7 months later..

It's been almost seven months since Esther ("Tian") joined our family. She is doing wonderful and continues to amaze us and everyone she meets. Most people can't believe she has only been home for six months. She talks her heads off, loves to laugh and have fun. She's had a rough first three years, and we missed a lot of firsts, but she has experienced so many firsts since being home and it's so wonderful to watch her grow and flourish.

If you'd like to follow Esther on her current life journey, please join us on our new blog Two "Twin" Terrors, http://www.twotwinterrors.blogspot.com or by clicking on the link to the right.

"Operation Smile:" The Movie

Come journey back with us to March 2006 on our "Operation Smile" mission to Esther Joy Xiao Tian. The movie is done and now able to be viewed on the web. It's long at 23 minutes, but there was just too much to be left out. So grab some tissues if you're the crying type and get ready for another exciting journey to China and back. =)

http://homepage.mac.com/jiejie4china/iMovieTheater16.html

You will need quicktime installed on your computer to view the movie. Also, I've received e-mails from Apple that my bandwith for this month has exceeded my allowed bandwith, so they might be cutting off my site. I just tried it and it was still working, but I'm not sure for how much longer. If it is turned off, it will be back up and running on the 1st of May. A pain in the butt, I know!!!

The music for the first 4 songs is from Disney's "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron" Soundtrack. This is Esther's favorite movie and the words to the songs are meaningful to me. When we met Esther (Tian) my dad and I were both saying how it was as if she walked in saying, "Here I am. What took you guys so long?" The following songs are also from the soundtrack, and the last two are "How Great Is Our God" by Chris Tomlin (Do I really need to give an explanation for why I chose this one?) and "I'm Only Getting Started" by Steven Curtis Chapman. You'll see in the movie why I chose the last one. =)

Summarizing our Journey

I found this site online that takes words from your blog and summarizes them into a little word cloud. I thought this was a neat summarization of our journey to Esther.. either that or I've used these words way too much in my blog!
Here's the link: http://www.snapshirts.com/custom.php

It's May!

Since we've been home from China, it's like we've just kept going and going, and haven't had any time to stop and rest! (Except for our Easter break) But finally, school is over and summer is here!!!!
Tian is doing great. She's really a very easy and happy child. She loves to eat, play, watch movies and sing. Her English vocabulary is expanding every single day. I hardly notice her speaking Chinese anymore. She mimicks every word of Emma's, or everything you say to her. She understands almost everything, and what she doesn't, we use pointing gestures to help her understand. She loves to tell people "I Love You More!" and "I'm Hungry!" No longer does she yell "BaBa" when Dad comes home.. it's "Ba-dee," a mix of Daddy and Baba. =)
We've really been blessed by how well she has adjusted. However, things haven't gone as smooth for Emma. At first, it was Tian who didn't like Emma, so they were fighting all the time. Now, it's the opposite. Emma has regressed considerably in the last few weeks. Before, she was doing really well in potty training and only had a few accidents a day and was going #2 in the potty all the time. Right now she refuses to use the potty and only wants to go in her pull-up. This gets real frustrating since I HATE poopy diapers!! She's also quite mean and hits and pushes Tian anytime she's mad at her. This is to be expected since it's been a huge adjustment for Emma. However, it's been very difficult! Over the last few weeks our patience has really been tested and right now it's running real thin! Emma's going to be the 'difficult' one for my parents. She's obstinant and very independent.. boy are they in for it in the new few years!
Initially, Tian and I hadn't bonded very well. I think we bonded in China to survive each other, but once we came home we both became distant from each other. I came home and went right back to my normal activities.. school, tennis, dance, etc. Tian started to trust my mom and Elena more, and bonded better with them. The first few weeks it seemed like Emma was being a bit neglected, not in a bad way, just everyone was focused on Tian and not much on Emma, so I tried to spend as much time with Emma as possible. It's easier for me to handle Emma because I've bonded so well with her and we're a lot alike. It was differant with Tian because we had only known each other a few weeks and she is oh so very sensitive! The littlest thing would send her off into a meltdown.. and I really do not like crying!! Our bonding is getting better. It's just taken some time. It's funny because she really is a VERY easy child, thanks to her learned orphanage behaviours. If you leave her in a room with some toys, she will stay there for hours. Which, is SO different from Emma who is into EVERYTHING!!
I've started a new blog called "Two Twin Terrors" that will be about both girls, since this one was mainly for Tian. I'll be adding more pictures and updates soon, but for now the link is: http://www.twotwinterrors.blogspot.com (You'll probably have to copy & paste this into your browser, since I can't get blogger to link it for me!!)
That's a little update for now- I'll add more soon once there's more interesting things going on! =)

Life Keeps Rolling

Have we really only been home for three weeks?? It seems much longer than that! Tian (or Esther) continues to do well in her new life and family. She is a very normal three year old little girl. When you watch Emma & Tian together you can tell how different the two girls are. Tian seems much more mature for a 3 year old than Emma does. She is much more protective, cautious and wants to be the leader. Emma really doesn't care and when she gets mad at Tian, she hits her.. simple as that. A lot of this week has been "Emma.. do not hit Tian" sorta stuff. My philosophy is to teach Tian to hit Emma back, therefore Emma will get a taste of what she's doing to Tian. My mom disagrees- she doesn't want the girls to start hitting each other. Anytime Emma hits or slaps (or bites.. yikes!) Tian, she comes up to some person, and yells and points at Emma.. like "It's her fault!" I've tried to tell Tian that she just needs to hit Emma back, and she seems to understand, but has yet to carry through with it.

Tian still does not skip a meal. She gets very annoyed with Emma, because Em takes her sweet old time eating. Usually, she never finishes her plate anyways. Tian eats everything and then some more, and then usually Emma's. This is classic orphanage behaviour because I'm sure she had a limited amount of food to eat.

As far as bedtime, it's getting better. This week, almost every night she went to sleep without crying. But it has to be on Tian's terms.. you can't put her down to sleep without asking her first. Surprisingly, she has asked several times to be put to bed and goes to sleep!! She's a very laid back child, just sometimes hard to deal with because at the littlest thing, she freaks out.

