The zoo in Guangzhou

Will was not to into the big animals that moved around but he liked the giraffes. He was still pretty camera shy while we were in China.

Just had to share the second picture, we have to go to China to find out their is a deer species named after David. Who likes to hunt deer.

This was looking at some of the Asian animals. Will is a mouth breather and so his mouth often is hanging open. He also really didn't know what to think about all the different animals.

He was not happy because the camel had been walking towards him. He did not like many of the big animals unless they stood still. I think he thought the animals could come and get him. He did enjoy the plants and the people.

Mandarin Garden hotel

We stayed in this hotel from Monday till Friday afternoon in the capital city of Jiangsu province.
The hotel was considered a "5 star" by Chinese standards. It was a nice, but somewhat older hotel. It did have alot of things to do near by. I was amused that we were staying on the executive floor. The next picture is of our camera shy son. We stayed in room 1015 in Shanghai as well. I liked that we had a door bell that the staff did use if they came to our room. The buffet was good and the service was very good. It was the easiest meal of the day and we tried to eat as much as we could. Some days Will would sit in the high chair some days it was my lap. But he ate well everyday.

Pictures from the hotel in Nanjing

We had brought a small car (red) and plane (blue) that had Will's name on them and he liked playing with them. He laughed alot with us in the hotel room and liked jumping on the bed as well.

The beach ball was a great item to have and packed easily. We just had to make sure it didn't hit the lamps to hard. Will like to hit it across the bed to his baba and to roll it on the floor anytime we were in the room. He was very interested in playing and this was the best interaction we had with him. He was always willing to play.

Doctor's appointment

Will did not like this trip to the doctor much more then he liked the one in China. He was okay in the waiting room, but when we started to take off his clothes he started to cry and scream. He will be 30 months old on Monday.

He is 36 inches long, (a yard stick as the Dr. said), 28.88 pounds in just his diaper. He is not only on the American chart for height and weight but at 50% for both height and weight. The Dr. was impressed with his height and weight for living in an orphanage for the first two plus years of life. The Dr. was very low key and quiet with him, he started with reviewing the information we had for him and our answers to the developmental questions they ask at each well child visit. He thought the not eating many vegetables or crunchy fruits might be cleft related and that the feeding specialist at the crano-facial team could help with that. He said it would take a little while for him to pick up the language, and that the Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) on the cleft team would be a good resource for what was learning a new language and what was cleft related. After the exam he said he was in good health, he does have lots of cavities.

We have chosen to just redo all the immunizations on the catch-up schedule the CDC recommends, (see this web site http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm). They also drew blood to redo all of his blood work. He will not get the Hep A and B vaccines unless he does not have the antibodies in his blood stream. So hopefully that will be two less vaccines he needs.

We have learned that what he does not like about the Dr. visits is taking all of his clothes off, so hopefully his cleft appointment will go better May 20th.

First day home

Boy does it feel good to type those words. Sleeping in our own bed was more comfortable than China. Unfortunately Will showed off his very good gross (big muscle) skills by climbing out of his crib twice. The first time was shortly after we put him to bed. David went to check on him after we heard a thud on the monitor. He was greeted by Will walking around the bedroom. So he brought him downstairs and he fell asleep on him. We took him upstairs when we went to bed, he is staying in our room for right now. We put him in the crib and laid down to go to sleep. We hear a thud and then he was standing on my side of the bed, so he slept in our bed for the night. Went well till 4 am and he was awake for the day by 7:30am.

He did pretty well today, he still prefers his mama to his baba. He played with the toys, ate all 3 meals in his chair. He did get upset while I was up showering and managed to need a new outfit and so did baba. He still does not like baths, although he will play in the water in the sink. He does not like to be in high places to have his diaper changed. Was not fun on the plane as he had a death grip on one arm and the edge of the changing table. He still does not like it but is not crying as loud or holding on so tight. So some progress.

HOME AT LAST!!!!

WE ARE HOME!!!
We made it through customs and immigration without any problems. Will is now officially a citizen of the United States. It will be nice to sleep in our own bed tonight. The beds in China were like sleeping on a set of box springs with no mattress.

Stay tuned for additional details and pictures from our trip.

Goodbye China, Hello Home!!!!

We are at the Airport Hotel in Shanghai and are about to head down to the Airport for our flight home. They had free Internet here so we decided to make one last post from China. The Consulate visit yesterday went well and all the paperwork is in order. One last step to go, getting through customs in Atlanta. Shouldn't be much of a problem though.

USA here we come!!!