided the best entertainment of all. Michelle was now covered in rice congee. In her hair, on her face and all over her shirt. I nearly spit out my food and fell out of my chair laughing. Tenley just looked at my with a look that said "Why are you laughing at me, jerk!"

After breakfast we went back upstairs and Tenley was ready for an early morning nap. Just as she was getting ready to nod off she got the hiccups. These are really cute in a baby but very annoying to them. After a couple of minutes with the hiccups she was starting to get cranky. Michelle got a bottle with some warm water in it and gave it to her. That did the trick...no more hiccups. Thank you Grandma Susie, it worked like a charm.

But too late, the damage was already done. Now she no longer had the hiccups but was so tired and now cranky. The screaming began after that followed soon after by the kicking of legs and flailing of arms. I knew she just needed to relax and fall asleep but she had other ideas. Finally after struggling against me and losing she started to slow down a little. I put her on the bed and she laid there with her favorite white wash cloth sucking her thumb and sobbing. The occasional fit of screaming mingled with short bursts of calm down and sleep. Finally after a good 15 min screamfest she calmed all the way down and fell asleep.

Darn those hiccups. She was almost out the first time and then they showed up.
Must be hard to be a baby and not be able to communicate what you are feeling. I know she is still teething and that she has some gas that is making her tummy hurt. She also has never had a bottle other than the bottle with food in it. So when we gave her some water earlier to relieve the hiccups she was very angry that we then took it away. It's been a very emotional and hard week for her. Her little life is changing so much right now and I think it is all starting to catch up to her. The other parents are all noting the same behaviours and most are having the same meltdown periods daily.

We have another week here in China and then another big change looms on the horizon for Miss Tenley...a new home with strange furry creatures who will be none too happy to see her.

Should be fun!

This Was NOT What I Ordered

If you have read Jeff's post about today, you already know I was not having a good day. On top of Tenley's meltdown, I found out that the care package of cold medicine and linkadoos that Mom & Meg sent is delayed in customs, because the Chinese want the contents of the package listed in Chinese and they don't believe that the package is only worth $18 they think it's worth more and I have been requested to re-valuate my package (probably so they can charge me more in customs). I didn't think it was going to get any uglier today....It turns out I was wrong.
This was the dinner from hell. I don't eat cows, pigs, bunnys, deer, turtles, sheep and ducks anyway; and I definately don't eat anything that is still served with it's head on and face in tact. So far on this trip, I have been able to look away from the fish heads and have quickly spun the lazy susan to remove the shrimp that still have legs, heads and eyes away from my view. Tonight, however, there was no escape.

I felt my stomach lurch when the entrance of the restaurant the China Team led us to had an assortment of aquariums containing non-decorative fish and various other containers with muscles, crab, turtles, shrimp, bugs, worms, eels and snakes. Then we climbed up this narrow stairway (not stroller friendly) and were led to the backroom of the restaurant that had 2 tables and one small airconditioner the size of a water cooler. We were packed into the tables like sardines- there was no room for high chairs, and it was already getting hot by the time they brought the drinks. Then Martin came in with the rice wine (which is 56 proof) and we all did a shot. I was no longer worried about my sore throat because whatever was in there was probably just burned out by the jet fuel masquerading as rice wine. Then dinner began. It started innocently enough with barbque'd pork short ribs, beef with egg noodles, fish (head and tail present, but mercifully skinned and chunked up) with vegetables, and this bitter root vegetable that reminds me of some pygmy variety of aparagus. Then it got icky. A large bowl of fried chicken was placed on the table, and the first piece Carol pulled out was the head. It still had a beak. Carol was holding it up in her chopsticks so we could all get pictures when it slipped and landed in her 9 year old daughter Faith's glass of 7-Up. Then we all laughed really hard and Faith and I agreed that finding a chicken head in your drink was not the same joy as finding the prize in the cereal box. Next up was a steaming bamboo basket that they whipped the lid off of to reveal steamed eel which was black, had scales, and was cut into 2 inch long chunks...and of course, the head was present. At that point I put down my chopsticks because the steamed rice I was eating had lost it's taste and I could no longer swallow. The next horror to grace the table was the deep fried water snake. Faith and I started talking about our favourite menu items at McDonalds, since it looked like that was where we would all be going when the dining room freak show was over. It was at this point that poor Chloe put her little fingers into the steaming hot bowl of congee her parents had requested to try to feed her; and as her big sister Canan was already miserable, they made a hasty exit. I contemplated shoving Tenley's hand into the congee so we would have an excuse to leave, but decided the ensuing meltdown would not be worth it. Then the platter of snails arrived. Now I normally like escargot, but it usually comes to me having been removed from it's little spiral shell in this little ceramic dish having been baked in butter and garlic and topped with bread crumbs. These were not escargot, but aquatic snails boiled still in their shells from which they had to be removed forcibly with a toothpick. I wasn't going there, and Jeff had stopped long ago. At this point another dish was set down that had the bizarre white squiggly looking things in it that looked way too simular to the worms I saw in the box down stairs, and I decided it was time to have a really indepth conversation with Faith about what you learn these days in 3rd grade. Fortunately, Melanie chose this moment to have diaper failure and pee all over her father (sending her mother & big brother into fits of laughter); and the rest of us decided to use their departure as our excuse to escape, since we were all hot, sweaty and starving.

