Yesterday was busy, but wonderful. I (Kate) couldn't sleep the whole night before, as I knew that we would soon be meeting Zheng Tong. We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant (which is wonderful, by the way), with its assortment of baked goods, noodles and other traditional Chinese dishes.
After breakfast, we walked around to explore our street. We went to a couple of different stores. Jinan is a really nice looking and modern city, but a couple of blocks away from our hotel is a really charming traditional Chinese street, with all kinds of open air shops and restaurants. We hope to explore it tomorrow.
At 12:15, I met our guide (Missy) in our hotel lobby and walked with her to the local bank, as I did not have any RMB. I knew that Zheng Tong would be arriving to our hotel at 1 pm, so my heart was pounding the entire time. Every time I saw a little boy on the street, I looked to see if it was him.
We returned to the hotel at about ten to 1 and I ran upstairs to our room to get Mike and the kids and Zheng Tong's backpack (which I filled with a few Ultraman toys, snacks and a kids' digital camera for him). When we all got to the lobby, he was there, with a caregiver and an official from Qingdao. He looked absolutely adorable, in a Mickey Mouse baseball cap. He was also in shock/overwhelmed. Both of the women with him were so incredibly sweet with him. Mike and I introduced ourselves to Tong in Mandarin. The two women then gave Mike and I a life book/photo album full of photos of Zheng Tong and captions under each photo (in written Chinese). A lot of love went into this book.
I then showed Tong his new Cars backpack and pulled out the digital camera. He became so excited, and must have jumped up and down for a straight 5 minutes. The women accompanying him told me that he loves cameras and taking pictures, and that he wants to be a photographer. Wow, who would have thought that this gift would go over that well? Tong then took pictures- of everything. Our family, the women behind the bakery counter in the hotel lobby, the indoor plants, the couches, the desserts. In the meantime, Mike and I signed some papers, granting us guardianship.
Tong and Emily are two peas in a pod. Within minutes, they were holding hands and laughing. Emily was jumping up and down with a big grin on her face. She has been looking forward to this for so long.
In general, Tong did fantastic with the initial meeting. When he seemed to become a little overwhelmed, he would focus on his camera and taking pictures. He enjoyed showing us all of his photos.
We then went to get his passport photos and photo for Tong's adoption decree. Then our driver came to take us to Walmart. Dylan lost one of his shoes on the plane, so he was without shoes, so we got him a new pair. We also picked up plenty of drinks to keep in our hotel room. Then we went to the boys section and tried to figure out Tong's size, so we could get him some new shirts and shorts. At this point, Tong's memory card was full. Since this camera was his safety object to retreat to through the transition and all of the changes, he became very overwhelmed and we knew it was a good time to leave the store and go to someplace less overstimulating.
When we were driving, Tong noticed that there was a KFC near our hotel. He became VERY excited and even moreso when we said that we would go there for dinner. Again, another 5 minutes of jumping up and down. :) We then dropped off our things at our hotel room and headed to KFC- just Tong, us and Missy. During this meal, Tong relaxed quite a bit and he and Emily spent most of the meal giggling together and playing with the pig toys that came with their meals. In fact, Emily and Tong held hands from a couple of minutes after our first meeting through the rest of the day.
After dinner, we took a little walk to a local park. Tong became very excited when he saw kites in the air. He LOVES kites and asked if we can make a kite. He also got very excited when he found out that we live near a beach where people fly kites. We promised to fly kites when we get home.
We sat over by a large fountain with a lotus statue in the middle and little lotuses throughout. There was a little boy with a water gun that could shoot water almost across the entire fountain. He was there with his grandma, who said that Tong could use the water gun. Well, he loved that!!!!!! He shot water at dragon flies that were hovering above the water of the fountain. He also challenged people across the fountain to a water duel. :)
While we were walking, Tong kept reaching for Mike's watch. Our guide said "He wants Mike's watch." We told him that it would be way too big for him and that we would get him a watch that is his size. Later, we asked Tong if he likes Ultraman, which is incredibly popular here with children aged 5 and up. His answer was, "Yes, I like Ultraman, but I like Dad's watch better!" Hahaha. He was very curious, asking 1. Why our family is so big and 2. Why there are no pots and pans in our hotel room. We explained to him that we love our big family and that the hotel is not our permanent residence. :) When he was singing a song, he also asked our guide why he is not famous on tv yet. :) This boy is very outgoing and definitely has the personality to be a celebrity.
On our way back to the hotel, Tong tested us a little bit, as he insisted on walking very close to the edge of the road. He sat down on the ground and refused to walk when we asked him to stay with us and hold our hands. I think he expected us to get mad, but Mike picked him up, told him that we care about him and do not want him to get hurt. He then grinned when Mike was holding him and was happy all the way back to the hotel.
We then went back to our hotel room, where we started the nighttime routine. Tong took his first bath ever (he always took showers) and his was soooooo excited, shouting "Look at me, look at me! I'm swimming, I'm swimming!" in Mandarin. I didn't think he would ever get out of the tub, but he did when we told him he could take another bath tomorrow. :) Since the toilets in China are different, he also became very fascinated with the toilet and flushed about 5 times to watch the water go down. :)
Missy then left and Emily and Tong played for a while, until it was time to go to bed. Tong gave me a hug and a kiss and called me Mama. It was a good day. A very good day. :)
Will post pictures later. Right now, it is time for breakfast!
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