For instance- she HATES to be dirty!! If any little speck of food, dirt, juice-or anyone touches her without asking- gets on her, she completely flips out! It must have been a no-no in the orphanage for her to be dirty, because she cannot stand it. We'll have to work on her because in this family.. you do get dirty!!

On Saturday, my parents took Tian to get her ears pierced. No we're not a cruel terrible family.. it's just that it's a tradition to have the girls' ears pierced. We had Emma's done a week after she got home, but we waited a little longer for Tian. She really wanted them too and kept pointing to her ears because all of the girls in our family have them done. I knew she would probably scream, and I'm not stupid.. so I declined in going. Surprisingly, she did very well and didn't really cry. This kid has a HUGE tolerance for pain! She loves her earings though and wants to show them to EVERYONE!!

Tian's doing really well with learning English. In the last few days I've noticed that she repeats a lot of what we say and is starting to put things toether. I think she understands almost everything we say to her, and whatever she doesn't, we use pointing & hand motions to show her. Today, I got her to repeat some things and then said "I Love You" and she said "I Love You" back!! It sounded sooo sweet!!! I got it on video, so I'll try to upload it later! But it was so sweet and my mom-again- started to cry.

She's doing incredibly well for only being with us 4 1/2 weeks. I'm surprised at how well her transition has gone. It's crazy and chaotic around our house right now.. but if this is what the worst of it is supposed to be like, then boy are we blessed! Two is definitely much harder than only having one. They get into trouble together like sneaking into the pantry & stealing oreo's, and drawing all over their bodies with markers. But they're really cute together.

A lot of new pictures are up on my photo website;
http://www.homepage.mac.com/jiejie4china/jiejie4chinapics/
Password: fampics

So that's pretty much how Tian's doing in a nutshell. As far as her name.. is it Tian or Esther? Her name is Esther.. but we call her Tian like a nickname. She doesn't respond to Esther, although she will sometimes refer to herself as Esther. If she sees a picture of her, she immeadiatley says "Xiao Tian." Tian is just easier because Emma & Esther get too confusing after awhile. I think Tian will probably stick and we will end up calling her that.. but who knows. Esther is her legal American name, and Tian is her middle name.. so it really doesn't matter what she wants to go by. We have their Chinese Names as part of their middle name so that if they want to-when they're older- they can call themselves by either their American name or Chinese name. "Esther" wasn't really my favorite name.. so I kinda like Tian a little better. When people ask, I usually just tell them her name is Tian because it's too hard to explain that she doesn't respond to Esther. =)

POOR TIAN!!!!

First, she started throwing up on the way home from a shopping trip to the mall. Good thing we were turning onto our street, because I was driving and throw-up is NOT something I can handle well!! (Guess we won't be giving her ANY more frappachino's)

We've been home an hour and she was playing with the lego's behind me, when I heard her fall and start screaming! I knew she had hit her head and my first instinct was to grab her and check her head. I wasn't prepared for the blood to start POURING down her face!! Good thing both my mom and her best friend were in the kitchen as they are both nurses. Dad was (and still is) on the phone, but came in real quick and said it was fine. Mom's rocking Tian right now and the bleeding has stopped, but boy did she get it good!! Don't think she'll be in need of stitches, but she'll have a little scar. Apparently, the head always bleeds more than anything else.

It just takes that one second where you see all that blood pouring out of her head and start panicking!! My hands are still shaking!

My Emma

It was actually today that Emma had more meltdowns than Tian did! It's hard to get frustrated with Em when she has also had her whole world turned upside down. She went from the #1 Princess to now sharing her role. I'm sure right now, she's wishing we could send Tian back to China!

I don't think Emma really understood that Tian was going to be the same size as her. She knew Tian was coming and would tell us how she planned on sharing her toys with Tian and that she loved her. I honestly think that Emma thought Tian would be a baby though! Whenever "A Baby Story" would be on T.V., Emma would watch it and say "Aww, baby cry, like Esther!" I think she was quite shocked when we came home and brought her a friend. At first, it was fun, but after awhile, sharing your toys with a stranger isn't so fun anymore!!

Part of it is that Emma has been sick the past few days with a nasty cold, and a neverending runny nose! So her appetite isn't very good and she's a bit crabby from the medicine. She was usually the one who would have to give up the toy she wants to Tian, because we'd do anything not to initiate a meltdown! Now that Tian has been home a week, she's starting to learn the ropes and that she can't have everything she wants! Tian's usually the brute towards Emma, but Emma can give it right back! She did her fair share of hitting and pushing today.

This evening Mom was talking to Emma about how "bad" her day was and that if she kept this up, we would have to send her back to China. (JOKING of course!!) Emma replied, "You can't send me back, because I'm too cute!" I about died laughing. That's my Emma. She's smart, witty and hilarious. Emma and I are very close. Next to Mom, I'm her other #1 person.

Think They'll Notice?

Emma demonstrates my great new idea of how to bring home more kiddos's from China! Go get one, and bring home a few more in your suitcase!! We'll promise to love them too!

The Meatball

When Mom first met Tian she said, "Well she sure is a meatball!" The name has kinda stuck with Tian since she is such a big girl! Emma & Tian are 3 inches and 3 pounds apart in size, but there's a huge difference when you pick them up. Emma's got a tiny body build and is much more like a little bird. Tian, however, is much mightier, so that's why we call her the Meatball! I think Tian will be more sportier, but she doesn't have as much energy as Emma.

The last week has gone much smoother than I expected it. Sure, we've had PLENTY of meltdowns to last us a lifetime, but compared to other families stories, we're doing well. I think it's harder for Emma & Tian because they are both so strong willed and usually end up hitting each other when they don't get their way. However, within five minutes of a meltdown, they're back to both being their usual happy selves. Almost everyone has been sick this week, so we've all been a little crabby at one point or another!

