On Sunday, we had a free day, which we mostly spent in our room. This seemed to do a world of good for Tong Tong, who has been feeling a bit insecure. He is very attached to Mike, and likes to be mostly carried around by him. In fact, he even drew a family picture, which showed his two sisters, me pushing Dylan in the stroller and his Baba holding him. It was really sweet.

As I said, we mostly hung around the hotel room, venturing out for a little while to check out the pool and fitness room. Tong had fun in the fitness room, showing us how good he is at situps. He is actually a very strong little guy.

I (Kate) left the room a couple of times to navigate the food stands and shops outside the ground floor entrance to our hotel. I picked up some great dumplings, fried rice, drinks, a “traditional American” club sandwich-hahaha- complete with fried egg and smoked salmon, and some yummy desserts (cooked vanilla flavored dough with chocolate swirls). We went to bed pretty early (around 8:30), because we knew that Monday would be a big day. Overall, as I said, a happy day for Tong and for our whole family. Dylan and Abby absolutely LOVE their new older brother and they follow him everywhere and try to imitate EVERYTHING he does.

On Monday, we woke up pretty early and had breakfast at the hotel's buffet. We hung mostly around the hotel room, but ventured out for a little bit to check out the local shops. We had another dumpling and rice lunch and then went back to our room to gather our things for our big day. At 1:45 we met our guide (Grace) and hopped aboard our van to ride to the Civil Affairs building to meet our son, Hu Jie for the first time. It was about a 25 minute ride and we were all so excited, except for poor Tong, whose heart was beating so fast. We were a bit nervous about how the meeting would go, because Tong has been feeling very insecure, thinking that we will not have our attention or love if there is another child in our family.

Anyway, we were supposed to meet Hu Jie around 2:30. As we all sat on the couches at Civil Affairs, we immediately met the orphanage director (around 2:05), and then about 5 minutes later, we saw two women walk Hu Jie through the doors and then into another room. He was absolutely adorable, in a green striped shirt and some very baggy jeans. :) At 2:30, Hu Jie was brought to us, by one of his ayis (nannies) and his social worker. Mike held Tong the whole time, and kept reassuring him that we love him. I kneeled down and hugged Hu Jie and told him in Mandarin that we are his parents. He looked a little shy and scared, but within a few seconds, he hugged me and stared at me with his beautiful big brown eyes and gave me the sweetest smile. He is so adorable and- TALL. He is not much smaller than his 7 year old brother (and he is only 5). He seems quiet and gentle natured, and did I mention how beautiful and sweet his smile is? :)

We were very proud of Tong for how he handled the meeting. We know he was terrified, but he handled it all very well and actually seems to like his new brother. In fact, he even asked Grace why we only have 5 kids, as we should have 7- LOL. Talk about a 180!

Emily and Hu Jie hit it off right away, and they held hands on the way back to the van and for the whole ride to the hotel. We gave Hu Jie his own camera, and just like Tong, he took immediately to taking pictures.

When we got back to the hotel, we dialed for pizza and had it delivered to our hotel. We enjoyed a pizza dinner, and then it was like one big party. The kids were playing and giggling and having a great old time. Hu Jie had a remote control car with him, that we had sent to him in a care package. The kids all played with that together. As time went on, instead of getting tired, the giggling and energy level seemed to only increase. Little, shy, Hu Jie, became comfortable very quickly, so it didn't take long for him to come out of his shell. He is a very, very sweet boy. He is also very curious, touching and experimenting with everything, and he is FULL of energy. Mike and I just sat back for a moment and said, “Oh boy- 5 kids- this is our future.” Hahaha. In all honesty, we feel so incredibly lucky.

Yesterday (Tuesday), we completed Hu Jie's adoption, signing paperwork and getting our family photo for the adoption decree. On our way back to the hotel, our van brought us to Shamian Island, where we grabbed some Starbucks and dropped off our laundry (we were just about out of clean clothes).

Later in the afternoon, we walked from our hotel back to Shamian Island for dinner. Overall, the kids get along great, but there was quite a bit of acting out from Tong yesterday (jealousy). At breakfast, when Hu Jie left the table to go to the bathroom, Tong put salt in his drink. :( He also screamed and cried and insisted that he be pushed in the baby stroller when we were in Shamian Island. Tong is very funny and outgoing and SMART, but he likes to be the center of attention- all of the time. According to his caregivers, he always has (even prior to the adoption) liked the spotlight (which is fine), but does not like sharing attention at all. Hopefully, as time goes on and he realizes that we love ALL of our kids, no matter how many there are, he will become more secure.

On Thursday, we went to Daming Lake, a local park in Jinan. We walked around and then took a boat ride. It was really nice. Here are some pictures. Missy told me that thereis a famous story about this lake. A long time ago, there was an Emperor who visited the lake. While there, he met a beautiful woman, and they fell in love. However, their love was forbidden, as he was an emperor and she was a common girl. During their time together, he gave her a fan and wrote a poem on it, declaring his love for her. Due to their love being forbidden, he eventually had to leave and go back to his palace, and leave his love behind. Little did he know that she was pregnant. She was left behind to live a life of scorn for being an unwed mother, and she became very depressed. On her death bed, she told her daughter all about her father, the Emperor. She told her daughter to go and find her father. The girl did find her father. At first, the Emperor did not believe that she was his daughter, until.....she presented him with the fan that he had given to his mother all of those years before.

