Things are looking up…
November 30, 2005

We seemed to have settled into somewhat of a routine.  The routine consists mostly of Kevin carrying JacJac around all day and her being very content with that.  They both laugh and look at things together.  Kevin throws her up in the air and she just cackles.  It is very heartwarming to watch.  She was so distraught just two days ago and now she is really blooming.

There is not quite so much love for M.O.M. (Mean ol' Mommy).  She cries whenever I come near her if Kevin is around.  If Kevin is not around, she is quite content to let me hold her.  So we try to give daddy a couple hour's break each day and wander around, just us girls.  But as soon as Daddy is back in sight, all she wants is him.

The place we are staying right now is called Shamian Island.  It is a little section of the city of Guangzhou (pronounced: gwan-joe) where a number of different countries' consulates are stationed.  Therefore, almost no matter where you are from in the world, if you are adopting a child from China, your last stop is in Guangzhou to get your paperwork finished.  So this place is baby central!  Everywhere you look there are two Caucasian people wandering around with their new Chinese daughter.  All the shops and restaurants cater to adoptive families, and it truly is a charming place to stay.  Our hotel, the White Swan, has a huge room with every type of toy you can imagine, dedicated for these adoptive families!  And, at any given time, you can see these parents out in the hotel hallways walking their children, trying to calm them or get them to sleep.

Most families spend the first week of their two week trip in another province -- the one of their child's birth.  They spend a week there, settling all the adoption issues with China.  By the time they leave that province, in China's eyes the child is officially theirs.  Our trip is a bit different.  JacJac's orphanage is in the Guangdong province which is the same province as the city we are in now, Guangzhou.  Therefore we will spend our entire ten days in this one place.  But we have been told it is a paradise compared to some of the more impoverished provinces that some of the girls have come from.  So we consider ourselves blessed.

My favorite phrase is: "We have our brand new daughter here and she is wonderful!"  Kevin's favorite phrase is: "They have a giant buffet breakfast here and it is wonderful!"  Kevin and JacJac both eat the buffet breakfast each day like they have never seen food before.  The buffet includes all the things you would expect a breakfast buffet to have: eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, fruit, yogurt, toast, muffins, etc.  And a few things you might not expect:  salad, rice, lunch meat, fish...  Basically you just eat whatever you're in the mood for.  So far, JacJac's favorites have been cantaloupe, French toast, muffins, and scrambled eggs. Maybe we'll try salad tomorrow…

Each day is getting better with JacJac.  She is becoming more and more content and will even stay in the hotel room for a few minutes at a time now.  Although we have not yet succeeded in getting her to take a nap in the room, she has slept through the night every night.  That's good enough for us!  We are also finding her to be very meticulous.  She always puts things back in order that have fallen (like blocks or toys), and even tries to wash herself in a certain order in the bathtub (she's too young to know how to wash herself! – but she loves the bathtub, BTW).  Kevin calls her his little accountant.

For those of you finding yourself feeling sorry for me because my daughter will have nothing to do with me, please don't.  If the roles were reversed and she had bonded with me rather than Kevin, he and I would both be miserable.  I would have permanent back problems from having to walk her around all day and would be terribly cranky.  And Kevin would just be heartbroken that he couldn't hold her.  It is much better this way!  And JacJac does like me in her own way.  When she and Kevin left the restaurant tonight while I was paying the bill, she got upset because they were leaving me behind.  Progress!

Tune in tomorrow…
Kevin & Janie