Adoption Day

Yesterday we met Ailah, today we made her part of our family. This was the day the adoption became final in China. It takes them a LONG time up front to get us matched up with our child but once they make up their mind things move in a big hurry.

We left at 9:30 for the same place we met Ailah yesterday and didn't get back here until 1:00 after a rather tiring morning in a busy, busy office. Apparently there were 48 Guangdong babies that met their families yesterday and everyone of them seemed to be there the same time today to complete the adoption. Each family had to interview two different officials and then we gave our Adoption Rearing Fee to the SWI Director. (The largest amount of cash we brought with us. Now we can breath a sigh of relief that the money is no longer our responsibility.) It took a very long time and we were all glad to get back on the bus for the hotel.

Ailah immediately fell asleep and took a nice 2-hour nap, waking up just in time for the shopping trip to Carrefour, (a French version of Walmart quite popular here in China,) which we had planned with one other family. Our rep, Jason, was good enough to take the cab there with us and show us the ropes before leaving us to our own devices. We shopped a few hours, stocking up on a few staples and just enjoying the culture. Before we caught a cab back to the White Swan we ate dinner at the KFC next door. We discovered Ailah loves mashed potatoes and since she hadn't been willing to take her bottle either time today, I was willing to forego my portion to fill her little tummy.

We also discovered that Ailah can cry good and loud. She had a bit of an issue with constipation this evening and resolving that was somewhat painful and frustrating for her. With a change to a clean diaper and jammies she fell asleep very quickly in Jeff's arms.

I got a few smiles out of her today but they were very fleeting. I even got a little chuckle once but it stopped as soon as Jeff walked over to see. Still she was very playful in the cab on the way home and began to show us a bit of her personality. I can't wait for her to relax and become herself with us.

Tomorrow we have a nice morning to relax and do what we want. We're looking forward to a calmer breakfast and maybe some quiet, easy shopping around Shamian.