Tong is having a VERY difficult transition. On Thursday, his sadness changed to anger, and he has been angry ever since. Angry at everything- at us, at life. This is all pretty much a “textbook” reaction to the major changes happening in his life right now, but it is hard to watch him go through all of this. We have been mostly keeping to the hotel room, as emotions seem to escalate when we venture outside. We left Jinan yesterday (Saturday) to come here to Guangzhou. He did pretty well on the plane, and seemed to actually really enjoy the takeoff and landing, but the airports were a different story altogether. He is struggling with a lot right now- leaving his foster parents, coming to a new family who speaks a new language, leaving his position as youngest baby of the family and only child in the home to come into a family with a lot of kids.

On Friday, we called his foster family on Skype, and he was grinning from ear to ear. We have no idea what he said to them or if he called us every Chinese swear word in the book (LOL- quite possible, since Missy has told him on several occasions not to use “bad words”), but the call made him happy, and that is what is important. He seemed a lot less angry and much more peaceful after the call- but then our trip yesterday seemed to set off these emotions again.

It will get better. We know that, as many people have walked this road before. As I said, Tong's reactions to an extreme set of circumstances is to be expected. He is hurting right now. It is just hard to watch him go through it. In between these moments, we see glimpses of a very happy, outgoing, funny, bright, sweet and affectionate little boy, and we know that over time, we will see this boy more and more.

It is now 6 am and the kiddos are asleep. We have a free day today (no obligations at all), which I think is exactly what we all need. Will keep you posted.

Pictures from Daming Lake:

Farmland on the way to Qingdao and the playroom at the orphanage:

Qingdao:

On the train to Qingdao (Wednesday):

Finally- Photos from Day 2 (Tuesday):

Sorry, but it has been very difficult for us to update our blog while here. I am not sure if it is our slow internet connection or if Blogger is down, but it just hasn't been working.

On Wednesday, we took a 2 and a half our train ride to Qingdao, to the orphanage where Tong spent the first year of his life. We met the associate director and some of the caregivers, who gave us a tour of the orphanage. It is really nice and colorful, with many photos on the walls. They showed us a photo, as some of the children take Tae Kwan Do at the orphanage. Tong has been coming back to the orphanage for Tae Kwan Do class, so they showed us his picture in the collage. The associate director gave us some gifts: a plaque, some blue angel stuffed dolls as the angel is a symbol of this orphanage. They also gave some stuffed animals to each of our children, and then treated us to lunch at a local restaurant. It was honestly among the best meals I have EVER eaten. My favorite was the dumplings filled with egg, fresh chopped scallion and I am not sure what else- but it was GOOD!!! The bean curd was also quite tasty. Apparently, Dylan is a huge fan of Chinese food too! And yes, we did even get to each enjoy a glass of Tsingtao beer. :)

As for Tong, Wednesday was a day of grieving. He was ok when we were visiting the orphanage and having lunch, but he sobbed on the way to Qingdao, asking our guide how we can be his parents if we do not look like him and if we speak a foreign language. He also said that he was afraid that if we saw any of the other kids in Qingdao, we wouldn't love him anymore and Emily would want to play with those kids instead. :( Most of all, he misses his foster family. He cried and he cried hard. It was heartbreaking, but I am glad that he is able to express what he is feeling.

Yesterday (Thursday), we went to Daming Lake, a beautiful park with a lake here in Jinan. It was beautiful but HOT!!!!!! Missy said that it has been relatively cool (compared to the usual summer weather here), but it was easily 95-100 degrees. I think we are in for some serious heat in Guangzhou!
We enjoyed walking around the park and we took a boat ride across the lake. It was really nice.

After the park, we came back to the hotel and had a low key afternoon. By about 5 pm, everyone was hungry, so we decided to take a walk to find something to eat. We took a walk down a beautiful traditional Chinese street across from the hotel and checked out all of the food stands and open air shops. Eventually, we found a chicken fast food place called Dico's. We really want to try some more local food, but are nervous with Mike's allergies as we can't always tell what is in each dish. Anyway, Dico's was fine, except for that they apparently have a Dico's song sung by children that plays in an endless loop while you are dining- I think we heard it about 75 times in a row, LOL!

Anyway- on our way back to the hotel, Tong had a bit of a meltdown (more like a rage), which lasted the whole way back to the hotel, and then some. For all of you who know Dylan, Tong gives Dylan's lungs (and vocal chords) a run for his money. Of course, given the situation and all of the major changes in his life, this is to be expected. He is leaving his country, his language, and all of the people who he has known for 7 years. He is having a very difficult transition, going through the textbook stages of grief, but we are encouraged that in between these moments, he is a happy and fun little boy who loves to receive and give affection. We know that over time, when we are home and things are more structured and more predictable, it will get better.

More KFC and hanging out in the hotel room playing with the DS:

More pictures from Day One:

These photos are of our trip to get Tong's photos and of our dinner at KFC. As you can see,he seemed tentative and serious at first. Once at KFC, his personality started to really shine. Uncle Dru, you will be especially proud of the photo where Tong is wearing his kids meal pig toys as earrings. Reminds me of you and the napkin rings at my parents' house. LOL! :)

Pictures from day one, including our first glimpse of Tong Tong in the lobby of our hotel. Click on the photos to make them bigger. :)