Shopping Girl!

Here are a few new pictures of Allison. She loves going to the grocery store and riding in the shopping cart!








She has also recently figured out how to roll onto her tummy. I put her in a seated position against these pillows and a few minutes later found her like this! It won't be long before she's on the move.

Mommy Brain Failure

On Thursday, Allison and I traveled to Houston for her appointment at the Texas Children's Health Center for International Adoption. We got to our hotel about 6:30 p.m. and Allison was starving. As soon as we got to our room, I opened up some baby food and gave her a chicken and vegetables dish followed by blueberries and applesauce. As she was nearing the completion of her meal I suddenly remembered that the hotel clerk had told us to be sure to put our parking permit on our car dashboard so our car wouldn't be towed from the lot. I had been so focused on getting Allison something to eat that I had forgotten about this so I quickly put her in the stroller and wheeled her down to the parking lot to take care of the matter. On the way down, a number of people commented on Allison saying, "Oh my gosh! Look at that baby's face." I, of course, beamed presuming they were commenting on her cuteness. I smiled back and waved and encouraged Allison to wave and say hi. It was only when we got to the car that I actually took a good look at her and realized that she had this awful smattering of orange colored chicken and vegetables coated with blueberries and applesauce all over her face. In my haste, I had forgotten to wipe her face off. Well, this just struck me as hysterically funny and I began laughing like crazy in the parking lot as my puzzled child looked on. Seriously, I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. Allison looked at me as if to say, "Okay Mom, you've totally lost it."

On Friday we went to Allison's doctor's appointment. I can't say enough good things about the Texas Children's Health Center for International Adoption. They were WONDERFUL! We loved Dr. Montgomery! She was so good to Allison and so thorough in her evaluation. I would highly recommend this clinic to anyone with an internationally adopted child.

Tough Medicine

I have discovered that my daughter HATES going to the doctor. Even entering a room that has the appearance of being a doctor's office causes her to start panicking. For example, when I take her into the ladies room and change her on one of those Koala Bear changing tables she freaks out and starts crying. (Too much like an examining table.) On Monday, I took her for her first pediatric appointment and she screamed bloody murder for most of it. You probably could have heard her a block away. Actually, I pretty much agreed with her assessment of this doctor. Neither one of us liked her too much.

This afternoon, I took her for an ultrasound of the lump under her chin. The folks in the radiology department were really wonderful with her but she wasn't having any of it. We had to tip her head back so they could get the ultrasound device under her chin and she cried the whole time. Unfortunately, the radiologist couldn't assess the blood flow because the crying interferred with the test. It was Allison's nap time and since they didn't have any appointments after her, I suggested that I try to walk the halls with the stroller like I had done in China and see if I could get her to fall asleep. Then it would be easier to get a good reading. HA! My daughter is way too smart for that. She immediately sensed that there was a plot going on and fought sleep with every ounce of her being. I tried walking her in the stroller, giving her a bottle, rocking her - you name it. No dice! I even tried boring her to sleep in a dark room. At one point she looked at me as if to say, "Sheesh Mom! What do you think I am, an idiot?" We finally gave up. The radiologist suggested that we come back in a couple of weeks and possibly consider some sedation. So much for an $86 co-pay. Of course, the minute I put her in her car seat, she promptly crashed!

We'll see how she does at her appointment at Texas Children's Health Center for International Adoption on Friday.

Allison Arrives at her new home...

Allison arrives to find her new pink bedroom...

They're Heeeeeere!

Hi folks,

Well, Joy and Allison have finally made it back to the states. Allison travelled like a trooper and Joy is ready for an extended nap. (I haven't had the heart to tell her that's probably a ways off yet.) Anyway, some of us went to greet them at the airport and I managed to get a little video. Then we took Allison home to her new house where I snuck a little more footage. Allison is awfully cute....

