My apologies for not posting anything yesterday, but I was SO tired. It was a busy day from taking Ben to his first doctor visit (we got medicine to kick this cold of his), to the zoo, to the riverboat cruise, and finally “home” to the hotel.

The zoo was hot and moist and most of the animals were off sleeping, especially the cats. But anyone with cats knows they spend 80% of their time sleeping, anyway. There was a panda and he was awake, so we got a few pictures. I don’t know if Ben understood what he was seeing, but at least we have the memories. The llamas were more up close and personal (including licking my hand), so I think he had a good time with them.

This was not the Guangzhou Zoo; this was the smaller zoo with less animals, but after a couple of hours of walking in the steamy place, I was fine with the smaller version. We did, of course, buy Ben a panda bear (stuffed).

This was where the cold started. Yes, I have Ben’s cold. Awfully nice of him to share, right? Nancy’s getting it as well. Should make the flight home awesome!

We got back to the hotel with plenty of time to change and shower before the riverboat cruise. We had Papa John’s pizza for dinner. But for a few spotty, rainy moments, the cruise was great. We were on a replica of a dragon boat (see photos), a three-level affair complete with wooden stairs, dining room, and an upper deck which afforded us a great view of the Pearl River and the buildings that line the river.

Back to the hotel and I fell asleep. A cold and a long day out will do that.

The ride to the doctors and the zoo afforded us a view of some really interesting architecture, though I didn’t have my camera out for the doctor’s visit, I got some great shots on the zoo ride. I’ll post them shortly.

Today was another busy day, though less exciting. The morning was the exit meeting, where I learned what happens between now and landing in Newark (we’re really going back to the U.S. of A.? Wow…). Customs and Immigration and Visas, oh my.

This afternoon was the consulate visit and oath-taking ceremony, where we, along with 31 other couples and their children, took an oath that all the paperwork we’ve filled out is true to the best of our knowledge and ability. This makes us official parents. Bwa-ha-ha. Between the ride and the waiting, it took about 3 hours for all that.

We went out with 2 other couples (our last dinner in China) to a Cantonese restaurant, as Nancy thought that would be fun. There’s a saying ‘round these parts: The Catonese will eat anything with four legs except chairs and tables. Or two legs or more than four legs or even no legs. The chef’s Double Delight was some kind of worm and bug dish. Some kind of larva and worm thing. We did not order that. We did order a noodle dish, a rice and shrimp dish, a steak dish, and a pork dish. Steve was brave enough to order pigeon, or more properly, rice with pigeon meat. I tired it. Surprisingly unremarkable. But at least I can tell all the folks back home I had pigeon. At least it didn’t look like it did when it was alive!

And here we are. Tomorrow we leave by train for Hong Kong after picking up Ben’s visa. Liz and Steve, and their son Lucas, are coming with us all the way to Newark, so we’ll have another couple to get lost with! Then they’re taking another plane home to Harrisburg, PA. Fifteen hours and thirty minutes. That’s how long the flight from Hong Kong to Newark is. We leave HK at 10:30 am on the 9th and get home at 1:30 pm on the 9th. Back in time.

It’s been quite an adventure, though it’s not quite over. Once we’re home, I’ll sort through the 1,000+ photos and put more up in the Yahoogroup and also on the blog. Sorry I didn’t do a photo-a-day, but I thought of it too late. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of photos coming!

So how’s it feel to be a father? It was a lot smoother when I wasn’t sick. Trying to fight a cold and deal with a 16-month-old ain’t fun. But there will be more colds along the way, so I best get used to it. His smiles still warm my heart, and as scared as I was about being a dad (more than a father), right now, I’m digging this.

The other night I said, in my best Darth Vader impression, while he sat in my lap and I held the back of his head in my palm: Ben, you shall do as I say. You will listen to me as I am your authority figure. Benjamin Rui, I am your father.

He smiled and laughed. Yup. He’s my son.


Peace,
Gary . . .

A giggling smiling face can make everything right in the world. There is nothing better and I MEAN NOTHING than to see our little boy smile and giggle. He can brighten a room without lights.

It took him about 3 days to find his giggle again and now it is infectious. (not like his cold that Gary seems to have now caught- darn kid germs)
He is still sleeping soundly Ben not Gary. LOL

We found adorable boy squeaky shoes with what looks like a power ranger on them.
He discovered if he kicks his feet he can make them squeak and what a giggle that caused.