Now, as if the disgusting food on the table wasn't enough; I mentioned that there was no room for highchairs, so we were all holding 9-14 month olds while we were trying to eat. Some of the kids are pretty docile, but Tenley's report from the orphanage listed her as "active" and they weren't kidding. Eating with her is a challenge because she's not a kid who's content to sit in her highchair or your lap and play with a spoon, she has places to be and she wants to be entertained! She was less than thrilled about sitting in the corner being hot on Mom & Dad's laps and not being able to take or chopsticks and throw them or crawl around on the floor.

So basically dinner sucked.

We happily escaped from the den of dining despair and trooped to McDonalds for a nice safe high fat and high cholesterol dinner that we recognized, and was free of heads.

Complete Female Meltdown

We went to Shamian Island today to scope things out and see what all the shouting was about. The US Consulate is located there and all adoptive families must pass through there. We had always heard about families staying at the White Swan Hotel because the cater to the adoptive families. USAA does not stay there because of that very reason. Everyone else stays there.

So our hotel is just a short cab ride away and we thought we would go and check it out. There are shops every two feet that sell items for families and little girls. The shop keepers usually sit outside and pounce on you if you so much as cast a fleeting glance in their general direction. It was kind of funny. All the stores have pretty much the same items. So we looked in a lot of shops and bought some things here and there.

Along the way, Tenley fell asleep. This was not good. We were going to be heading back to the hotel soon and it was time for an afternoon bottle and then a nap. Not a short cat nap and then bottle because that would just make for a cranky baby later. Sure enough, she woke up on the cab ride back. She had her bottle when we got back but then was wide awake. I thought she would play nicely in her crib and fall asleep when she was ready. So at this point I decided I would go to the fruit stand and pick up my laundry. (More on that topic coming soon)

I was only gone 20 mins and when I got back and got off the elevator I heard a baby having a screaming fit. I thought "Poor parents, glad my daughter doesn't scream like that." As I approached our door I realized that the screaming was louder than before and seemingly coming from my room. I opened the door to find Michelle holding what used to be my cute little daughter. She had turned into a screaming banshee while I was gone. This kid was screaming bloody murder, arching her back, kicking to get away and was in full meltdown mode. Tenley was crying, Michelle was crying and no one was happy.

I thought maybe Tenley was in pain from teething so I put some baby Orajel on her gums. Easy to do when she was screaming. Well, that stopped the crying. Not because of the pain subsiding but she was distracted from the taste. I took her at that point and tried to calm her down. She was really having none of it. I put her on the bed and finally after several minutes of crying/sobbing she fell asleep. Wow, that was fun. Then I had to go and console the other crying female in my life. When that was done Michelled decided that it was time for a nap too. I went to the pool. Several other families were there as well and before I could say anything about the meltdown several of them asked me about Tenley because their daughters were all experiencing the same thing.

We all decided that they woke up on the wrong side of the crib today and that all the emotions of their little lives are finally catching up with them. They are starting to realize that we are it. They will never again see what was familiar in their lives. They just don't yet know that they have traded up!

This is the central courtyard of the White Swan Hotel. The little lake has Koi fish and a nice little walking bridge over it. We ate lunch today in the restaurant just to the left of this waterfall. It was very nice...and by nice I mean expensive. Oh yeah, and yummy too!

This is a jade boat in the lobby of the White Swan Hotel. The White Swan is sometimes called the White Stork since so many adoptive families stay there when they come to get their beautiful daughters.

A central courtyard park type of thing on Shamian Island. It was very nice and ran the length of the street.

Shamian Island Sleeper

As usual, we go somewhere and Tenley sleeps through it.