On Thursday, Tian had her first doctor's appointment. (I don't really call the medical exam in Guangzhou, a doctor's appointment!) Our pediatrician was very impressed with how healthy Tian is and how well she is doing. She's very friendly towards others and wanted to be held by him as he entered the room. As we were leaving, the nurse told us they needed to run a T.B. test on her, which would include a shot! She had done so well during the exam, and now I knew we would be in for it! Mom and I held her down as the nurse prepared the syringe, and I was ready for the screaming! But.. Tian didn't shed a tear. I tell you this child has a HIGH tolerance for pain!!! I was so proud of her that she didn't cry at all and did so well! We still have some more tests to run through, including having her vision and hearing evaluated and then being referred to the Cleft Team. The Cleft Team is a group of doctors consisting of a Plastic Surgeon, Ear, Nose & Throat Doc, Orthodontist and probably someone else, but I can't remember! They will evaluate Tian and follow up with her as she grows to plan any surgeries she will need in the future. For now, she seems to be doing really well!!

I think Tian understands about 50% of what we say to her, just we can't understand what she is saying! Sometimes it gets a little frustrating, but she usually makes her point across by pointing and grunting! I've heard her call to Baba, Mama & Emma, and she calls me "Sa" (which is what Emma calls me) and Jia Jia (Big Sister). The one word I've heard her say repeatedly and quite clear is "I'm hungry." Boy can this kid eat too!! Her first time eating spagetti, she had four helpings! She usually has two servings of what we're eating and then eat's whatever Emma doesn't eat. And we thought Emma was a big eater!

The sleeping has gotten a little better, but she refuses to fall asleep anywhere but the couch downstairs. Emma's in bed between 8-8:30, so usually around then she'll sit on the couch with Mom and fall asleep. Then Elena transfers Tian to her room and she usually sleeps 'til about 8 am. She's & Elena are sharing a room. As far as nap's go, she usually takes a 20-30 minute power nap on the couch and that's all. For now, we're not pushing the nap thing and letting her settle in.

I've noticed that Tian is quite a brute!! On Sunday, I got the girls ready for church and dresses them all pretty and did their hair. When I brought them downstairs Mom came over and said to both girls how beautiful they looked. Well, I heard Tian say something to the degree of "Emma, Bu Hao piao liang...." but I knew she was saying "Emma is not pretty!" Mom had to tell Tian that BOTH of her girls were beautiful!! Geez.. can't wait when they're 12!

Ian turned eight on Saturday, so Dad took him and eight of his friends to a local amusement park for the afternoon. They came back afterwords and had cake and opened presents. Of course, the cake was a hit with Tian!

This week Tian has gotten to meet a lot of new friends including her new "Aunties" Nanette & Irma, "cousins," new friends Evan, Lowery & Brooke, and many other friends of our family. She is very friendly and at church on Sunday, she wanted to be held by a bunch of people who came over to meet her. Good thing she's not very shy!

The sweetest thing is when she sees Baba come home- she runs over to him screaming "Baba, Baba!!" =)

We've been home 10 days now, but it feels like we've been home for much longer than that!! Her transition has gone much smoother than I expected it to go, so hopefully it will continue to be that way. Adding #6 to the family hasn't changed too much.. just the grocery bill has gone up more, the workload has increased, there's more clothes and shoes to be bought, and the messes are more! Not to mention, there's another little one to be watching every minute! And yet.. we still want to do it again- adopt another one that is, maybe in the next year or so. (Shh! Don't tell my Dad!) But for now.. six is a good number to get used too.. for now at least!

Til next time,

The Meatball's big sister

Home Sweet Home!!

We have been home for two days now and all I can say is, I am SO glad to be home!! It hit me when we were in the Chicago airport waiting to head to Orlando that I was just REALLY sick of the airplane flights and just wanted to be HOME!! Tian did great on all of the flights. She cried a little on each one, but we were blessed to have VERY nice flight attendants on two of the flights who helped tremendously. She slept about 8 of the 12 1/2 hour flight from Beijing-Chicago. It is always hard getting her to go to sleep, but once she is down, she is down!! A few times along the way home, I was ready to leave her and fly home myself. It was very stressful on the way back, but we are home and things are going well!!

When we landed in Orlando, I told Tian that we were going to see Mama, and she kept repeating "go see Mama!" I think she was a little overwhelmed when she first met everyone, but an hour later, she and Emma were running around the house in their matching nightgowns, care bears and squeaky shoes screaming and squealing. We were all up until around 3 am, but it was nice to be together as a WHOLE family and catch up. The happiness came to an end when Tian got mad that I was holding Emma. She threw a huge fit, including spitting at Emma, which scared Emma and so she was crying also!

On Sunday, my parents woke us up around 11, so we wouldn't sleep too much and recover from the jet lag. The kids showed Tian around the house and outside. She got to swing on the swingset and tried out the trampoline, but wasn't too crazy about it. In the afternoon, we headed over to our friend's house where we had a gathering of families from our church. Everyone was so excited to meet Tian and she did great! There were probably 50 people there and she went to almost everyone who would take her. She even fell asleep in my best friend Catie's lap! We were amazed at how well she did with everyone- she is quite friendly!

Today, has been much better. I saw at least one meltdown and heard about a few others, but I was at school when they occured. (Yes... they made me go to class today! I only went for 1/2 a day, so it wasn't too bad) Once I came home, the girls were outside playing together and doing well. At dinner time, Tian & Emma sat next to each other and ate noodles and watermelon. (Tian wasn't excited about the ribs & mashed potatoes) After dinner, I took them upstairs for a bath and that was a load of fun! The girls played as if they had known each other their whole lives! Tian would mimic Emma and they would squeal and laugh at each other. It was so cute to see them laughing and having fun, instead of the fighting and meltdowns I had pictured earlier!!

Tian is doing better. When Emma accidentally splashed water in her eyes, I thought Tian would go nuts.. but she was alright. A few days ago, she would have flipped out, but she's doing much better. She & Emma are learning to share, but it will be a slow and gradual process. I feel bad for Emma who has had to give up a lot of HER things! This morning when Tian got mad at Emma, she came up to me and said, "Sera, Esther scare me!!" Poor thing! But, when asked, she does say she is glad Tian is here to play with her and she loves her. Tonight, Emma & Tian were constantly looking for each other and wanted to be together the entire time.

