Tru's Smiles

It is Wednesday around noon. Tru seems to be much happier today. He is very active and wants to touch us. That is a very good sign! So here are some photos of his smiles...

Have I mentioned his appetite? Wow this little boy can eat!!!

Adoption Day

It is official! On Tuesday we signed all of the adoption paperwork and received Tru's adoption certificate. We took this photo with (left to right) the notary, the director of public affairs, and the director of Tru's orphange. The director of Tru's orphange had emailed me in March with pictures. We told her how much we appreciated that and she handed us a bag of gifts for Tru. Also, when we sent the care package to Tru in March we had included two disposable cameras and asked them to take pictures of Tru and his friends at the orphanage. The director brought me the cameras and they seemed to have taken many pictures. I hope we can have them developed here!

Here is one version of Tru's frown although this one is not as severe as usual.

Tru was still all frowns this morning. But after a mid-day nap and lots of snacks things began to turn around. He has stopped pushing away from us as much and the stacking cups are still a big hit. He always has a cup in each hand anywhere we go.

We had been trying to find ways to make him smile and laugh so we resorted to silliness. I started putting the cups on my head and would make them fall into his lap. That worked! He thought that was fun. Finally.... some smiles and giggles!

Now that is what we wanted to see!

Meet Tru

We flew from Beijing to Lanzhou on Sunday and arrived at the hotel at 9:30PM. We were supposed to meet Tru on Monday afternoon. Well... surprise!! Tru was at the hotel waiting for us. We got into our room, tried to arrange our bags and then the director and Tru's nanny came in and handed Tru to us. He was not very happy. He was all frowns and there were a few tears. His nanny had to leave the room so he would not be upset. I (Jody) was able to take him without must hesitation. When any of us got close to him or offered him a toy he pushed us away. However, he instantly liked the stacking cups we brought. He began stacking and unstacking them. He is very talented! The toys helped as everyone left us alone in the room.

Tru kept his head down all night and would not look up at us. When he did look up he was frowning.

It was very late by this time. We gave him a bath (which he did not like!) and put on his pajamas. We offered him a bottle and he just pushed it away. We all got into bed, and turned out the lights. Tru cried for about five minutes and we all slept until 6AM. Not too bad - we were really expecting him to be upset.

Lin-Ley was very excited. The instant they brought him in she was speaking to him and offering him every toy we had brought. She wanted to bath him by herself and she wanted to feed him. I think she has been a big help with his adjustment. The most important thing is that she is our "big helper" and that makes her feel special.

Beijing - Day 4

First stop today was The Summer Palace and Lake Kunming.









On the way to lunch we passed by the stadium they are building for the 2008 Beijing Oplympics opening ceremony. There are many buildings under construction in preparation for the Olympics.



We had a special treat this afternoon. We went to the home of Frank and Marilyn and their son Jiawen. Frank and Marilyn were our guides when we traveled to China the first time. Our first trip was Marilyn's last trip before she had their son. She said she remembered us and the way Lin-Ley cried all night one night at the hotel. They told us that they were also hospitalized after returning from that trip with SARS symptoms. Mary (our current Beijing guide) and Marilyn are sisters.



Marilyn's mother, two of her sisters and two nieces were there as well. Her mother was rolling the small dough pieces for Chinese dumplings and we helped fill the dumplings. Well we tried to help. All of their dumplings were perfect. Mary told me that my dumplings looked like rabbits! Then they cooked the dumplings and we ate them. All of this was supposed to be for Lin-Ley but she was much too busy playing! It was lots of fun and Lin-Ley had a great time. She and Jaiwen were instant friends. At one point Jaiwen told his parents that he had a new sister. When we finally had to leave Lin-Ley was very sad because she told me she wanted to stay there forever.

We leave Beijing tomorrow (Sunday). We will leave the hotel, go see the Giant Pandas, do a little shopping and then it is on to the airport.

We fly to Lanzhou were we will finally meet Tru on Monday!!

I will post again once we become a family of four!!

Beijing - Day 3

I (Jody) started out with a little trouble with the police this morning. Notice the police van on the right.
We were at Tiananmen Square flying a kite (a very common practice). The policemen pulled up and said "hello" so I smiled and said "hello" back. Then they said something in Chinese. I looked over at them and they were still smiling. Then they said something else in Chinese. Lin-Ley came over to help with the kite and then Mary (our guide) started jogging toward me and the police van. She talked to the police and they had been telling me that I could not fly a kite today. Mary asked why and they just drove away. So... we put the kite away... rather quickly....

Mary said she had a secret for us. She was at Tiananmen Square on that infamous day, that we have seen on TV, involving the tanks and in particular the tanks running over a student who refused to move from its path. She said she was very lucky because she grew up in Beijing and she knew a way to get out of the Square and away from the tanks. Since that day she said she stays away from demonstrations!

Next we walked to The Forbidden City. This was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are 9,999 rooms in the palace!

While waiting for Mary to buy our tickets several young Chinese girls (ages 16 - 25) came over to us and asked us to take a picture. We thought they wanted one of us to take a picture of them but they wanted to take pictures with us. We probably took pictures with 7 different girls. They were all giggling. Then one girl asked if she could take a picture with just me (Jody). I stood beside her and she wrapped her arm right around my waist.

Lin-Ley and Mary at The Forbidden City. Mary has been great and offers to watch Lin-Ley for a few minutes if we want to walk through the palace or anything Lin-Ley's really not interested in. Lin-Ley loves her. Mary says it is because she is Chinese. But Lin-Ley told her today that she liked her because she spoke English. ??

This is not a great picture but I thought I would share it. Remember the movie "The Last Emperor" about a little 6 year old boy who became the Emperor of China? Well, this was his bed.

