Just got word from my agency. Their China facilitator dropped off Meili's visa application to the USA consulate in Guangzhou. It takes 10 business days for the consulate to process it and produce the Article 5 letter. Looks like 8/16 for Article 5 pick-up!
I received an email today that we've been 'cabled' to Guangzhou. The actual date was 7/29/11. NVC also emailed the pdf letter to me. I sent this onto my agency. Hopefully, the Article 5 will be dropped off at the consulate this week.
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!
Meili's 1st birthday was on July 13. We sent her a cake and HOG had a party for her. Here are the photos from that special day:
I received an unofficial update from HOG today. It's the same information that they send to the CCAA on the 20th of each month.
She is a beautiful and happy 1 year old girl, who loves to express herself and smiles a lot. When she first came to House of Grace, she was very sickly but now she can almost walk by holding the hands of the nanny. She can also sit and crawl in that position very fast. She can say “mum mum, da da" and a lot more very clearly. She is very confident and determine to go wherever she wants and get what she likes. Fu Fu (that is what we call her here, but if you want we can start calling her the name you have given her) can even sit on a low stool all by herself and whirl around sitting on it. She loves to be attended to by the nanny than to play with things, like the toy cars you sent yesterday. She and her room-mate, Fern, always fight for the full attention of the nanny. Anyway, we are trying to teach them to be more patient and wait for their turn and share. Basically she is a very expressive, intelligent and happy girl. However, she is stranger shy, she still cries when we have volunteers come visit the home. We have a volunteer who has come every afternoon for over 3 weeks now, Fu Fu still cries when she notices her. But we want to train her as much as we could, we let the volunteer does fun things with her and give her cookies etc. Also we take her and other babies to walks in the park or the shopping mall when we have enough hands so as to expose them to real life situation. To prepare her for lives aboard we teach her simple English words and sing English songs with her and at times she would move her body or clap her hands along with the rhythm. We have posted your picture on the wall next to her bed and let her points to you, when she is put to bed or awaken. She sure is a fun seeking and adorable little girl. We all love her dearly.
Her measurements as on July 20, 2011 are:
Weight 10 kg, Height 76.5cm, Head 44cm, Chest 49cm, Foot 12cm,
Teeth top 2, bottom 2
The measurements when translated to the USA system are:
weight 22 lbs, height 30 inches, head 17 inches, chest 19 inches, foot 5 inches
Just received the following email from my USCIS Immigration Officer:
Your application was approved on July 21, 2011. You should be receiving the notice soon in the mail. Thank You.
Next step? The approval is sent to the National Visa Center. They 'cable' or email the approval to the US consulate in Guangzhou. I will email them to send me a pdf version of the 'cable' via email. My agency must have a copy of this in order to proceed to the following steps.
It's getting closer! Meili will soon be coming home.
A few people on RQ have received their provisional approval for their I-800. Since I haven't heard anything, I figured that I would email USCIS and see where they're at with mine. Maybe the email will give them incentive to finish it before the weekend! I mailed off our visa requests. The courier should have received them today. It will take a week or so to receive those back. Other than these 2 things, there is really nothing to report for the adoption.
I emailed the USCIS on Monday about Ben's incorrect DOB on the receipt letter. About 2 hours later, they emailed me back. They corrected it in their system. Since I brought this to their attention, maybe we'll get our I-800 provisionally approved quicker. LOL! Now that's some adoption humor for you right there.
My Dad emailed me on Friday and said that his photo was in China too! See for yourself below. My Dad is a funny guy. Or at least he tries to be.