I’m sure once he is walking more we may want to opt out and take the squeaker out of them but for now it is cute. One of the boys who is 3y and runs a lot has them too. I think it is good you can tell which way he went with those shoes on.
Today we have the exit meeting and oath ceremony and some time within there I need to go do last minute shopping and packing! Yikes even with the extra suitcase (carry on size) we may need some prayers to make this all work. I plan to pack one small one for our overnight in Hong Kong and then the carry ons with an extra outfit for all of us on plane day in case something bad happens. Also I know there is a group of people meeting us at the airport most likely with a video camera so I need to clean up before they get me on film as I appeared the other night…picture it screaming child in airplane 2 hours, lap seat (that would be my lap), calmed by eating muffin-face first, runny nose everywhere, hair pulled out everywhere, and mommy at her wits end near exhaustion. Hmmmm that was only the 2 hour flight that interrupted nap time. Prayers folks I need Prayers to make it through the 15 ½ hour flight home with our adorable munchkin! Pray he does not turn to his evil twin for the plane trip.

It’s grey again. I can’t wait to see some blue sky and sunshine! I hear the weekend at home is supposed to be nice and that is a blessing because if I came home to more rain…YUCK!

Sunshine will at least assist getting rid of the jet lag.

Parks and fun stuff planned once we are functional.

I had thought we would crave pizza but we have had some here and a very good Italian meal the other night so I think it is going to be Blimpies sandwiches on wheat rolls. Everything here has been on white bread…yuck. And not quite right when it comes to sandwiches. I want a real deli sandwich piled high! Oh and real cheddar cheese…

Not sure where we will go to eat Italian place again or try the Cantonese restaurant before we leave.

Gary has to work on the Monday we return since it is tax crunch week. So we already are planning an outing to visit daddy for luch that day to ease the transition back to work.

Plans and more plans will be formed to fill my 10 weeks home which I’m sure will fly by but I intend to make the most of this time we have together at home!
House wife and mom for 10 weeks this will be something new for me.

Love to all Nancy

They tell me it’s Tuesday

Without a whole lot to do it is very disorienting being on a 2 week vacation/adventure to bring home our son.

We are nearing the end

Tomorrow we have the oath ceremony where we pledge to care for him etc
Then we get ready, pack and Thursday we pick up his visa to leave china and enter USA as a citizen

Thursday we will likely not be able to blog much after early morning since we are packing leaving getting visa and taking a train to Hong Kong
Not sure when we will be posting after that

Today was a full one

The cough that has lingered and the nasal congestion that changed to green were better but we still went forward with the doctor visit just to make sure before we were traveling by plane for 15 plus hours
The western doctor was very nice and very good he spoke English and listened to Ben’s lungs all clear no wheeze no pneumonia, checked his ears YAY no ear infection
But he felt 3 days of antibiotic to clear this out before travel was really a good thing to do
And it’s a drug I recognize now!! Zithromax for 3 days plus a decongestant expectorant to get the last of the congestion out before we travel

So I was not over reacting we did need to be there

We came back and asked about a day trip since the threat of rain canceled the safari park
One of the mom’s said there was a zoo closer than safari and they arranged a van for 4 families who really needed to get out of the hotel for something other than shopping

The zoo was ok animals were not as well cared for as the American zoos but we did get to see our Panda bear and Ben was happy with that. We got him a stuffed panda toy to bring home as a memory of the trip. Gary got to pet some llamas too. Very exciting.

We decided to do the river cruise tonight as well to get out of the hotel. We are so glad we did. That was a lot of fun and Ben was checking out all the neon lights and tall building and bridges. We were on the Dragon boat which we see from our hotel window.
At check in one other family told us the river view was pretty and that side of the hotel more quiet so we requested that along with that family. That view, is great we see all the boats cruise along day and night and the cargo ships float on by.

So today was a very packed day

Ben napped only 30 minutes on 2 of the car rides and he went to bed after a bottle pretty easily when we got home. If I catch it right he will play with the beads on the crib and then just lie down and go to sleep without a fight.

Gary thinks he night be starting the cold Ben has and he also fell asleep really fast after we got back to the room.

I’m staying up awhile longer or else you know you will find one of those 5 am blog spots
Take care everyone we shall see you shortly

Love Nancy Gary and Ben

So I’ve been getting reports from NJ on how gorgeous it is there warm dry sunny. This does not match with what we have here. It is warm enough to go without a jacket but damp and foggy each morning and drizzling rain on and off. Today was supposed to be safari day but it is raining with a threat of thunderstorms so once again we are stuck to the hotel and missing a fun outing. We are actually going to see a doctor about Ben’s cough today since I tried stopping the “flu” medicine after the medical check as they suggested and he sounded worse I went back to the medicine but I’m not sure he is suppose to be on it more than a week and I will run out of it before we leave here. It’s been over a week for this cold and though he is better it is not gone yet. Wish I brought the stethoscope to listen to his lungs…nurse mom’s are the worst at this right?

Well yesterday we discovered that if we crawl on the marble long enough the inevitable will happen. We will smack our head really hard and get an egg. Luckily after a longer duration to calm him thab usual, he only had a small bruise, thanks reiki. He was a little groggy at breakfast and nurse mom was thinking oh no not a CT scan in China! Also thinking they are going to look at us with his big egg on his head and say “what have you done to this child!”