Next stop, the Temple of Heaven. This was probably the most beautiful building we have seen so far. There is one spot on an alter that has a stone on what was considered the center of Heaven. We stood in the center of Heaven today!

Dallas at The Temple of Heaven.

We did not have time to return to our hotel before the last event of the evening so we went to a pearl factory. When we walked in a girl handed Lin-Ley a little red bag and then showed us over the a tank filled with oysters. She asked me to scoop out an oyster and then she opened it. There were over 20 pearls inside. She gave Lin-Ley and me one of the pearls to keep. To waste a little time... we shopped. Lin-Ley finally opened her little red bag and there was a beautiful small pearl bracelet inside.

Finally we went to the Kongfu show that Lin-Ley had been waiting for. First she took a picture beside a young monk from the show.
She loved the show and has given us some demonstrations of her Kongfu moves since we returned to the room.

Currently Lin-Ley and her dad are sleeping soundly!

I thought I would share one other item that Mary told us that I thought was particularly interesting. In China you are considered "rich" if you own certain things. She gave me a breakdown from the 1970's to today:

In the 1970's you were rich if you owned:

1. bicycle

2. watch

3. sewing machine

In the 80's you were rich if you owned:

1. washing machine

2. tv

3. ice box

In the 90's you were rich if you owned:

1. cell phone

2. computer

3. motorcycle

Today you are considered rich if you own:

1. private house

2. private car

3. if you have insurance

This really makes you think about what you have and what so many other people do not have but want and/or need!

Beijing - Day 2

We have had a full day. Lin-Ley seems to be adjusted
to the time change and she enjoyed herself much more today.

Our first stop was a jade factory. We took a small tour and watched the jade

being carved. And then... we shopped.

Next stop - the Sacred Way.

This is a tree and statue lined road leading to the Ming Tombs.

We visited a few of the tombs as well as an underground palace.

Time for lunch so we stopped at a cloisonne' factory. We had a brief tour and saw how all of the products in the factory are made by hand. Then we had lunch upstairs and then... we shopped.

Then on to the Great Wall of China. Lin-Ley was very excited about this part of our trip because she was going to be at the same place as Mulan!

We had hoped to visit a part of the wall that had a cable car that would take us to the top of the wall but road construction prevented it. We did not go to the top because the steps are very steep. Ok, and also because it is a very, very long way to the top!
It was very foggy in the mountains so we did not get many great pictures. But the view was great and we were all very happy to be there!

Just when we thought we were done we took a small detour near our hotel and went to a silk shop. We had a tour of their factory and saw how they harvest silk. Lin-Ley was ask to participate. She and Dallas helped them

stretch the silk that will be used in a blanket. Very interesting process. And then... we shopped.

Now we are back in our room for a short while but the fun is not over yet... tonight we are eating at McDonald's. We have had Chinese food every day (three meals a day). Our guide and driver told us last night that they love Amercian food and they liked McDonald's. So we told them that we wanted to go there too! There are also many Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants here. Mary (our guide) said that McDonald's and KFC are cheap but Pizza Hut is very expensive. So we hope to treat them to dinner at Pizza Hut later this week.

Dallas and I are exhausted after this busy day and Lin-Ley is going strong - her usual chatter-box self! We have to stay awake 30 more minutes before we meet for dinner. I keep typing because if I stop I will fall asleep immediately....

Until tomorrow....

Beijing - Day 1

We visited Hutong, an ancient city of alleys and narrow lanes first built in the Yuan Dynasty. We visited the drum tower and then took a old-fashioned pedicab through the streets. This was fun. We made a stop at a local elementary school and visited with children who sang songs for us and demonstrated their English.

We came back to our room after lunch for a nap. We are all very tired but Lin-Ley seems to be having some serious jet lag. Poor little thing!

This evening we went to a Chinese acrobatic show. The performers were all amazing. Lin-Ley woke up for this!

Bath time - another busy day tomorrow....

We are In Beijing

We made it! The flight was long as expect and Lin-Ley did well with the help of 1 arts & crafts project, 4 video games, 2 coloring books, 2 meals, numerous snacks, and 4 movies. Notice I did not mention anything about sleeping!!
We left home at 7AM on Monday and arrrived in Beijing at 2PM Tuesday afternoon (your 2AM Tuesday morning). By the time we made it through customs and found Mary (our guide) it was 4PM. We checked into our hotel, had dinner, had baths and were dozing in our beds by 6:45PM. It's now 4:30AM and Dallas and I are up. Lin-Ley is stirring but around midnight she woke up for about 2 hours and talked, sang and played with the toys in her beds. I guess she just needs a few more minutes...
Busy day ahead. We will be true tourist!
More later...

Leaving Monday

We just received our itinerary and we will be leaving from Dulles (Washington, DC) to Beijing (a straight flight of 13.5 hours) on Monday, July 23, 2007. Finally! We will be flying to Beijing for 5 days where we will have a personalized tour. Then we travel to Lanzhou (Ganzu Province) where we will meet Tru for the first time. Then it is on to Guangzhou (Guandong Province) where Tru will get his visa. Then to Hong Kong, San Franisco, and finally BWI (Baltimore) (HOME). We will be back home the evening of August 8, 2007.

By the way, since you are finding all of these locations on the map provided, look for Hunan Province. That is where Lin-Ley is from. She is our Spicy Hunan Girl!

Visa Appointment

We found out today that Tru has a visa appointment at the U.S. Consulate (in China) on August 6, 2007. That will be the last step in China before he can come home. So that means we need to leave for China by Monday, July 23, 2007.

His room is ready and his clothes are packed!

Travel Authorization - Finally

Yesterday, on Friday 13th (a very lucky day!) we received our travel authorization. We hope to be the air around July 19, 2007. Oh Happy Day!
Hold on Tru - we are on our way - FINALLY!!