Some Pictures

I am not sure how many pics I can send at a time so I will send a few at a time...Enjoy!!

Pics

One of the things we really noticed in Changsha is that about 80% of the population was very very good looking. I think it must be some well kept secret :) Here are a few of the people I was able to take their pictures.

We are in Guangzhou

We have arrived in Guanzhou. The hotel we are staying at seems like it should be for royalty. We walked in and we were like wow. We had Josiah's medical exam today...it went great and he was absolutely perfect. I did notice today at the doctors office that one of his legs is longer than the other by a few inches. I don't know how much of a problem this will be for his walking but we will see. Guangzhou is extremely beautiful. Palm trees, blue skys, and waterways. It is a lot more western as there are many different nationalities here in the hotel. The people have also been very nice here and a lot more people here speak english. Plus we are back together with our other Holt families.

 

Our plane ride from Changsha was a little rough...first it was late, then the plane was so small I could literally almost touch both sides. Tina got sick after the flight, and today Paris has some stomach problems. We are going to be eating some McD's for lunch and then we are going to go out to eat with the group tonight. Some good news, our documents said that we needed 600RMB per person, but today we found it was only 600RMB per adult. That saves us 1800RMB/$300.

 

Tomorrow we have a free day, and Monday we are back to the medical exam place to check Josiah's TB test. So far it looks good, nothing raised or discolored. It was a little scary in the Dr. Office because they were a little confused with Josiah's limitations. They were trying to get him to grab a ball with his hands, but he couldn't...obviously. 

 

Sorry McD's has arrived...gotta go...some american food yee-haw!

 

Brian

Last day in Changsha

Hello everybody. Today is our last day in Changsha and I must say I am going to miss it here. The hotel staff has been great, very helpful, and very polite. We even received a letter from the woman who cleans our room, it said, "Dear sir and madam: Welcome to Dolton Hotel Changsha. Your room we have cleaned for you. It's very kind of you. Your Chinese is very good. Wish your baby will become more and more lovely. Best wishes for your family. Lily" This note was written all in English.

 

Our plan for today is to pack up all our stuff. After being here for almost 6 days, we have gotten pretty spread out with our stuff. But Rachel is awesome, what would take me 4 hours she will do in an hour. At 5PM we will me our guide and driver in the lobby where she will give us a bunch of paperwork, and Josiah's passport. We will then drive to the airport and take an hour flight to Guanzhou. This is where we will finalize our adoption and apply for Josiah's Visa. We will be there until Wednesday night. Right now the Guangzhou trade fair is going on so it will be very busy. Please ask the Big Man to watch over us as I really don't like big crowds especially while trying to keep track of my family. We will be in Guangzhou for 5 days, then take a train to Hong Kong, then fly out Thursday morning. I know I may have written this more than once, but just in case you don't want to go back and look.

 

Josiah is still doing very well. He does have his moments, usually when we are eating. It will be nice to get him home and give him some structure, plus we don't want him freaking out in a restaurant. Every morning he wakes us telling me that he loves me and then yells for Paige. Last night about 3:30AM I woke up to find him not in the bed next to me. The other night he did fall out of bed, so I looked on the floor, he wasn't there. Then I looked up and he was in the cot next to my bed. He has made us laugh so much, Rachel especially has laughed a ton as he seems to like making his momma laugh. Well I need to shower again as I have not stopped sweating since I got here in China over a week ago. I don't know how much I weigh these days but I am sure I have lost weight. My next post should be from Guangzhou...see you then.

 

Oh I almost forgot. Josiah can move his fingers in both hands. It isn't very strong, but when I pull on his thumb he pulls back with his thumb. Also when I pull open his fingers, he will pull them back...all this is very light, but he can move them. Plus I asked our guide to ask him if he can feel when I touch his hands and he said yes.

 

Brian

More Pics

These pics are from today...this is how it has been most of the trip...just a lot of laughing. Just a few minutes ago I got on the cot in our room and it folded up on me and both me and Josiah couldn't stop laughing. In one of the pics, Josiah put a piece of bread on his head and just started laughing. We have been trying not to laugh at him when he does something he shouldn't, because he will do it over and over if you laugh....but this one we couldn't help.

Pictures

Some Pics

Another day in Changsha

It is 5:40AM on Wednesday morning here in Changsha. Yesterday was an up and down day. We officially became the parents of Josiah after our civil affairs office visit. They only asked a few easy questions, and I think it was obvious to everyone that we were all very happy together. We have still been struggling to find a good schedule that works for all 6 of us, but we are getting through it. Josiah is used to getting up at 6am, taking a nap from 11-2, then in bed by 8. We have been getting up around 5am, eatting breakfast @8am, napping at noon, lunch at 2 or 3, possibly another nap, then dinner between 7-8, and in bed between 9-11.

 

Yesterday, we experienced Josiah's first temper tantrum. He has had quite a few little instances where he will whine for something and even get very angry, but yesterday was a total melt down for him. We took him to the play area here on our floor for about 30-45 minutes. Rachel was very tired and brought him back to the room, but he wanted to go back and play. When we did not go back he started screaming and kicking. I had to hold him for about 5 minutes while he continued to fight me and want to go. I must say, learning to speak Chinese has been very very helpful and I highly recommend to any one adopting from China to learn as much as you can. After he settled down I was able to tell him that if he could behave, I would let him watch some tv, he was happy with that. He was still pretty mad at me and wouldn't even look at me. But I got down along side him and told him that I loved him and without looking at me he told me that he loved me. I asked him if I could kiss him, which he doesn't really like because it tickles his face, and he said yes. I then gave him some oreos...yes oreos, and he was very happy again...even laughing. I am actually very happy that this happened as he will need to learn his limits. I think it is becoming obvious that at the orphanage he was allowed to pretty much do what he wanted, and he was the oldest child so he probably ruled the roost. Now with me as the new sheriff in town, it is going to take some getting used to, plus he will not be able to do what ever he wants. One of the things I have to remind myself is that he is only 5 years old, and he just turned 5 in June. He is going to do things that 5 year olds do, but we can't just allow it. It was very hard to discipline him in this way because of the life he has had and with his special need, but I know it is the correct thing to do, and it will only get better from here.

 

Today is a free day, and we are planning on going swimming again today. Still trying to get on a good schedule. This hotel even has a bowling alley on the 6th floor which we will visit tomorrow. I am looking forward to today as we have more freedom as to what we are doing. We have another free day on Thursday, and then on Friday we head to Guangzhou around 5, fly out at 8pm. I hear that most people are relieved to get to Guangzhou because of how nice it is and the more prominent western style. I did, however, look at the weather and it looks like it is going to be in the upper 80's and raining the whole time we are there. Plus the trade fair is going on and I heard that that the hotel we are staying at is right next to the trade fair headquarters. I am hopeful that things will continue to get better, even with the hot weather and the crowds of people. One thing I have found is that the Chinese believe that AC is good if it can cool down to 75; the restaurant that we ate at yesterday didn't have the AC on at all and it was about 80 degrees in there...it was like eating at my mom's house :)

 

I will try to update again tomorrow.

 

Brian