OUR TRIP TO GUANGZHOU

On Friday, our group boarded a plane for Guangzhou which is where the American Consulate is located. This is where we will complete our adoption paperwork before flying home. Guess who was a total charmer on the airplane! Allison delighted our seatmates by playing peek-a-boo and being generally cute. You would not recognize her as the same child from Monday. She is trying very hard to talk and babbled throughout the flight. Not a single tear was shed for the entire flight. There is actually hope that I can get her home without the other passengers on the plane wanting to stow us in the luggage compartment with the cats and dogs. We're staying at the Holiday Inn Shifu and it's really nice! If you're looking for a great place to stay in Guangzhou, stay here! The rooms are large and luxurious. Guangzhou is a real trip! After arriving at our hotel, Allison and I went out with our guide to order a quick bite to eat. The area surrounding the hotel looks like a cross between Times Square, a shopping mall, and a street fair. There are all sorts of tiny little mom-and-pop shops and restaurant sitting side by side with more modern stores and restaurants. Everything is all lit up and there is a huge TV screen in one area. Outside the hotel, there are all sorts of street peddlers who have set out their merchandise on the sidewalk. Everything is a juxtaposition between old and new. There are modern new buildings side-by-side with buildings and streets that appear to be very old. The place is packed with people enjoying the weekend. I'm looking forward to exploring this place more. Looks like Allison will have more rides in the stroller!

OUR TRIP TO POYANG

On Thursday, we made the three-hour drive to the town of Poyang to visit the orphanage where Allison is from. Much to my surprise, she handled the car ride fairly well. She was content to sit on my lap and play with toys and other suitable objects plucked from my bag. She is in a very tactile stage of development where she likes to feel different textures and shuffle objects between her hands before throwing them on the floor. One of her favorite "toys" was a crinkly wrapper that made noise when you scrunched it up. We got a lot of mileage out of that.

The trip to Poyang took us through the Jiangxi countryside. Before we knew it, we were driving past rice paddies where we saw farmers plowing fields with water buffalo pulling the plows. The area was dotted with similar looking three story multi-family brick houses that were located right on the rice paddy. They had garage-like doors on the bottom floor and, presumably, living quarters on the upper floors. There were all sorts of people riding motor scooters and bicycles, sometimes carrying amazingly large loads on these vehicles. It wasn't at all unusual to see the entire family on a single scooter. The drivers were a bit wild, passing anyone who was slow by driving down the middle of the road. There was a lot of honking and a lot of weaving from one lane to the other. Our group had a near death experience with a wayward cow that ran right in front of our van. Thanks to our skillful driver, we avoided a calamity.

The town of Poyang is much bigger than I thought it would be. It had several busy city streets with a wide variety of stores and restaurants. The orphanage is located in a complex of similar looking buildings that appear to have been built relatively recently. I'm not sure what the other buildings are used for. We didn't get to go inside the orphanage. We just saw the front porch area. There were several baskets and small beds with tiny, swaddled babies in them.

Shortly after arriving at the orphanage, the source of some of Allison's distress became clear. Upon hearing that we had come, her beloved nanny came running out to greet her. It was very obvious from their interaction that she was very strongly bonded with this woman. As the nanny showered her with hugs and kisses, Allison became a joyful child, smiling, laughing and babbling in the nanny's arms. The other nannies came out to dote on her too. It was very clear that she had been well loved in this place. No wonder she had cried so hard. The nanny brought Allison over to me and started patting me on the shoulder while saying to her, "Good mama, good mama." When it came time to leave, Allison became distressed again and cried very hard. The nanny cried too. It was very difficult to watch. I had had some reservations about bringing Allison back to the orphanage because I was afraid it would confuse her but meeting her nanny and seeing them interact so lovingly was priceless. I am incredibly grateful to this woman for all that she has given my daughter.

After visiting the orphanage, we went into town to a restaurant to have lunch with the orphanage staff. It was quite an extravagant meal served family style with dozens of dishes placed on a lazy Susan in the middle of the table. In China, it seems commonplace to leave the head of the animal on the dish so that you know what you're eating. We had an eel, a duck and a fish peering at us throughout the meal. Personally, I thought most of the dishes were delicious if you could manage to ignore the heads! There were also plenty of fruit, vegetable and noodle dishes for the faint of heart. There were several toasts offered to the adoptive parents by the orphanage staff and we, of course, responded in kind by offering toasts to them. During the lunch, Allison was still a bit out of sorts after seeing her nanny and was only content sitting on the lap of a Chinese woman. They were kind enough to indulge her, feeding her bits of watermelon as a treat.

After lunch, we went to see the finding places of our children. I was able to take some pictures of the small hospital where Allison was left. After that, we headed back to Nanchang. I was afraid that I might be back to square one with Allison after visiting the orphanage but she was fine in the van. She babbled and played all the way back to Nanchang and only got a bit fussy at the very end.