8.21.2001 8.22.2001 REFERRAL! 8.23.2001 New Pictures 8.24. 2001 To Austin! 8.27.2001The Other Jin Yi Ling 8.30.2001 Care Package 8.31.2001 Update! 9.06.2001 Travel approval 9.10.2001 Poem 9.11.2001 9.12.2001 Travel booked 9.26.2001 Itinerary 10.03.2001 Departure Day 10.05.2001 Hong Kong 10.07.2001 HK Day 2 10.07.2001 Nanning 10.08.2001 GOTCHA DAY! 10.09.2001 It's official! 10.10.2001 Tourist time 10.11.2001 Green Mountain Park 10.12.2001 Market 10.13.2004 Last Day in Nanning 10.15.2001 Visa Day 10.17.2001 Last Day! 10.19.2001 We're Home! Post or view Messages

Tuesday A.M. Zoe slept really well last night -- I wish I could say the same! She's a regular whirling dervish in her crib, sound asleep, but turning over and over and over . . . I was super-sensitive to each sound -- new-motheritis, I suppose! Zoe is a little fussy this morning. She's a bit congested, but the benadryl is taking effect and she is napping. Zoe is really wonderful. She hardly cried yesterday -- she's making up for it today! -- and fell asleep in my arms. I didn't think there was anything more wonderful than that, until I managed to get her to smile! A small, shy smile, but a smile nonetheless! And it wasn't by showing her any fancy toys, it was simply by clapping my hands. She also likes to have her feet tickled! We were playing on the floor last night, and I reached out to tickle her foot. She pulled her foot away, and I thought, "Well, I guess that didn't do much for her." Then she stuck her foot out again! And I tickled it again, and she pulled away, and then stuck it back out! Sounds simple, but it was our first real interaction -- very exciting! Thanks to all who sent us news of the world. We don't have any access to English newspaper or television here, so the news that the U.S. was bombing Afghanistan was very much news to us. Please don't worry about us. Though China and Afghanistan share a border, we are miles away from there,and we feel very safe. In China, anyone of Arab descent would stick out -- we're stared at constantly! -- and they don't worry about pesky civil liberty issues when stopping suspicious people. So, I feel safer here than anywhere else! These details are for my adoption buddies: Zoe is from Guiping SWI and she came to me in a diaper, no split pants. She was freshly bathed, and her skin is pretty good -- just a rash from dry skin. She was dressed in only one layer -- pants and tshirt, and no socks. She isn't picky about a bottle at all, and handled the Avent disposable with the original newborn nipple with no problems at all. She liked the rice congee at breakfast this morning (before she dumped the bowl over herself and me -- my fault, I shouldn't have left the bowl within her grasp!). Tuesday P.M. The adoption is final and official! We went to the provincial Office of Civil Affairs, and had to do some paperwork and answer questions. The official kept asking me if I had "any climbs?" -- at least that's what it sounded like. I had no idea what she meant, and she repeated it several times before I finally understood -- any crimes? Did I have a criminal record?! Easy to answer it no! She apologized for her poor English, and I told her it was far superior to my Chinese! She asked if I was satisfied with Zoe -- absolutely! She asked whether I would always care for her and never abandon her -- absolutely! I then had to place my fingerprint in red ink over my signature, and the adoption was registered. We then went to the office of the notary, to fill in more paperwork. They had the wrong paperwork for me -- remember my entry about there being two Jin Yi Lings at Guiping SWI? Well, the notary had the paperwork for the other one. It's a good thing I knew about the other Jin Yi Ling, or I might not have caught it and we would have done the wrong paperwork, and ended up in Guangzhou and had to fly back to Nanning to redo the paperwork! This page accessed 554 times