Meili's Adoption from China

Here's the video of Meili's adoption from China. It's about 15 minutes long.

The weather in Meili's city has been nice. All of the kids were outside enjoying the cooler weather and eating cookies when we started talking. Meili kept getting distracted by the kids and wanted to go back outside, so we talked for only 5 minutes. She can now go from a sitting position to standing by herself and is almost walking independently. She babbled in a mixture of English and Cantonese. She waved bye to us as we ended the video chat. Two more weeks until we meet her in China...

She was quite active - all over her caregiver's lap and the desk. She has started talking. Her first recognizable word for us was 'baba'. This is dad in Mandarin. Give her a few days with me and I'll make sure that she knows 'mama'. LOL!

Travel plans are coming along - slowly but surely. I still have to find a hotel for Hong Kong. We're spending 2 days in HK prior to traveling to GZ. Ben wants to take the tram to Victoria Peak and I want to see the night laser show in the harbor. I figure that these two activities will be enough as we will be exhausted from the jet lag and 13 hour time difference. I have been looking for a hotel in the Kowloon section of HK. I'm sure that I'll eventually find something. We will stay in HK for one night prior to flying back to the USA. I've already booked the Marriott adjacent to the HK airport. It has a free shuttle that runs like every 15 minutes.

she's going to the SWI to get her passport photo taken at 3:00 pm China time. This is 2:00 am USA central time. Hopefully, this means we got a confirmed CA for the last week of Sept. They usually get the passport photo taken when travel is imminent. I guess we're imminent - Woohoo!!!

She's been sick. She had red bumps all over her and was taken to the SWI for treatment. She was given shots and the red bumps went away. I'm not sure if it was a rash, allergic reaction, or some kind of skin infection. Her roommate was adopted on Monday, so Meili is now alone in her room. I think this is actually good b/c she'll get used to sleeping on her own. I wish that I knew where her roommate was going, probably here. It'd be nice to know her parents' names so the girls could keep in contact. Her caregiver said that Meili is a favorite among the ayis and is spoiled! She's always trying to get their attention and can be quite stubborn. She sounds like my daughter already.

Just talked with Meili. At first, the video connection was really good. We got to see her.  But after a few minutes, the video connection froze and we could only talk/hear her. It was interesting. We talked for 30 minutes. She is more of a baby than I realized. I guess I've been comparing her to my niece and thinking that she'll be at the same developmental level. Honestly, I'm really excited and glad that she's still a baby. She hasn't started walking independently yet but will with the help of her ayis. We'll talk  again next Tuesday night. Actually I talked and Ben just sat next to me smiling at the computer. Just Meili getting to hear English and our voices will {hopefully} help ease the transition. Amy said that she has stranger anxiety. I'm praying that conversing online will ease her anxiety when she's placed with us.

The internet truly amazes me! After emailing HOG, Ben and I get to talk/see Meili for the first time on Tuesday @ 9:45 pm. They converse with adoptive parents on Wednesday mornings China time. This is Tuesday night for us as they're 13 hours ahead of us. I can't wait!