What Comes after the Journey? A Trek?

I suppose the journey to creating a family is over, huh? Accomplished. If that was a journey, what's the next stage? A trek? I imagine mothers out there will have various answers for me!

As I mentioned early on, I decided to create the blog to help keep friends and family up-to-date during the last months of the wait and to share our experience in China. This will be the last entry.

Thank you to everyone who took interest in our journey and shared their thoughts and good wishes along the way. The keepsake book that will come of these posts and comments will be an invaluable gift for Phoebe throughout her entire life.

Here's what's been happening, now home for one month. Enjoy the pictures below as well.

By all accounts Phoebe is doing very well. She is gaining weight, she sleeps 10-11 hours overnight and takes two short naps. She eats well, -- formula/rice cereal concoction (by spoon), baby food and people food.  We skipped the whole bottle step; she has recently mastered the sippy cup. She crawls well, pulls herself up easily, has developed a liking to cats and dogs... etc, etc, etc.

We get out a lot -- walks, parks, pet stores, small gatherings at the synagogue, play dates (that is, adult conversation dates) with other children ...

Friends have been visitors or visitees and have been an invaluable part of managing the beginnings of motherhood for me. I am grateful, comforted, relieved, fulfilled to have built relationships with some wonderful people over the years, and to be able to have these friends in our lives for years to come.  

A Thousand Words...

Enjoy!

Yes, We Are Home!

We are home. Fresh air, drinkable water, the same detour on White Horse Rd... Familiar is good.

I would love to show you a picture of Phoebe in her bassinet in the plane, but ummmm Dave has the card reader. I would love to call some of you to say we are home, but ummmm my cell phone hasn't surfaced in the heaps of "stuff" that came home. Can you tell we are still getting ourselves organized!?!

Right now the task is finding the wipes, diapers and the right size clothes to wear, and in the places they need to be when I need them!

I know it's too soon to tell, but our "day" is actually happening in the right time zone!!! We slept from 8 pm to 3:30 am. Got up for some light food and little play, went back to sleep at 6 and she woke at 7:30 on her own. And we did breakfast and play and nap at 9:30! I did wake her at 11:30, then play, lunch, play, nap at 2 pm! We'll see how tonight goes...

Once Dave and I get ourselves straightened out, and pics on both of our computers, I'll post some more random trip photos with more miscellaneous tid bits from the trip that didn't make it to other posts along the way...

I will call as soon as I find my phone, and hope to see some of you soon.

You Won't Believe This...

Phoebe is potty trained! Keep reading...


There is a family in our group that came this time for their third adoptive daughter. So to say the least they are well versed in the care of these children and the environments from which they come. Yesterday morning the father told us how some babies have been taught to go to the bathroom in the toilet by the parents using specific sounds to get them to urinate or move their bowels. He demonstrated the sounds for us, so I thought I would try it.

You hold the baby in a seated position facing the back of the toilet. To see if they need to urinate you make a whistling sound and for a bowel movement you say "mmm-bauw." The "mmm" gets a deep tone and the "bauw" gets a raised tone. The whistle is hard to get the right pitch so this dad said just try the "mmm-bauw" and she might do both.

The first time I tried, she peed in the toilet. The second time, later that day, she peed in the toilet. This afternoon about 30 minutes after lunch I tried again and this time she pooped!!!

I tell you, it happened. No joke.

That has to be the most amazing thing I have ever seen!

Of course timing is everything. Now I wonder if I should keep doing it? Introduce the word and sign for "toilet"??? Oy vei! What will she do next???

This will be the last post during our trip. We are taking a three hour bus ride to Hong Kong at 4:30 this afternoon. Then sleeping overnight and getting on a plane to Newark first thing in the morning.

It's been a long two weeks. Even though I slept very well (thank you Phoebe!) it is tiresome to be in a hotel room, and without "normal" food to eat. I have not had a salad, or any raw vegetables in two weeks. I've had one glass of milk and no other dairy for two weeks (oh, right the cheese on some pizza). Of course in the end I'm bringing home the best carry on ... my baby Phoebe.