After bath time, we had a very sweet friend from Taiwan come over. Crystal speaks Mandarin so she is going to be helping us communicate with Tian and also form a relationship with her, so hopefully she will continue to speak some Mandarin and maybe Emma too. Tian was more interested in playing with all the new toys, but I think she was glad Crystal was here so she could talk to her.

Overall, things are going really well!! Much better than I had anticipated! On the first night, when both girls were crying, I was overwhelmed and thinking "what have we done!!" Its been a roller coaster of emotions, but I am optimistic things will work out. Watching them play together tonight really showed me that they they will be best of friends, and at times fighting like sisters normally would.

I am very glad we are home and that she is home. It's different having two of them now.. a whole lot more work! After this China trip.. I don't think I'll ever want to have kids!! =0

Having all six kids together and realizing that poor Ian is alone in girl land, makes us realize that we really need to add a brother to the family!! Dad hasn't said no (yet), but it probably won't be for awhile! But we'll see.. it would be nice to add a brother to the mix. =)

Our trip was wonderful. It was difficult at times, but I would probably do it all over again in a heartbeat! I think next time I would want my Mom to be with us because when things got tough, Dad and I didn't know what to do.. and you really needed a Mom to be there!! Tian is bonding well with Mom though, which is a good thing.

Well, I'm outta here. The jet lag hasn't been too bad, and we are starting to adjust back to our regular schedule. I'll continue updating because the journey hasn't ended yet. Now we're on a journey through life with Emma & Tian for the next 15+ years! Oh what fun!!

Operation, Executed!!

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven."

Eclesiastes 1: 9 (?? they don't have bibles for reference here in China)

Well, it's time to wrap things up here in Guangzhou, China and get ready to head home. We spent today shopping for souveniers, cute chinese dresses, shoes, etc. Rebecca had arranged a tour of the toy factory for today.. but we missed the bus thinking the meeting time would be at 11:00. It was actually an hour earlier! But we spent the time taking in our last sights of the island and doing lots of shopping. Dad did well with the shopping. Those of you who know him know that Mom does all the shopping, and Dad just makes the money! But he was a good boy and did very well in this "new" territory for him. He actually found some really nice things that I think Mom will like. =)

We ate lunch at Lucy's, Tian took a short nap, we played in the playroom and then ate dinner with Rebecca for the last time. Rebecca has been OUTSTANDING!! She is THE best guide and has always been on top of things. We ran into some trouble with the paperwork, but Rebecca took care of it. I just remember when we were at the Civil Affairs Office adopting the girls, Rebecca had two cell phones both ringing at the same time and talking to two different people. She was wonderful with Tian and they have a special relationship. I will really miss Rebecca and her funny personality. Our guides have all been absolutely superb. Whenever Tian got upset, they were always there to comfort her. Lily would read Tian books, David and Rebecca would stop eating themselves and spoon feed Tian. Our trip has been more like a vacation, thanks to them!

I will definitely miss the people of Guangzhou. They have all been so kind and friendly. If there was a place I could move to, I would settle in Guangzhou. At lunch, we sat outside and watched girls playing badmittion, guys kicking around a hacky sack, older folks doing tai chi, children playing in the park. It's something I'll miss watching all of these people interact. It's really a sense of community here on Shamian Island.

I will miss the White Swan too!! When we arrived on Sunday, the lobby greeted us like it was saying "Welcome back!" The hotel is really wonderful and the people are so nice. Each floor has floor attendants who go and push the elevator button for you when they see you coming and clean your rooms. Everytime Tian sees the floor attendanta, she starts singing "Mama Hao" and they all sing it with her!

I will miss the people in the shops. There are tons of shops located around the White Swan and they are all so sweet. A little pushy at times, but very nice. If you're going to Guangzhou soon, be sure to stop at the Chinese Life & Laundry store. (The first shop on the left) Lisa, the shopkeeper, and her friends are so sweet and will always give you a good price! The stores all sell pretty much the same things, but we bought mostly from Lisa because she was so nice. She remembered our names so everytime we passed by, she would say "Hello Claudio & Sera!!" Lisa & her friends always sit outside their store and watch DVD's.

I will also miss the other adoptive families and seeing the babies! There's nothing more heartwarming than watching parents meet the child they have desired for so long and orphaned babies become part of a forever family. You really feel like a large "family" here. Everyone has been so nice and we can all relate since we've been through the same process, emotions, etc!!

We ALL will miss our travel buddies, Charlie, Britt & Delaney. We met them on Gotcha Day and connected instantly since the girls are inseperable. Delaney & Tian are somethin' else!! Our travel group has been wonderful. I think our first travel group was a little better since we were all so close by the time we left and did everything together. We mostly hung with Delaney's family and everyone else did their own stuff. But nonetheless, they were all really nice and we have news friends!

Of course.. things I won't miss about Guangzhou:

The smog!! We haven't seen the sun once since being here. You can't see very far which is different from when we were here in August.

The smells! Yah, I won't miss the smells!

The Animals!! I don't mind the chickens hanging in the window, but the dead cats on the streets, I do!

The hard beds! The White Swan would be so much better if the beds were at least a bit softer!

And.. the spitting! After awhile, it gets a little old!

But these are the things that make Guangzhou!

Oh, and one other thing I'll miss are the "Is she your daughter?" comments I have gotten all week. Yes, they think Dad is the "Baba" and I am the "Mama"!!

Well, I could write more, but we have a 5:00 am wake-up call!! I finally convinced Dad that everything was not going to fit into three suitcases, so he (finally!) agreed and we bought another suitcase. Even with the extra suitcase, we are still jam-packed!

But we're ready to come home. Please be praying that Tian does well on the flight... preferably sleeps a lot and has no meltdowns!! And also, that we make our connecting flight in Chicago. We only have a two hour layover to get through customs and re-check for our flight back home.

Well, our operation was to get Tian and bring smiles to her face. And we have accomplished that operation! Now, it's time to complete the operation and get her home, so we can start a new Mission: Life with Emma & Tian!!!

