August 20, 2005

Today was a much better day!

I think the combination of the medicine and the sleep has made Hannah a much more agreeable girl. We couldn't sleep too late because the girls had to all go for a medical examination prior to leaving the country. We all went to the breakast buffet at the hotel and were pleased to see a wide assortment of food available to us including an omelette station, assorted pastries and breads, various meats and eggs, noodles, fruits, french toast, etc., etc., etc. I'm glad we're here several days so I can get a chace to sample the diferent dishes. The only problem with the buffet is that there's no real lines observed, just like in the Chinese traffic. People pretty much barge in where they want to go without regard to the other people around them.

Victoria had to take Hannah to a required medical exmination prior to her leaving the country. Since I wasn't there I'll have to wait for her to type up a post for that. She told me that it was a rather cursory examination and that they didn't even check her ears for the infection that was identified last night. Still, she passed, and we're one step closer to home.

Insert text from Victoria:

Shortly after getting to the lobby, Hannah and I finally got to meet the fourth family in our group, the Mennas. Their little girl, Katie, is about six months older than Hannah. She is very independent and another beautiful girl. Once everyone got there we headed off first to get the girls passport photos and then a basic medical exam. Hannah did great for her photo. She had a short fit while waiting to get going again. She doesn't mind the stroller as long as it is moving. It was short walk to the health clinic. We saw some different statues like the ones Mark and Abigail saw near the hotel. Jophy also pointed out the elementary school, but since it is Saturday there was no one there. maybe we can take Abigail by there Monday or Tuesday so she can see the kids.

When we got to the clinic, Jophy explained that we would get paperwork for our babies and then we would go to three different stations. One to weigh and measure them and take their temperature, one to check their hearing and look at their nose and throat and the last to listen to their chest and generally check their bodies out. Jophy said it didn't matter what order we went in just to make sure we got all three areas signed off on our paperwork. I was amazed at how well Hannah did. I expected a fit to ensue but none did. Because this went so fast, I may not have gotten these descriptions exactly right

While they were gone, Abigail and I walked around the hotel area, doing some shopping and sightseeing. We dropped off our laundry at Jennifer's Place and then took some pictures of Abigail at some of the statues in the area. After that we went in search of the former Russian embassy because there's a virtual geocache at that site. We made it to the area, but before I could take any pictures We were approached by a policeman and told that we were in a restricted area which we had to leave. Not wanting to get in trouble in a foreign country, I smiled, said thanks and headed back. I hope to go back to get some pictures before we head home.

Abigail was getting tired by this time so we headed back to our room. About ten minutes after we arrived, Victoria showed up with Hannah. Based on the lack of any further diagnosis of the ear infection at the medical exam, we decided to mix up some of the Zithromax that was sent with us by our pediatrician in order to help fight the ear infections and the cough that Hannah has developed. Thankfully Hannah doesn't mind taking this medication. While with the others and Jophy, Victoria had decided to meet up with the Mennas at Lucy's for lunch. The Mennas are adopting from another area in China, but are still part of our group. They just got in recently. We let the girls rest a bit, then packed up to go get lunch. Everyone had a good time and we enjoyed sharing stories of surviving the uncertain traffic and problems of communication in more remote parts of the country.

Shortly after we got back we were scheduled to have one parent from each couple to meet up with Jophy to prepare some of the final INS paperwork required to finalize the adoption process. This will get us ready to go to the U.S. consulate on Monday. The paperwork was completed with only a few snags, but Jophy managed to work us through them all. There's no way we could have done this part of the adoption without her help, much like the assistance that we received from Chrissy for doing the paperwork while we were still in the States. The process took about an hour to complete, then she collected all of the paperwork except for the one page that Victoria had to sign and date. Once that page is completed and passed on to Jophy, the only thing that remains is for us to travel to the U.S. Consulate and wait for Hannah's U.S. passport to be issued to us.

For some reason we were all exhausted by the afternoon. It might have something to do with not getting enough sleep the night before. :) Anyway, we decided to go to check out the Swan Room prior to eating dinner. The Swan Room is a room set up for the adoptive families to bring thier children to play with toys donated by the Mattel company. Several families were in there at the time we arrived, and Hannah showed us just how much she likes playing with new stuff. Now we just need to work on sharing toys and being able to give them up when it's time to go. (I'll bet you can guess that another fit happened when we began to leave. She'll learn about all of this stuff eventually.)

We went out in search of a good place to eat, but everywhere was either too expensive or had nothing that everyone in our family would eat. Since we didn't want to waste any more time dragging the girls around, we ended up back at Lucy's for dinner. This time we had spaghetti bolognaise and fried noodles. Not a normal combination for the States, but it works out here. Hannah enjoyed getting a bit of the food from each dish.

After dinner we headed for the large pool on the property to allow the girls to burn off a little more energy before bed time. Abigail and Hannah both enjoyed the baby pool, and it was just warm enough outside to really appreciate the cool water. Hannah didn't want to leave when it was time to go, but her fit only lasted a little while. She's beginning to learn that her fits don't always get her what she wants. We returned to the room and gave the girls a bath, which they both enjoyed immensely, then settled them both down for the night. Hannah acted like she didn't even want her bottle after the bath but just wanted to go right to bed. We put her in the crib and she stayed up playing and fussing for a little while, and when Victoria tried the bottle again she took it immediately. After that it only took her a few minutes of playing and fussing to finally go to sleep. We were all in bed by about 9:15, and we all slept through the night. Thank goodness for the eardrops and the Zithromax!