Ok if this place caterers to kids so much why are there 2 large areas of hard marble flooring? The carpeted area is smaller and we tried playing a bit on the bed yesterday but then you know the risk in that with the active toddler who throws himself around without conscious awareness of their surroundings. No he didn’t fall of the bed but…

Yes I am a bit of the over protective mommy. He is the first and I’d like to leave china without a tour of their hospitals thanks so much.

We spent time in the playroom yesterday and he was definitely warming up to the room and amount of activity from the older kids. He started crawling around to find stuff on his own so this is a good thing.

Earlier bedtime since the Tea buffet went until 530 and we weren’t hungry enough for a restaurant meal. At bed time he was so tired last night he could barely hold himself up and still wanted to play. Some how I got him in the crib with a toy and a little drama but not much he fell asleep crumpling a paper (low cost toys he loves to play with paper). Still sleeping now and so is Gary. I actually slept 8 hours without waking to check baby breathing as much tonight. YAY!! What will I do when he is in the other room and I can’t just roll over and look in on him? Maybe sleep better once I get used to the monitor???

Ah well new mommy syndrome I know.

Can’t remember if I blogged or Gary did about the shopping extravaganza at Jordan’s yesterday… Many many purchases. I discovered I should have gotten some of the things peddlers were pushing on the street of Beijing as they are more expensive here or not found, like postcards. I had to go to 3-4 shops to find just one set so I will send some to family and friends if I can remember all the addresses oops forgot the address book at home…oh crud well maybe just a few will be sent then for the China postmark.

Overall a good day, I need to stop being critical about some things and just enjoy the last of this trip though it is nearing on 2 weeks now and I long for our softer bed mattress and comforts of home.

With Loving Kindness
Nancy

Here we are, Monday night. Ben actually got to bed with a minimum of fuss around 8:30Yahoo!

Today was another gray day, as it’s been since we landed in Nanjing, back on the 29th. All but one day was gray, and that was the day we flew from Nanjing to Guangzhou; it was sunny then. I was able to see downriver where the cargo cranes stand ten stories high and in the light fog looked like giant spiders.

We went shopping at Jordon’s today and bought a LOT of stuff. Gifts, statues, toys (including a Ben 10 doll (a Chinese cartoon about an urban hero that saves the poor from the evil people)), good luck knots, and a new suitcase to carry it all home in. Jordon did a calligraphic picture of Ben’s name, the Chinese characters and what they mean. It was very nice of him, and I recommend stopping in if you happen to be in the neighborhood. Tell him Gary, Nancy, and Ben sent you. We went around to Michael’s Place to pick up Ben’s chop; it’s beautiful. We also bought him Power Ranger squeaky shoes that squeak when you walk. He’s not walking yet, but they were too cool to pass up. The squeaker does come out when it gets old, so that’s good news! We went to the film store to have the stone etching done, which we’ll pick up tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, we were supposed to go to the Guangzhou Zoo and Safari Park, but it looks like it’s supposed to rain. On top of that, Nancy wants to take Ben to a western medicine doctor to have this cough/cold checked out. I hope we don’t pay a lot of money to have the doctor tell us he’s sick and keep doing what we’re doing. Hopefully, he’ll get some medicine and we’ll be on our way. If it’s not raining, I’d still like to get over to the zoo to see pandas, but we’ll see. It would’ve been a nice break from this hotel and the local shops, all on streets under construction. Either way, I’ll get over to the CD store and see what they’ve got.

Today was the Red Couch Portrait. Imagine the scene: seven couples trying to get their new children, ages 14 months to five years old to sit still on this red couch, long enough for the parents to take photographs of all of them. Ever try herding cats? That might be easier. If one child cries, the next one starts, then the next, another child seems uncertain if they should cry, and . . . you get it. In the end, the mothers held their babies and many photos were taken.

Next we all went down to the observation area overlooking the waterfall in the hotel for a huge family photo. The Holt staff took pictures with everyone’s cameras. Then it was off to High Tea, something the hotel ahs in the same areas as their buffet meals. Here, a buffet is laid out with food and plenty of gorgeous, delicious desserts, and tea. It’s free, unless you want something to drink other than tea. If you’re at the White Swan, find out about it and go; it’s worth it.

We spent some time in the hotel’s playroom, playing with all the kids and having loads of fun. I took a lot of pictures of the other families and their children, so we’ll be sharing them around.

And that was about it. We’ve been back at the room over since. Ben was in play mode for quite a while, even though he was big-time tired, and many smiles and giggles were had and given. I love making him laugh and smile. It’s like looking upon the face of an angel. It will also hold me over through those times when his Hellboy persona comes out.