Signing off from Guangzhou,

Sera, Claudio & Tian

P.S. Forgot the Picture Captions!!
1) Tian in the White Swan playroom
2) This is Tian and a little boy "FuFu" from her orphanage. They were in the same room together and seemed to know each other pretty well. They talked constantly and liked playing together. =)
3) The shopkeepers all loved Tian!
4) Inside one of the shops in Guangzhou (It is called the Arts & Crafts store and is on the left side, across from Jennifers & Sherry's. Great shop and one of our favorites!)
5) The next few are all views of Shamian Island
6) Dad & Tian
7) Me & Tian eating lunch at Lucy's
8) Coca Cola-Chinese version!
9 & 10) I shot these outside during lunch at Lucy's. We ate outside and watched people playing badmittion and tai chi during lunch.
11) Tian loves lettuce!
12) Me & Tian in front of the Pearl River
13) Dad & Tian in front of a statue in the Shamian Park. The statue is of a American parents with their newly adopted child.
14) Some of the local children playing on the statues
15) Just a FEW of the chinese silk outfits we bought for the girls!!
16) Tian trying on Dad's shoes
17) Tian & bear in front of the White Swan waterfall
18) Dinner! (I preferred not to touch the animals staring at me!)
19) Miss Delaney!!
20) Tian eating some cake! She shoved the whole piece in her mouth!
21) Tian & "Auntie" Rebecca
22) The girls and I in front of the waterfall.. kinda blurry!
23 & 24) Red couch photos of Delaney & Tian
25) Delaney & Tian made up an obstacle course in the Swan Room
26) With the shopkeepers from the Chinese Life/Laundry store
27) Artist working on a Granite Etching
28) Laney & Tian holding hands for the last time in Guangzhou
29) Dads & their daughters!
30) Britt & I with our new sisters

Whew! Think that was enough pictures??!!

Couldn't forget the pictures!!

Tian loves this rocking chair.

Tian & Delaney playing in the White Swan playroom

Lily reading to Tian in the mall

We need malls like these in the USA! Six floors!

DVD shop

She screamed for 20 minutes as we waited for lunch and then crashed.. out like a light!

Delaney: "So are they really going to make us stay with these crazy Americans?"
Tian: "I sure hope not!"

Rebecca talking to Tian

Sweet Delaney!!

This one is for Delaney's Mama. =)

Tian and Britt.

Eating on the river cruise

Delaney: "It's okay Tian."


Pearl River Views

Our hotel, the White Swan

Charlie, Delaney, Britt, Tian & me


Switching the babies!

She Can Come Home Now!

Well, it's official!! We can come home now! Today around 3pm, we took the oath at the US Consulate and recieved her Chinese passport and visa, allowing her to come home to the United States! Because only one parent travelled, she won't become a U.S. citizen right away like Emma did. We have a little bit of paperwork to do before that can happen. But we have everything, so technically we could leave now.. but we still have lots of shopping to do!

Earlier we went to a large shopping mall and visited some pearl & jade shops. We didn't buy anything at either store, but we're going back tomorrow, so maybe we'll buy something. We did buy quite a few things at the DVD store, and I think Elena, Kayla, Ian & Mom will be happy when they see what we got! Tian was especially happy because we bought a cd with children's music (including the famous "Mama Hao") and one of those pop-out books of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Tian was starting to have a meltdown when we got to the mall, so our guide Lily took her and helped calm her down. She read Tian the Goldilocks story and by the 2nd or 3rd time, Tian was telling the story to Lily! Next, Dad wanted to buy some souveniers for Mom & the kids so we did that and found some really nice things. =) Tian was again, starting to flip out because I was pushing Delaney in the stroller and Tian just cannot share her Jia Jia! So Rebecca took Tian and walked her around the mall for a bit. When she came back, Rebecca told me that a little boy came over and tried to touch Tian's new book. Tian gave the little boy a warning and said "If you come over and touch my book, I will beat you!" Apparently, the little boy's father heard Tian say this because he came over, grabbed the little boy and moved him away from Tian!! She's quite friendly, huh?

Actually, she really is friendly. Tian loves the floor attendants and everytime we come out of the room she says "hello" and starts singing her Mama Hao song. The afternoon floor attendant loves Tian and always sings it with her! It is so cute! In the bus today, both Tian & Delaney were singing Mama Hao. Delaney mostly hums along with the song and joins in on the "Mama Hao" part, so Tian was trying to teach it to Delaney. They really are adorable together and for the most part, weren't fighting too much. I got some video of them singing and will try to upload it later.

We went on the Pearl River Cruise tonight, which was very nice. For once in my life, I got to be rude and push & shove my way through the buffet line. Otherwise, if you don't, everyone else will push in front of you and you'll get no where!! Somehow the chicken feet and all of the other unrecognizable meals weren't appealing.. so Dad and I ate some peanut butter crackers instead.

Tian went to sleep on her own tonight!! We are making progress!! More meltdowns today than usual, but she's doing well. When she gets mad at me, she spits, do I'm working with her on stopping that. ( I don't appreciate being spitted at!)

Tomorrow is our last day in China. Don't get me started because I'm glad to be going home in a sense.. but I'm not looking forward to getting back on my routine and back to school. Maybe we'll stay here in Guangzhou for a bit longer! I am however ready for my SOFT bed and to see my family and friends again.

G'night from China!

Wu-La-Yu

"Wu La Yu"

Those are the words that make me jump when I hear them. When Tian says this, she means that it's time for the potty!

Well, when we were getting ready to board the bus and head back to the hotel, Tian said "wu la yu." Now, just 20 minutes (or so) before hand I had taken her to the public bathroom.. and only because I love her, I braved that trecherous nightmare!! (I despise the Chinese public bathrooms with a passion!!) I told Tian she would have to wait because I was not going back in the mall to the bathroom and we were only about 10 minutes away from the hotel. Well, Tian doesn't take no for an answer and when she says "Wu La Yu" she means business. Down went the pants and her pull-up and she went right there on the street! I could not believe my eyes when I saw her do this. We all just sat there laughing and couldn't believe she was actually doing that! Her aim is a little bad, and I watched in horror as her brand new squeaky shoes and jeans became soaked!! (Not to mention her LAST pair of clean socks!!)