Home again, home again we are on our way
By bus to Hong Kong and one more overnight stay.
Sixteen hours over the north pole we'll fly
And land in Newark with no doubt a huge sigh.
There will be another line to get through immigration
And when we pass, Phoebe Liat-Yin Zavod will be a US citizen!

Thanks for following our journey, our story
To how "me" became "we."
I've built a family, it has been a dream come true
I'm happy to have been able to share it with you.

With warmest regards from China,
Andrea, Dave and Phoebe

This is one of my favorites!!! How can you NOT love this smile?

See Grandmom, these are the socks you got me!

More Adventures in China

Waterfall inside the White Swan



Chillin'





Pearl Market



Mommy and Phoebe

Such a big girl in my Chinese attire

Red Couch Moment

My beautiful girl

All the babies in our group.  A tradition to take a group photo on the red couch.

Belly Time.  We will be crawling in no time!



See the teeth!



Where we are in Guangzhou is much more western friendly than Nanchang. Namely, the traffic! The native who live on Shaiman Island actually pay attention to traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, staying in their lane and there are very few mopeds. Most of the shopkeepers speak English, too.

We went to the Pearl Market. That's the picture of all the escalators. 6 floors. the King of Prussia Mall is no match!

6 floors of back to back to back stores selling beads and necklaces, and pendants, bags, and bags of beads line the floors and all of the window displays are so full of beads you can't see in the store. Each store seems top specialize in a color or type of stone. One whole store will be turquoise, another amber, another jade, another a mix of all... With inventories like that either you'll find exactly what you want, or go crazy trying to find it!

The White Swan Hotel is an attraction itself. The waterfall is in the center lobby and the pond is full of large koi. Large. The plants are all real and very well kept. You might be able to see on the bottom left people eating. This is a large eating area where we at breakfast every morning. On one side is the falls and on the other side is full length all-glass wall looking out at the Pearl River. The river is quite polluted yet some elderly Chinese are known to swim in it for exercise. Dave and I actually saw a man swimming one morning.

The boat is carved out of solid jade. It stands in the lobby as well.

Literally hundred of families are here at the hotel with their children. You see them at breakfast, in the shops, in the restaurants, in the elevators, and everyone knows that you've just adopted a child so there are congratulations and smiles all around.

It's amazing to hear how many families are here for their 2nd, 3rd, even 4th adoption. I mentioned to Dave this morning that I would bet there are more families with multiple adoptive children than first timers here.

The pictures of the children on the red couch is something that most adoptive parents want to have as a keepsake. It is also tradition to have all the babies in your travel group sit together. What you need to notice is that Phoebe is in the far right, bottom row, and I am feeding her puffs to keep her engaged. Otherwise as you see the babies were not so thrilled at sitting there. The next pic tells you my advanced planning worked!

I bought this dress for Phoebe and she can grow into it. I bought another dress, red, for when she is 4 or 5. Notice the baby bracelet! This was an "awwww" moment with the other parents. Nice touch!

Oh and the pizza... Dave's food of choice. He really can't wait til we get home for some real food!!! and Pepsi!!!

Bye for now...

P.S. I know lots of you are reading, but lots of you aren't posting!!! This chronicle will be reproduced in a hard cover book as a keepsake. Your comments will be a significant part of showing Phoebe how much excitement and welcome there was for her in our first days as a family.

Watch the Adventure Unfold

Oh, I thought we had time to break out the locks!  NOT!

Oh, she knows she's being naughty!  I think I'm in trouble!

Ship made of Jade

One More Milestone

The last piece of paperwork, Phoebe's Visa, will be handed to us Wednesday afternoon! Then we can begin the journey home. A three-hour bus ride will take us back to Hong Kong Wednesday evening, we sleep overnight and have a 10:30 am flight direct to Newark! A little over 15 hours in a plane with a 8 month old. Piece of cake!

I do think that it will go relatively well. Phoebe is very easy going and sleeps well in any situation, crib, my arms, stroller, through noise, heat and chilly AC!

Phoebe continues to be a very easy baby. This was one of my concerns before we came that she would be all out of sorts and inconsolable. She eats well, sleeps 9-11 hours overnight. For me to be able to sleep overnight has to be the saving grace for a trip like this. I have not felt tired and I'm eating pretty well. The only thing is the heat. It is sooooo hot and humid. I can't get enough water in me!