Another couple of days and we’re outta here. As much as I love Guangzhou and the people we’ve become friends with, I’m ready to come home. A gent I work with, Brian, said after a while, you get tired of hotels and going out to eat, and you know what, he’s right. Usually, I’m all about the staying over and going out, but when you have a child and you don’t have a car, and you’re not overly familiar with the layout of the place, going out to eat twice a day can get burdensome. Also, when we get home, we’ll be back surrounded by our stuff, our friends and family, and get where we want to go when we want to go.

Though it’s not over yet, I can say we’ve had some incredibly memorable times from our first experiences in Beijing (which means northern capital) to meeting our new son for the first time in Nanjing (I thought we’d cry, but we really didn’t (we were so excited and overjoyed)), to being with our new friends and their new children here in Guangzhou. We have so many pictures of Ben and our travels, some of which I’ll put up on the blog, so stay tuned. In the mean time, keep posting those comments; we enjoy reading them when Nanci sends them to us.

Be well, have fun, and we’ll see you soon!


Peace,
Gary . . .

Communiqué: To Home Planet

Communiqué: To Home Plane
Mission: World Conquest
Reporting: Captain “Dribbles”


Day 485 of existence on this plane.

I apologize for not contacting you sooner, but there has been a change in living arrangements, and I am concerned the mission may be compromised. When last I sent you a communication, I was at the institution near where I was discovered. The plan had been to turn the locals into minions and begin world domination. This had been going quite well. The attendants at the quote, unquote, orphanage were bending to my dominant will. Though they might be giants, they were easily taken with my cute (I’m doing air quotes here) looks and adorable (air quotes again) giggle.

Last week (Human time of 7 days), I was taken by two giants in one of their transports into the city, a drive of substantial time (around 2 human hours), and brought to one of their governmental constructs called the Office of Civil Affairs. There, without any consideration for my mission, nor any attempt to inquire if this was agreeable with me, I was turned over to two other giants, one female and one unusually small male. At first, I took the male to be in his early teens (again, another human time comprised of at least 11 earth years), but it turns out he’s much older, older than my caretakers.

Please understand that this was not of my doing, nor did they allow me to have any say in the matter. I know the mission is now in jeopardy, but at this time, there is little I can do. For the most part, the giants treat me well, better than the institution staff, feeding me regularly, changing me regularly, and playing with me as if I was one of their human babies. At times I am amused, but other times I am quite sad that this has come to pass. There are very few potential minions, as I do not see other “children” my age on a regular basis.

If that wasn’t bad enough, they are taking me around in one of the most archaic transports I have ever experienced. It has no engine, tiny wheels, no exterior covering for protection against the elements or impact, and it needs one of the giants in order to propel it. A terrible waste of energy and resources. I long for one of our hydrogen powered hover mats, but while on this plane, it is not to be. Perhaps when I can manipulate their tools, I shall construct one, and mock their foolish archaic transports!

They are asleep right now and I have gained access to what I hope is one of their technologically advanced communication devices, although it is primitive by our standards; I am actually having to typing this with my tiny fingers, instead of communicating it to you via intuitive wave transmissions.

The worst aspect of this situation, is that when they believe I should be tired, they put me in a wooden, padded jail, enticing me with thick wood wheels on dowels installed on the walls of the cell. And I fall for it every time.

Understand, that I try my best to gain their sympathies by crying as loud as possible while throwing myself around the padded cell, not with the intent of hurting myself, but to have them pick me up out of the cell. But these heartless giants do not take me out! They leave me in there, crying until I exhaust myself and fall asleep. They say they cannot give in to my tantrums or it will set a bad precedent.

No, this is not good at all. How can I carry out the plan of world conquest, when I’m stuck in what they call a crib? I tried using my digestive system to corrupt their food substances, which would elicit a highly toxic by-product from what is colloquially called my arse. It worked, the substance was mildy sentient as it left my body. The unusually small male shrieked and acted irrational. Just I was beginning to think I could subvert their will, the female came and calmly handled the situation. Foiled again.

The giants are beginning to stir, so I must return to my padded cell. Tomorrow I go to visit one of their medical institutions, as I have become infected by their stinky germs. Speaking of stinky, I think my digestive system is still corrupting their food.

Until I can send another communiqué regarding the mission, it is best to maintain radio silence. Tonight, someone radioed me and I had to convince them that I spoke, how did they call it, baby babble (air quotes one more time) in order to deceive them and keep them from understanding my mission. Tell those geeks and nerds back home to stop asking me what the girls are like and if anyone still reads Alfred Bester and Isaac Asimov here. I have no idea.


Coincidentally Yours,
Captain “Dribbles”

P.S.: It is my understanding that more giants will be arriving in the coming month to take more of “us” back to their land. Perhaps all is not lost.