What We Have Learned About Kelcy

So we have spent about 10 days with Kelcy so far and have started to learn some things about her personality.  Did I mention that she just turned 3?  First of all she is a very brave little girl - she said goodbye to her Foster Family last Monday morning and got on a bus with a nannie from the orphanage and then drove for 3 hours to get to Nanning where she met us in a shopping mall pavilion. We can tell that she was well loved and taken care of by her Foster Family - she has a healthy build and her foster mother packed all kinds of snacks for her.  She wears a size 3T and weighs about 30 pounds so she is a little bigger than we thought and were so happy to have access to a stroller.  She did great her first day with us,,,took a nap, ate dinner, took a bath, and went to bed....she even smiled a little.  She is getting more comfortable every day and is able to tell us what she wants and does not want.  She loves her yogurt drinks and instant noodles - much like the ramon noodles that I ate in college.  She also loves pork - anything pork so we are hoping this is a phase because she may not have had a lot of meat in her diet and will try and balance her diet when we get home because living in a hotel makes it difficult to get into a routine.  She loves to take baths and use soaps and she loves hand lotion.  She also likes to brush her teeth and I have been able to get her to do so in the morning and night time - I think that she thinks its fun to spit in the sink.   She also goes down for a nap fairly easily and I hope that that continues when we get home.  She loves to play and laugh and be silly and she will run up and give us hugs.  She loves Conner and will only hold his hand when we are out walking and Conner has been a great big brother and takes her hand when we are out and about. 
She does not like to keep shoes on her feet and will kick them off the minute she sits down anywhere- taxi, restaurant, stroller.  She does not like to wear seat belts in the vans that we are traveling and did not like having to put one on the airplane - so we are worried about how she is going to handle a car seat!  She is also comfortable letting us know when she DOESN'T want to do something or give up something - did I mention that she is 3?   She can scream extremly loud when she is unhappy with something and she has learned how to hit very well.   Our guide mentioned that some toddlers are allowed to have melt downs and tend to hit their parents - we actually saw that ourselves on the streets and saw some similarities in how Kelcy would react to us.  Our guide mentioned that Kelcy may have been spoiled so Tommy and I need to set guidelines when we get home but our guide mentioned that we don't start until we get home,  So many of you will probably see some of this behavior when we first get home so our challenge in the first few months will be to learn how to communicate better with her and also to correct some of that type of behavior but that will come in time.  We feel very blessed to have her in our family and we are all getting settled into a family of four.

Life in Guangzhou

Well it has been quite a busy week in Guangzhou to say the least.  We arrived late Friday night after a two hour plane delay in Nanning where Tommy and I were an international spectacle trying to calm down a tired and hungry toddler while people continued to stare and touch Conner.  Did we mention that Kelcy just turned 3?   So she would like to do things on her own including running up and down the airport corridor and running back through security and really didn't appreciate us telling her that she could not do that :-) We were exhausted when we arrived at the beautiful Garden Hotel - it is very 5 star and not the way we usually travel so we felt a little under dressed when we checked in :-)  I was so glad to see a bed and we finally got Conner and Kelcy to sleep around 12:30am so they were able to get a little sleep before we had to take Kelcy to her medical review the next morning at 8:30am, which went pretty smooth and then she had to have the TB test which she passed :-).

We then did a little shopping and toured the Shamian Island where we grabbed lunch at Lucys which is a restaurant the has an American ambiance and sat by a table that had license plates from Wisconsin and Indiana on the wall.  We also had a chance to let the kids play on a playground and walk through a park with different statues.....I found the island to be very peaceful, yet very active with all kinds of photography shoots from models modeling clothing for catalogs to young brides and grooms getting their pictures taken right before they get married.  We are in the popular month for weddings and couples get their picture taken in the morning and then it is developed in time for their reception so they can post in the lobby where their reception is taking place:

We have spent the week shopping and relaxing a little at the hotel.  Did I mention that it is hot!  I have been breaking out in a sweat the minute we walk outside so I gave up styling my hair on this trip.   We have enjoyed a huge buffet at breakfast and have enjoyed some chinese meals and of course have found every fast food option around our hotel.  Tommy and I are looking forward to having a huge salad when we get home and a drink with ice since we have to avoid most raw vegtables and fruits and for sure ice.  We have enjoyed many meals with the Gallagher and Stevens families that we traveled with and we celebrated our last night with all the families at a Mexican restaurant by our hotel and were so happy to see that Kelcy enjoys chips and salsa just like Conner and I :-)  Per tradition all the families from our adoption agency went to the White Swan hotel and took our pictures on the red couch.  First we just had our new daughters on the couch, our Kelcy and then Gabby and Ana - all so adorable!  Gabby would rather sit with her family though and we determined that Kelcy needs to get used to wearing a dress so we have been putting shorts on under her dress :-)

The White Swan also has a beautiful waterfall in the lobby so we were able to do a group shot at the waterfall

Today we had our consulate appointment and processed the paperwork that will allow Kelcy to be an American citizen when we fly back home.  Tommy and I took an oath and now the entire process is officially complete.  We will get Kelcy's visa tomorrow right before we travel to Hong Kong for our last night in China.  We will fly out of Hong Kong on Friday morning at 9:45am and arrive in Raleigh at 7pm on Friday....but keep in mind that we get to add 12 hours to our day.....so our Friday will be a 36 hour day :-).  Here are some random pictures from our stay in Guangzhou:

  Kelcy was pushing Conner in the water while he floated on his back.  The roof top pool area was beautiful and we hope to enjoy the pool tomorrow before we pack up and check out at 3pm.