We did some touring yesterday and today. We visited the Six Banyan Temple. A monk performed a blessing ceremony for any of the families that wanted their children to be blessed. I took part in this and it was moving for me. I will be raising Phoebe in a Jewish home, but I wanted to respect the religion of her home city (which happened to be Buddhism).

We also went to the Pearl market. I bought Phoebe a baby bracelet and two more in larger sizes for when she grows up. We also went to another arts store and I bought a frog! You didn't think I wasn't going to try to get one did you? What I didn't know was that the frog has a particular superstition in China. Frogs are crafted with their mouths open so a coin can fit inside. This meant to bring good financial fortune to your home. The one I got is made of jade.

Phoebe is awake from her nap... this afternoon is the famous red couch picture. Watch for a photo of that!

Watch the Adventure Unfold

Heading to Guangzhou

The pic of the food is what I talk about in the email. The pot of chicken etc

Today Friday, we are leaving for Guangzhou. This is where the US Consulate is where all adoptive families, finish their journey. At the Consulate we take a final oath, saying that I will not abandon the child or abuse, and will always take care of her.

Our last few days in Nanchang, have been uncomfortably hot. But we still ventured to see a nearby Pagoda, which cost 15 yuan ($2.20 USD) to walk threw an overgrown garden. It was well worth it because I saw a "Squatty Potty." We also went to a large public park and a book store, which was 5 times the size of a Barnes & Noble! I bought a dvd of PeterPan in Chinese, a 3 CD-set of chinese lullabys, and two books that have English and Chinese words-- "The Problem with Mom," and the "Problem with Gram."

Yesterday for lunch we ate at a local Chinese restaurant, which was very local. The food was in individual small Kerosene lit pans. The menu was above the food all in Chinese. We tried to point to the food to ask what it was. Pork, Chicken, vegetable, but no one understood English. Our friend Joe resorted to pictures on a memo pad. He drew a duck and a pig but that did not work either. We wound up with two individual pots of stewed chicken, rice and vegetable looking things. Inside the chicken pots we found a chicken foot, and choose to take a picture of it instead of eating it. The rest of the pot had dark meat and an oily broth. A local young boy was amused by us.

On our way back to the hotel we went through a local street and were immediately an attraction! Many women congregated around me and Dave and Joe and Kristen with our babies. Luckliy we had our crad with us that explained in Chinese that were were adopting these children. We got lots of thumbs up and a few thank you's from young women. One woman managing to communicate with me that I should take Phoebe's socks off. I did, and got another thumbs up. The women Joe got all of this on video. Of course we really want to know what they were saying! I could tell the women were happy with us, because we got a lot of smiles and nods.

For dinner that night we took a risky excursion through the busy streets to a Pizza Hut. Crossing the streets was every man for themselves. No one had the right a way. Only once did I find myself standing in the middle of the street in the middle of traffic, and had to wait until there was a glimpse of daylight to sneak through to the other side. When we got to Pizza Hut we ate typical american pizza hut pizza. Going back to the hotel the same precarious way was made worse, because the mopeds did not use their headlights.

Phoebe continues to feed herself formula/rice cereal and that is her mainstay. We give her scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, some jarred baby food(corn, apples) puffs,and dry cereal. We found teething cookies that keep her occupied but they create a mess that a wipe cannot handle!

She goes to sleep easily with a little bit of rocking and she lets me know when she is awake by crying out. She smiles when she sees me. She takes two to three naps per day, each about an hour and a half. She plays well by herself, and once she sees something new she goes right for it. Money seems to be a big attraction!

I think I am doing pretty well with mommy tasks. Changing diapers is quicker, recognizing fusses, is not too hard. Feeding her small bits is easy. Remembering what to take on our trips out of the room is slow to come because Dave is several steps ahead of me! I am truly being spoiled and my learning curve will be huge, when I take over by myself at home.

More to come once we get to Guangzhou.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

The view outside our room in Nanchang

The director of Tonggu County orphanage (my left).