She just acted like it was a normal occurance, pulled herself together and got right back on the bus!

Where was the camera when I needed it??

Tian's Smile

( Hallelujah!! Tian went to sleep and is still sleeping! We did what the nannies told us to and let her play until Dad and I went to bed. I helped her put away her toys and then got her bed made up and told her "Jia Jia, shui jee-ow luh, Tian shui jee-ow luh" and she went right over to her bed-no fussing!- and went to sleep!! )

Tian was born with a congenital cleft lip and palate- one of the most common birth defects and seen more in Asians. A cleft lip is when the area between the lip and nose does not form, resulting in a large opening. The same is with the cleft palate, only there is a hole in the roof of her mouth. Both of these defects are very easy to fix and Tian's were corrected before we met her.

Tian was more than likely abandoned by her parents because of this birth defect. From what I can gather, the village she was found near is probably where she is from. It's my guess that her parent's were too poor to pay for her surgeries, so they abandoned Tian, hoping she would recieve the needed medical treatment and possibly be adopted.

On Gotcha Day, we recieved a picture of Tian from when she was about 6 months old. This picture was taken before her cleft lip surgery. Dad asked me if I was prepared to see this or not, and I thought sure, I've seen hundreds of pictures of children with cleft lip and palate before. But nothing prepared me for what I saw in her picture. Her cleft lip is one of the worst I have ever seen and it is quite shocking when you first look at it. I was under the impression that before surgery, she had two cracks extending from her lip up to her nose- a bilateral cleft lip, meaning open on two sides. When we did the research on cleft lip, this is what the pictures showed. However, there was a huge hole in between her lip and nose and it looked pretty bad.

I looked at her baby picture and then at Tian and thought how amazing she looks. Her lip truly looks incredible for what it looked like before. You probably wouldn't even be able to tell that Tian was cleft affected, except for the fact her nose is a little smooshed! She has big (luscious) lips, like Catie! =)

When she lets you look into her mouth (I personally wouldn't after all all the surgery she has been through!) you can see the scar from the cleft palate, which looks great considering her hole was very wide. Usually, children with cleft palate have a hard time speaking and require speech therapy. Tian may probably need it, but she speaks a ton! Whenever we go out of the room she always says "hello" to people or "goodbye." The floor attendant loves Tian and everytime we come out of the hotel she asks Tian to sing "Mama Hao" and they sing it together.. which is so precious!! Tian does all of the talking for us in Mandarin.. we just sit and ask, "what did she say??"

Tian will require some more surgery down the road; maybe a revision on her lip to help the scarring and some cosmetic on her nose, but this is something we can handle. Tian is such a fighter, and I know she will do well in life. She doesn't take no for an answer and with a family behind her, she can accomplish anything.

Dad and I already love her just the way she is- her big luscious lips, her big smile when she is happy, her two missing teeth, her laugh..she is so precious.

Hard to believe we almost missed out on this little fighter! There weren't any families interested in Tian and her file was about to go back to China. Once a child's file goes back, their chances of finding a family are slim to none. With two weeks left before her file went back, I told my parents we had to adopt her... because I couldn't bear to think of what her life would be like in China, growing up as an abandoned girl with a special need. After lots of persisting, 12 months later, here we are.

Want to see more pictures??

http://www.copechina.blogspot.com

is Charlie's blog- Delaney's daddy. Lots of cute pictures!

Shenzhen..a city that doesn't sleep!

Good morning to all of you waking up back home in the USA! We have had a really good day today here in China. There was only 1 1/2 meltdowns, so we are making progress!

After breakfast, we took Tian, Delaney and Megan to their medical exam's. The USA requires the adopted children to have a medical exam to make sure they are healthy. I always get a kick out of the medical exam because at that office, I could be the doctor!!

There are three stations- height & weight, ear, nose & throat and a physical exam. In the weight category, Tian was 14 kilo's.. fully clothed. I weighed her in the hotel room and she is 28 pounds. As far as height, I'm pretty sure she is 93 centimeters. You can do the conversions yourself to find that in inches! The ear, nose & throat is probably the funniest because to check their hearing, the doctor shakes a rattle on one side of their ear and then plays a musical toy by the other ear. If the child can turn and look at the other toy.. they can hear! The doctor who did her physical examination was quite smitten with her and that she could actually talk to him! They had a cute little conversation! So yes, she did pass the exam!!

Today we had the opportunity to visit the city Tian is from, Shenzhen. Shenzhen is located about 2 hours from Guangzhou and is right next to Hong Kong. The city is very large and has tons of high sky scrapers. Shenzhen is a very young city having only been established in the 1980's as a small village with 30 people. Today, 25 years later, this city has over 7 million people living in it!! Everytime someone finds out that Tian is from Shenzhen, they all say "Oh very nice city! Close to Guangzhou! Very Busy!" Shenzhen is like New York in that it never sleeps. Hmm.. no wonder Tian doesn't either!!

At first we were a bit worried about taking Tian back to the orphanage and how that might affect her. But both Rebecca and our Shenzhen guide, David told us that she would do fine. Good thing David was with us so he could translate!! We were very impressed by the Shenzhen Children's Welfare Institute. It is very clean and friendly. The director met us and took us to all of the places Tian spent her days. She also allowed us to take pictures of the baby room, play room and classroom. The nannies seemed to all know Tian and they all came to say hello. She seemed to do very well and let them hold her for pictures, but wanted me to hold her the rest of the time. When the assistant director came to see us, Tian immeadiatley got excited! I could tell these two have a very special relationship. =) All of the nannies asked Tian if she was happy with her new family and she replied "yes."

We saw the classroom where Tian spent most of her time, but right now they are renovating it, so we didn't get to see much. The assistant director told us that Tian has been in foster care for almost a year. She lived with a foster family who brought her to the orphanage around 8 am everyday and she stayed there until about 4pm. This was news to us since we had no clue she was in foster care. We had heard that she was staying with a foster family for about a month during the Chinese New Year, but didn't know she had actually ben staying with them for longer. I'm a little confused and don't really know if she has been because the pictures we have don't really make sense to what they are saying. I'm guessing she has probably been with them for the past 6 months or so. We were told the foster families are poor and can't afford to have any children of their own, so they take care of the children from the orphanage. Contact with the foster families is forbidden, which is a little sad because we would really like to thank Tian's foster family.

After we took our "tour" the assistant director invited us to lunch next door. We had a wonderful and very authentic Chinese meal. (Authentic to the point that the shrimp & fish were staring at us from their tanks and the chickens were hanging from the windows!) We were able to ask the assistant director lots of questions about Tian and her life. She & Tian were very sweet together and Tian really loves her. We found out about her sleeping habbits! The nannies told us that Tian has to be playing and we have to leave her alone and then she will fall asleep, which makes sense since that's what she did last night. (Maybe tonight will be better!)

It was so funny as we were leaving, Tian got her back pack on and her bear and then started saying goodbye to Dad and I thinking she was going back with the assistant director! Poor thing! But she was happy to come back with us.

We are very glad that we were able to visit the orphanage and spend some time with the assistant director, who has been very important in her life. The pictures & video will be very important to Tian when she is older.

We weren't able to visit her finding spot because like Emma, it was in another disctrict-far away- and they weren't sure where she was left exactley. All we have from her abandonment info is that she was left on the side of a road near a village at five days old. (Or so they estimated)

Tian has done very well today. She took about a 3 hour nap on the bus ride there and back and has been in a good mood today. Rebecca asked her earlier if she was happy to come to America with her family and Tian replied "yes!" The nannies and assistant director from the orphanage kept telling us how busy and smart she is! I have been showing Tian pictures of Mom and the kids from my laptop and she is able to recognize everyone. When we were coming home from dinner, she started pointing up to the sky and saying something. I asked Rebecca to translate and she said Tian was asking "is it going to rain?" Smart kid because not a minute later we could fell the rain drops!

We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant with our other guide Lily and another Lifeline family. This family just came from Nanning today and they have adopted two unrelated children! A boy from Wuhan and a girl from Nanning. Both are four years old and so precious! The family is very nice and we are looking forward to spending more time with them.

As we were coming home not only did we almost get runover by a van (they were going to let us cross the street, then changed their mind at the last minute!) but we also had machine guns pointed at us!! There is a bank right next door to the hotel, so as we were coming back they were transferring the money into one of those armored vehicles and there were three Chinese soldiers with machine guns. Talk about scary! And to ad to that, today I got to try out the Chinese squatty potties! I seriousley could NOT hold it any more and there are NO western toilets in Shenzhen! It's something I wish to not have to do again! But I think I clogged it because you're not supposed to throw the toilet paper in there.. Ooops!

Our Mandarin is coming along. "Habba Hao" is do you like it. "Hao" means yes and "Bu Hao" means no. "Wu-La-ya" means I have to go potty! and "bao" means hold. "Tee" means stop/wait, "shwee jee-ow la" means time for bed. When I say, "Tian, shwee je-ow lah, Habba Hao?" (Tian, it is time for bed.. do you want to?) I get a nasty look or a big mean grunt or sometimes a Bu Hao.

Hopefully tonight will be better. Right now Tian is a little wild! But things are getting better so hopefully she'll settle down soon! We're going shopping tomorrow and will visit the toy market and the pearl market and the jade market is upstairs! I told Dad he has to be good about the shopping thing, or else I will have to call Mom and have her talk some sense into him!!

G'night from China!

Sera, Claudio & Tian

P.S. Thank you so much for all of the comments and feedback regarding Tian's rocking and sleeping! They have been really informative and we're pretty much confirmed the rocking is a soothing mechanism.

PICTURE CAPTIONS:
1) Tian at the medical exam
2) Finally sleeps on the way to Shenzhen
3) Daddy & Daughter
4) The front of the Shenzhen Children's Welfare Institute
5) Tian with the nannies who cared for her
6) The baby room where Tian spent her first year of life
7) Play room where Tian played
8) Tian in her classroom
9) Tian's classroom (empty because of remodeling/painting)
10) In front of the Shenzhen CWI with assistant director
11) Tian & I with the assistant director
12) Tian showed us that she can eat with chopsticks!
13) Tian & the assistant director
14) Us with the assistant director and someone else who seemed to know Tian (but don't know who she is)
15) Us with our Shenzhen guide, David
16 & 17) Dad & I with Tian on the bridge in the lobby
18) Tian's crazy hair!

Wanna Hear Something Cute?

If you've been crying already.. get out the buckets and some towels, because you will be BAWLING!!

Click on this link: (or copy & paste it)
http://homepage.mac.com/jiejie4china/iMovieTheater12.html

I can't get it to link on the post, so you can scroll down and on the right side under "Our Adoption Movies" click on "Tian singing MaMa Hao" and it will take you to the page.

Tian sings this song ALL the time and it is SO sweet!!

Here are the lyrics in English:

Mommy's the only dearest in the world
With a mom, you have the most valued treasure.
Jump into mom's heart
and you have endless happiness.

Mommy's the only dearest in the world
without a mom you are like a piece of grass/straw
away from mom's heart,
where will you find happiness?

No sleep in Guangzhou!

Right after I sent my post last night, Tian woke up screaming!! I thought maybe she was having a night terror but Dad thinks she is too old to be doing this. I've never seen a child do what she did. It was like she was screaming about being in her bed and not wanting to fall asleep, only she was still asleep. She was kicking, thrashing, screaming..the works. (spitting included!) I picked her up and tried to rock her but she was inconsolable. Finally, I just sat her on my bed, and she began to rock herself again. We think she does the rocking as a soothing mechanism, because after a few minutes or so she started to fall, but then would catch herself and wake up.