   

  

Conner is a Rock Star!

I am so grateful for one of the nurse's at our pediatrician's office who mentioned that Conner would be very popular here in China due to his blond hair and blue eyes.  So we were able to prepare Conner for the attention and he knew that people would consider him to be good luck and want to touch him and have their picture taken with him.  So he has been very gratious and good natured when he gets constant attention from many people....including cute teenage girls :-) We are very proud of how he has handled his popularity and how he has handled the trip in general!  He has been touched by people when walking on the streets - they just reach out and tap him and many people ask for permission to take his picture.  Yesterday, we were all eating lunch at the local zoo and many people took his picture and even ours as we were eating lunch.  I have to say that it gives you a fresh perspective when you are the minority in a culture, which will help us remember how Kelcy will feel when back in the states.  It has been a crazy couple of days so I will post more later but I wanted to share some pictures of Conner being a rock star and also some pictures of our trip to the local zoo in Guangzhou.

Happy Birthday Kelcy!

Yesterday was Kelcy's Birthday, August 25.  We celebrated by going to a park in Nanning that is quite beautiful and has a variety of things for families to do.  It is actually in the heart of the city on a mountain and we spent some time in the stone stature garden and then feeding the koi fish.  Conner and Kelcy loved climbing on the rock sculptures that were of different kinds of animals and then we took a shuttle bus to the lake where we fed the gigantic koi that hung out by the bridge....waiting for kids to feed them.  Here are some pictures from the park:

Today was a great bonding day for Kelcy and Daddy.  Kelcy warmed up to Tommy quite a bit and wanted him to carry her through the park.  We think that our accent on how we (okay me) pronounced the word daddy may have caused some confustion.  In chinese the word for daddy is ba-ba and the word for afraid is pa-pa so we both said pa-pa and pointed at Tommy by accident a couple of times so that could have caused some confusion :-)  So now she really prefers Daddy to Mommy today....but the good news is that she seems comfortable with all of us...she really loves to laugh and sing and chase balls and chase after her brother and be silly. 

We celebrated Kelcy's Birthday at dinner where we ordered long noodles and she really enjoyed our sweet and sour pork :-)  She does love anything pork....her first couple of days with us she ate quite a bit and now she is slowing down...we are hoping that she feels a little safer with us and that we will provide what she needs. We bought a little cake at the local bakery and took that to the restaurant and then sang Happy Birthday in English and Chinese.  I think that she was confused as to why we celebrating - her Chinese Lunar Birthday is July 25 and we think that her Foster family celebrated on that day. 

Today is our last day in Nanning and we are packing up.  Tommy and Conner went to work out and Kelcy is taking a nap...she actually lies down on her own when she is tired and curls up with her stuffed unicorn and blanket that we gave her....she also holds onto whatever toy is her favorite while she sings herself to sleep.  She is comfortable telling us what she likes and doesn't like in true toddler form...which is a good thing because we are able to see more and more of her personality.  She loves putting on hand lotion and brushing her teeth now.  I found out from our guide that most toddlers do not brush their teeth - the parents usually rub the teeth down with cotton wipes...so our pediatric dentist might have a little work to do when we get home.  Conner continues to be a trooper through all this travel.  Tommy and I have not lost a single pound because we have been eating fast food so that Conner gets at least one meal in his system every day.  So far we have had McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Dominoes Pizza, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes.  We have been staying at the Marriott hotel so the breakfast buffett is very international so we have had a great brunch everyday...and Conner is able to eat cereal and Kelcy gets her fill of sausage links.  We are heading to Guangzhou tonight and it will be an hour plane ride for Kelcy - hopefully it will go well and she will be able to get on the 12 hour plane ride scheduled for next Friday.  We are looking forward to seeing the other families that we met in Beijing and their daughters and catching up with everyone.  Guangzhou is where Kelcy will get her medical appointment and will be sworn in at the American Consulate on Wednesday.  I will write more when we get settled in and we really appreciate everyone's comments!  We pray that everyone stays safe in North Carolina with the impending Hurricane heading to the NC Coast and we hope that everyone is okay after the Earthquake.  It is very hard to hear this type of news when we are so far away and all we have is the UK and Asia CNN tv channel.   Take Care everyone!

