We're Here!!

First of all, my sincere apologies to anyone who requested my travel blog password and didn't get it- I could not log-in to Blogger from either Nanjing or Beijing, and although I could read it using "anonymouse", I also could not access the Comments section of the blog. I'll e-mail you all the link later today from my DH's account (still having probs at home with my e-mail), so you can get the "retrospective" view of our trip if you're still interested.

Things here are going swimmingly!! We've been back since early Friday morning and the jet lag is pretty much over. Actually, the whole trip was fantastic for us, and our little guy is a dream child so far! Once we met him, he was quiet for the first 2 days, and then he started to come to life. And come to life he did! He's a real character- all-boy, terrific sense of humour, loves to sing and dance, happy most the time, loves to eat, and has been sleeping well. I'm pretty sure his smooth adjustment has nothing to do with anything we're doing right- I think he just has an easy-going, fun-loving temperament, and I also believe that he was probably well-prepared by his SWI for the adoption.

I also believe that because of his cleft issue, he probably received a lot of individual attention and care, especially during feedings when he was an infant. This early attention is so important to healthy emotional development in children. So, although his medical need was most likely the reason his birth family could not raise him, it may also be part of the reason why he's adjusting so well to his new life with us.

I'm not really into posting a lot of pictures here, but I have to share one of my favorite "at home" photos. Is he cute or what?

1 Day to go!!

I can't believe it- this time tomorrow, we'll be on a flight to Toronto to connect to one going to Beijing! It is really, really happening. I'm still in a whirlwind of luggage and last minute preparations for the petsitter... but the good news is that we'll definitely be UNDER our 44 lb/person in-China baggage allowance (although several recent travellers told me that their luggage was not even weighed!). We'll also have a huge suitcase that is now filled with a case of cleft nursers for the SWI, and which will be empty after Tuesday. And you all know what that means - SHOPPING!!
It's early evening now in China as I write this. Daniel is probably getting ready for bed. I wonder if he has any idea of the life change that is in store for him in less than 4 days from now? I hope his nanny has been preparing him. I hope we're really prepared to deal with his grief.
Well, I've got a couple more things to pick up once I drop the kids off at their day camp. Better get a move-on.
I'm not sure how often I'll update this blog while we're away. I'll try from time-to-time. I've decided to do a password-protected site for our trip. If you want to follow that, feel free to leave a comment with your e-mail address and I'll try to send you the address and password from China.

Proceed with Caution: Major Nesting Occuring

I'm still around- just doing some major nesting this past weekend. No time to blog, or even read e-mail. But the results were so good- after a long overdue purging of our toy/computer room, as well as the kid's closets & drawers, about 7 garbage bags of "gently used" (read: played with 3 times and then forgotten)things went to Good Will and maybe as many bags of not-so-good things went to the dump. It had to be done. It should have been done maybe 2 years ago. But now we are a lot less cluttered, and I vow to try to keep it that way (no snickering).

I also started some packing last night. I think we'll be traveling with about 50 lbs of luggage each. That's the limit for the in-China flights, although for the international flights we could take almost twice that amount (and I expect we'll take advantage of that fact on our way home!). When you think about it, that's also 200 lbs of stuff for 2 adults and 3 kids. Given we'll be taking *very* light clothing, we should have more than enough with us. And what we don't have, we can get in China! It's not like we're mounting an expedition to the middle of Labrador to some seabird island, after all ;)

So, I've got a few things to do before we leave, but they'll get done. No worries here (insert nervous laughter).

Found a Book Club!

Well, I didn't find it, exactly- but I was told about it by several people. No need to reinvent the wheel! This one sounds fabulous (click the link above or copy & paste http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/China_Adoption_Library).