Dad and I just sat there unsure of what to do. If we tried to say "shui jee-ow luh" (time for bed) she started wailing again. We were exhausted and we figured the doors are locked, the bathroom door is closed, so she can't get into to much trouble if she stays awake. We ignored her and pretended to be asleep. And little Xiaotian got up from my bed, went into her bed and started rocking again. I was floored! I didn't make it to see if she fell asleep or not, but she probably did because about an hour later she woke up screaming again! This time was shorter, about 10 minutes and I just prayed "Lord PLEASE let her fall asleep." And finally she did.

We're at a loss of what to do right now because she won't go to sleep ad is getting away with a lot of things that won't fly at home! I don't know what to do about the sleeping thing, only that we will be having many more sleepless nights here and at home. We aren't sure about the "rocking" thing, but it seems to be emotional. Hopefully we will find out more today at the orphanage.

Right now Tian is sleeping, so I pray she stays that way for a little bit longer. Dad is at the gym and I can't sleep, so I guess I'll go ahead and get a shower and then wake her up and get her bathed.

We could really appreciate your prayers right now because this is tough!! I'm sure all of our neighbors in the White Swan are ready to jump in the Pearl River!! Most people understand because they are going through the same thing, but some people just give you the weirdest looks! (Like we can do anything about this!!)

Day 3

This will be a shorter post since I am utterly exhausted!!

For the most part things went really well today. Tian had a few melt downs, but they seem to be getting lesser. However, they are pretty intense melt downs!

Today we visited the Guangzhou zoo in the early morning and afternoon. The zoo is very nice and clean. The animals appear to be well fed and kept. It was much nicer than the Beijing zoo we visited in August 2004. Before we went to the zoo, we stopped by the store to purchase strollers for Tian & Delaney. I wasn't sure if Tian would sit in the stroller, so I sat her down in one of the display ones and she loved it! She & Delaney liked it even more when Britt and I would push them down the street real fast. One the way to the zoo, we went to a small children's store to buy a coat and clothes for Tian and shoes for Delaney. The weather has been very cold here (in the high 50's today) and I wasn't prepared for these temperatures! We did find a cute coat for Tian and she loves it so much that she refused to take it off today! We also bought her a few long sleeve shirts and pants. They aren't the cutest outfits in the world, but they'll due for now!

After we visited the animals, Rebecca let us take the girls to a small amusement park inside the zoo which they had a blast in! We took them on the carousel, bumper cars, train, small roller coaster and a few others. Tian & Delaney were having a lot of fun! Each time we saw Baba (Dad) while we were on the carousel she would wave and say "Hi Baba!" I'm glad we could take them on these rides and let them have some fun.

Once we got back to the hotel we had some lunch with Charlie, Delaney & Britt. During lunch, I gave Tian her first taste of chocolate ice cream. At first she got an ugly look on her face and spit it out, but then she saw me eat some and wanted to try again. This time I blew on it to make it a little warmer (she isn't used to cold things) and she still got a funny look on her face, but she really liked it! She ate lots of dessert for lunch and also tried guacemole, sour cream and lettuce..and she loves chocolate! Delaney would have no parts of the chocolate ice cream, even when Tian would try to feed it to her. The girls were cute together during lunch when Tian would feed Laney things from her spoon, including her water!

Afterwards, the girls were starting to get tired so we went back to the room and tried to put her down for a nap. Again, she refused! Earlier Tian had fallen asleep in the stroller, so I suggested we go out and walk a bit to try and get her to sleep. We dropped off the laundry and bought her some squeaky shoes and then an outfit and a toy. (By this time she was finally asleep in her stroller!!) We visited the grocery store and bought some more snacks for Tian and the children at her orphanage. We then headed to the pharmacy to buy Dad some ear drops since his ears were bothering him. This was quite an adventure! The "pharmacist" doesn't speak English, so she handed us a chart with a list of symptoms in English on one side and in Chinese on the other. There was no "ear ache" symptom, so Dad had to point to his ear. So the pharmacist went and grabbed some medicine, which turned out to be caplets. Dad already had some medicine like that, he just wanted ear drops. So we both tried to motion to her we wanted ear drops. She (the pharmacist) thought we meant "do we stick the caplets in our ears?" and kept motioning that the caplets went in the mouth. So finally Dad found the word "eye drop" and pointed to his ear and then the "drop." Finally, she understood and brought out some ear drops! Whew! The ear drops cost about 8 yuan, or $1.

We started to make our way back to the hotel when we ran into a very nice Chinese man who commented about Tian. He told us about Shenzhen and that he has been there before and also that he is a Chinese Christian. He was very nice and we found out his named is Jordan and he owns one of the stores near the hotel. He took us to the store and since he was so nice I told Dad we had to buy something from him!! We bought two braceletes for Emma & Tian and then a Chinese silk dress for Tian. As a free gift, Jordan made a calligraphy drawing of Esther's name in Chinese. =)

Back at the hotel, we played with Tian a bit and then went down to the Swan Room for some play time. Tian had another meltdown when I told her to keep her socks on, so we went back to the room instead of heading to dinner like we had planned. She hasn't had much of a nap today so she is exhausted and that makes her miserable to be around!!

We are really having a hard time getting her to sleep. The only way we can is by giving her Benadryl (yes.. I know how terrible that is) and she will only fall asleep in my arms. We're at a loss of what to do right now, but she just refuses to go to sleep. Tonight she screamed in her bed for 30 minutes before I finally picked her up and she fell asleep in my arms. She is so strong willed and has a meltdown anytime she doesn't get her way. She is VERY stubborn!

Tomorrow we will visit her orphanage in Shenzhen. We're a little hesitant about how Tian will do when she goes back and sees her nannies, but I feel it's very important we visit the city she is from. Also, we are hoping we can talk to the nannies and talk to them about her sleeping problems. Dad and I can't imagine that they would let her get away with the things she does because she acts like a spoiled brat! When she doesn't get her way she hits, kicks and spits. I know this is a 3 year old thing, but I can't imagine the orphanage letting her get away with these habbits!

We have a lot to do when we get home, but for now it's just survivial. When she is happy, Tian is a joy to be around, but when she doesn't get her way she turns into a little terror!!!!! Hopefully things will keep getting better as the days go by.

Sera, Claudio & Tian