       

  

Day 3 with Kelcy

Everyone is sleeping so I finally had a chance to update the blog.  It has been a great couple of days with Kelcy so far but I forgot how busy toddlers can be... I wanted to catch everyone up on how things were going.  When we met Kelcy on our first day together it was a whirlwind.  We were suppossed to meet her at 3pm in the afternoon in our hotel room so at 1130am our local guide took us toWal-mart (right down the street) to get some water and snacks for the week.  While we were at WalMart, our guide got a phone call from the orphanage Nannies letting him know that they were at the hotel already and it was only 12:30pm.  So we rushed out of the store and headed towards the hotel and we actually met Kelcy in the pavilian outside our hotel.  Not the best situation because it was super hot, we had grocery bags, and then we needed to walk into the hotel and get up to the 18th floor.  The chaos kind of scared Kelcy and overwhelmed her.  We had deocrated the hotel room with streamers and balloons so that we had a festive room with toys....and this helped to break the ice a little when we got to the room.  The nannies left the room which scared Kelcy again and she did cry for a few minutes....until I pulled out the stickers.  The stickers became her security blanket and she clutched them all day - she did take a nap that afternoon and clutched her stickers the whole time she slept.  So on her first day with us she took a nap, ate a good dinner, let me give her a bath and she slept in the bed and slept for 12 hours.  We feel very fortunate that her first day went well and were wondering how she would do on Tuesday when we needed to handle the adoption paperwork.  Tuesday actually went well agani...she had a great breakfast - she loves breakfast sausages!  She ate about 4 and some other fruits.  We did see her orphanage nannies at the notary office where Tommy and I had to sign some more papers....she did cry again when she left for a few moments but then I pulled out the stickers and that helped her calm down. Today we went to the People's Park which is an amusement/fair type setting where kids can ride various rides...so Conner and Kelcy had a chance to ride together and they both had a great time and then fell asleep on the taxi ride back to the hotel.  We are starting to see more of her personality coming out and she has been singing and giggling and chasing after Conner....we bought her some more bubbles today and she has been blowing them all day.  Today she struggled with Tommy a little.....she didn't want to do have much to do with him so we are trying to find opportunities where they can interact and play more.  She actually came running up to me last night and put her arms up so I picked her up and she gave me a hug.... We feel very blessed and relieved that she feels more comfortable with us.....we continue to pray that she feels more and more secure everyday....I do worry that she has not grieved a lot yet and we know that she may have some difficult days ahead - especially when we need to fly to Guanzhou.  She is a very brave little girl and has been so willing to try new things so we are just thrilled to finally have her in our family (and our arms :-))  Here are some random pictures from the last couple of days...I am sorry if my spelling is off - I tend to type late at night so I hope things make sense.

Family Day!!!

We met Kelcy today and it was quite a day!  She is a beautiful and brave little girl.  Let me introduce our daughter and Conner's little sister with some pictures of the day...

The day did not go as planned but it was a special day and she has done very well.  She cried a little at first but had no problem walking with us, eating lunch and dinner, and taking a nap.  She let me give her a bath and then she played with some stickers, and she  just now fell asleep so I had a few moments to update the blog.  I will write more about the actual day in another post but I wanted to update everyone.  We are so blessed that her first day with us went as well as it did and we hope and pray that she is okay over the next couple of days with us.  More soon ! 

Beijing

We had a full day today and the jet lag is hitting me tonight but I wanted to post a quick update and pictures.  We started our day at a Jade Factory and were able to watch the work of very patient and meticolous workers form a beautiful jade piece from a raw square stone.  The showroom was filled with beautiful pieces and we were able to find a heirloom piece of jade that we will give to Kelcy on a significant event in her life when she is older.  Conner found a jade eagle that caught his eye:

  
We then went to the Great Wall and it is a site to see.  It was actually a nice clear day so we could see the beautiful sites surrounding the wall.  Our guide told us that August was a busy tourist month for Chinese families as they vacation before school starts up so there were a lot of people climbing the stairs and the stairs got narrower and narrower as you went up.  I walked up a little ways and Tommy and Conner climbed even further - in fact Conner almost reached the top of that section and really enjoyed the scenary...but he and Tommy had a long way back down and Conner really felt the intense workout he had a couple of hours later....he was so tired he fell asleep at 6pm and I don't think he will be waking up before 6:00am.



We then enjoyed a nice chinese buffet for lunch at a large touristy place where they also have a Cloisonne factory which is the enamel ware vases that you see in many chinese restaurants in the states.  After lunch we were able to drive around the Olympic park area and see the Bird Nest building famous for the Olympic pre and post ceremonies and also the Water Cube building where Michael Phillips won all his gold medals.  We made one last stop at a Tea House where we learned about the proper way to have tea parties in China and did some tea tasting.  We made it back to the hotel and pretty much fell out of the tour van we were all so tired.  One of the families we are traveling with has their little 4 year old daughter with them and she has been such a trooper today too so it was a fun day of touring.  Our guide was kind enough to order Dominoe's pizza for us so we enjoyed a little taste of home today. 

I will leave you now with a wish for you and the symbol of good fortune, wisdom, and longetivity: