Lotus is Walking!!!!!!!!!!

LOTUS IS ACTUALLY WALKING!!!!!!!!!! She started today when we got home from Christmas shopping. It is not the 5-10 steps and fall down. She is actually walking and turning around and walking. Still falls a little but gets back up and continues walking. Yesterday she was walking in the living room but kind of practicing, alot of falling on her little butt. Today was like she has been walking for weeks, lol. Boy are we in trouble now! When we were Christmas shopping she got a bit tired of being in the stroller, so I let her out, and she walked a little bit holding my fingers. I was just so shocked when we got home, at first it didn't hit me and then all of a sudden I was like "She's Walking !!!!!!!" I will post video to here (if it is not too many MB's) and to U-tube so you can all check it out. Once I watched her walking around, she seemed so much older to me, my little girl is growing up. She is babbling more and more and the faces she makes are so funny, she is such a HAM! Lotus and Ella (from our travel group) would be double trouble she was a ham too and always had us laughing with her excitement and belly laughs.

Looks like Lotus is catching up real quick, now if we could only get her to like a spoon or food or anything near her mouth. Once you get the food past the mouth , she actually likes it. We continue to work with her on this, so it is only a matter of time.

Check back for the video.

Love,

Deb, Kevin, & Lotus

We Have been home 30 days!

I find it hard to believe that yesterday we have been home for 30 days with Lotus and she turned 15 months yesterday too! Lotus has changed so much since the very first day we met her in Guangzhou on Nov 5th. Her personality is starting to form and she is such a ham! The faces she makes and the laughing. She cracks me up and makes me smile, even when she has woken me up a few times that night. She definitely knows who her da da da is, when she sees him for the first time each day she gets this huge grin on her face. She babbles dadadadaa, bababababa, and maamamamammmm, and some other indistinguishable words. She makes the clicking sound with her tongue and kissies (but will only kiss her stuffed animals), raspberries and other mouth related noises(big improvement, hoping this will help with her hand/mouth aversion eating issue).
She has been listening to music and songs, loves Old McDonald and All the Colors of the Rainbow. She dances to songs her little learning puppy sings and hugs her puppy too. It is too cute, she moves her shoulders up and down. She can sit in her big girl chair and likes to look outside. She has been warming up to visitors alot quicker, not so shy anymore. She is understanding more words, helps me undress and dress herself. I could go on and on..........

I will miss our special morning time when I go back to work, when she wakes up we lay on the floor and she will snuggle with me and lay her head on my tummy and look up at me and give me the eyes with a big smile. It melts my heart, makes being a mommy all so worth it. I know there will come a time when she is too old for that, but I will take it for as long as I can get it! She also loves to pull her shoes out of the closet, into her shoes like her mommy. I will most likely be in big trouble when she is a teenager! Lol.

Lotus was definitely meant to be a part of our family. She fits in so perfectly. Enjoy the pics below!

Love,
Deb, Kevin, and Lotus

Almost a month since Gotcha Day

Cannot believe it has been almost a month since Gotcha Day. Lotus has changed alot since the first day we were united. Last Wednesday we went to CHOP to have Lotus evaulated, she is at about an 11 mos level, with some skills between 8-10 mos. They were impressed with her attachment/bonding, the whole time she was playing with the OT specialist she kept checking back to see me and touch me for reassurance. I do have to call EI for help with eating and her fine motor skills. She should catch up in no time. The Dr thought she was doing very well for being in an orphanage for 14 mos.

Since we have been home Lotus has started to hold her own bottle, starting to get on a sleep schedule (for the most part), she has blown raspberries, starting taking many steps while holding your hands (or fingers), she is babbling alot more (alot of dadadaddada and she loves to growl at you), she does shake her head NO alot, trying to teach her to shake her head YES, lol. She loves her baths and showers. We also have been playing with pudding, yogurt, and baby food on her highchair tray. One night she got very messy with the yogurt. I have been able to feed her a little bit of baby food on a spoon. I am sure she will be eating food in no time.

I will leave you with some photos;

Photo with Santa! 11/26

Lotus' first photo with Santa! She did not scream but would not smile and laugh like she does at home. Enjoy photo!

Coming Home Photos

Photos

Finally Some Time to Update

The last few days in China were busy and tiring, also with the internet connection was very slow which made it even harder to post. So here it goes;

On Wednesday the 14th was our Consulate Appointment for all our paperwork. We had to wait in our room till Jocelyn called to say all our paperwork passed and we good to go, our Visa for Lotus was granted. Afterwards we met up with Adreanna and family for lunch. The group also met at 3:30 for the Famous Red Couch Photos at the White Swan. They came out pretty good. Then we did some shopping later and then had Papa John's for dinner before the cruise on the Pearl River. The cruise was nice, especially when all the buildings lit up. Lotus did well and she is sleeping well (in China).

On Thursday, we took the oath at the US Consulate and received Lotus' passport with Visa and all other important paperwork. The group did one last dinner at the Cow & Bridge, (before dinner Lotus did repeat mommy saying ooohhhh phah, it was pretty funny). Of course it was really good as usual. Before our oath appointment we went to a very local restuarant and had lunch. The staff fawned all over Lotus and wanted to hold her and walk away with her. We had a chicken dish, which had chicken feet in it. Kevin tried the feet and then spit them out. We also did some last minute shopping and picked up the granite slate engraving of Lotus. Later that night it took forever to pack and did not get to sleep till late and then up very early for all our plane rides.

On Friday, we had to be in the lobby by 5:30 am. Crazy!!!!! We then went to the Guangzhou Airport to fly to Hong Kong. The flight was not too bad, but the take off and landing was hard on Lotus. We got to Hong Kong, had to wait forever to get our ticket. We also had to go through security again. Afterwards at our gate we bought some drinks for the plane (which you are allowed to do once past security), I bought water for Lotus' bottle and there was one more check point where you board! They made me throw out the water. I explained it was for formula, that did not matter. Needless to say I was not happy. The flight was long and tiring. Lotus did well, she had some moments. And of course the other passengers gave dirty looks, not much I could do. When we finally touch down in Newark, we had to go through Immigration and Lotus was congratulated and welcomed a USA citizen. She was asleep. Then we went got our luggage and went through customs. Finally, we made it through ! Both Mom-Mom and Grandma, Ian, Eric and Colleen were waiting for us to welcome us home. Plus Jimmy and Karin were there to pick us up and take us home. I could not wait to go home!

Once we got home, everyone stayed for a bit and Sandy, Jay, Tara, and Brendan came over too. It was nice to see everyone and have everyone meet Lotus.

Lotus did not sleep through the night, she was still on China time. It has been a tough 11 days, I think I am over the jet lag. We are all sick with a cold, which also has not been fun. Trying very hard to get Lotus on a schedule. She will wake up a few times a night screaming. I go in and rock her back to sleep which works for a bit. My sleep has been crazy and have not really been able to do much until late last week.

We went over to Mom-Mom's for Thanksgiving, it was nice to spend time with the family. Lotus and I went shopping the day before and the day after Thanksgiving. It was great to get out of the house. Saturday I took Lotus up to Kevin's work to see everyone. It went very well.

Lotus is blossoming every day. Tonight went to get her photo taken with Santa, it was great because she did not scream. She did eat some baby ball cookies today, that was a first. I have been working with her playing with food on her tray. I did have to put the cookies in her mouth but she ate them and was chewing them. Great strides. She also has been sucking her thumb and fingers which makes me happy to see her starting to show hand mouth coordination. She plays well and has been standing up alot on her own. Few steps with help. I think she will be taking off soon! Wednesday is her appointment at CHOP. I am interested to see where she is at developmentally.

Now that I am catching up on things and able to find more time, I will be posting more to keep everyone up to date. Thank you for reading our travel entries! It was great to read all the comments.

Love,

Deb, Kevin and Lotus


PS I forgot to tell you all that Lotus did raspberries for the first time today while we were in the car on the way to the mall. It was too cute.

The animals are also doing well with the transition. (Although we are fearful she might be allergic to the dog or the long haired cat, thinking the dog, yikes!)

Gotcha Day on You Tube

Copy link below and paste into your web browser to watch Lotus'Gotcha Day Video on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7g213z4T7Q

Gotcha Day Video, Guangzhou Zoo(11/12/07) and Visa Paperwork (11/13/07)

Hopefully this works, I am going to try to post gotcha day video (I was having issues with computer recognizing the video camera, finally got it to work). Enjoy! Having issues didn't post.

Monday was the trip to the Guangzhou Zoo, it was neat to see the zoo. Lotus fell asleep almost right after we got there. She got to see the brown bear and that was it. We checked out the Panda, elephants, bears, tigers, oh my, lol. Funny thing is they have dogs in the zoo, like we have for pets. All and all it was fun (but very hot). Lotus woke up right as we were leaving. Next year, we will go to the Philadelphia Zoo, we will make sure we go after nap time. After the zoo, we came back and had lunch at Lucy's. Lotus had a meltdown once mommy got her food, she does not like it when mommy eats. We then came back and took a nap. Jocelyn stopped by and dropped off a birth certificate and abandonment papers and others for us. Later, we went to dinner at the White Swan Deli with Adreanna and family. It was not bad, I got a noodle bowl which was tasty(Lotus had meltdown again when mommy got food). Kevin got a sandwhich and we shared cheese bread (very good). We then went to Susan's Place to pick up some things that we were waiting to be engraved. When we came back Lotus played on the bed and opened up even more, she likes to play on my tummy now and we do SO BIG. She is laughing and giggling. Today we had breakfast downstairs, came back up to room and Lotus had play time again, it is so much fun. Mommy went to do visa paperwork while Lotus napped. Once I was down Lotus was awake. We then all went out to take a walk, get some starbucks and do some more shopping (what else, lol). Came back to room and gave Lotus a very late bottle, she was not happy. After her bottle and nap we went to dinner with Yvonne and Scott and their daughter. They are from Wyoming. We ate dinner at the Cow and Bridge (very good food). Then Kev and Lotus and I took a walk. Then came back for more play time. Lotus really blossomed some more. Got some great photos. She is now sleeping and so is Kevin. My turn next once I am down writing to everyone. Tomorrow we wait for our visa appointment and then do the famous red couch photo, then a cruise on the pearl river (after dinner). Looking forward to an outing. Well getting tired, will upload some photos and then go to bed.

Love,

Deb, Kevin, and Lotus

PS Thank you everyone for all the great comments, it has been nice reading messages from everyone back home. Cannot wait to come home!

Pearl Market Trip and Sensory Overload for Mommy (Nov 11th 11:30 pm GZ)

Lotus is doing well and hamming it up for the camera. Playing more and more each day. She loves her showers in the morning. Still hates the diaper change and changing of clothes. I am sure that will eventually get better. Doing well with bottles (formula, cereal, and sneaking in baby food to change up the flavor). Whenever we are out the older chinese women fuss over Lotus and little kids do too. It can get overwhelming, but we smile and nod and give thumbs up. Alot ask us if we like baby, yes-yes of course we do. We walked to Pearl Market, the long way. We saw dried seahorses, star fishes, all kinds of mushrooms, lizards, etc. Then we went through the pet section, saw a bunch of cute puppies, kitties, hamsters, bunnies, parakeets, ducks and turtles. Lots of koi fish. It was very interesting and different all at the same time. The walk to the Pearl Market was exhuasting, it was hot and sometimes smelly. Lotus napped during part of it. I was able to buy a few strands of pearls, two strands are for Lotus' wedding day, I am going to make a necklace and double strand bracelet for her special day. She can decide if she wears them that day, if not they will be a keep sake for her from her country. After spending much time in the market, we eventually found KFC. Crazy busy, language barrier, and too many people. Mommy couldn't take it anymore (for those that know me, know I get claustrophobic when an area is over crowded, especially in elevators). We eventually got back to the hotel and took an hour nap before dinner at the White Swan with Rhonda, Bart, Ella, Adreanna, Addison, Carol, Renee, Kevin, Lotus, and me. It was all you can eat buffet, pricey, but good american food. It was very nice. Afterwards we went to Susan's Place to pick up some things that we bought yesterday and needed to be completed. And of course bought more stuff. Two new suitcases too, to help bring everything home. When we got back to the room Lotus played some more with us and the stacking cups and the tv remote control (she can change a channel and turn it off, lol, she like how the remote lights up) then she had a bottle and went to bed. She will sleep to about 6:30 am. Not bad, but mommy is tired and so is daddy! Here are some photos from today! Enjoy till tomorrow. We have a trip to the Guangzhou Zoo. Get to see the Panda Bear.

More photos tomorrow, need to down load my camera. Looking forward to coming home and everyone seeing Lotus and for us to see everyone! And for normal tv, food, shopping, driving a car, etc!

Love,

Deb, Kevin, and Lotus

Free Day ! Group Dinner at Cow & Bridge (Nov 10th 11:30 pm GZ)

Today we had a free day with no paper work or adoption stuff! Yippepepe! Kevin, Lotus, Ashley, Addie Grace, and I went back to the Good Buy Department Store and the Walking Street to shop some more, the island does get a bit boring at times. Same shops, same stuff. It was a good day, went to Mc D's again for lunch. Lotus is doing well, she is babbling more and smiling and pooping (lol, finally!). She is doing well with playing and holding. I have been sneaking baby food in her bottles to get use to other tastes since she refuses to put anything but a bottle in her mouth. I think she is teething, no fever, just some drooling. When we got back from shopping, we took naps and then went to dinner at the Cow & Bridge (the whole group) at the end we celebrated Ella's 4th bday (she is Rhonda and Randy's daughter). She was cute blowing out her candles. New for her, they really do not celebrate birthdays. So this was something new for her. After dinner, Kevin and I went to Susan's shop. Her husband Dong is from Wuchuan, they will take a photo of Lotus' finding place and send it to us along with other photos of Wuchuan. They told us today the area was by the beach. Her mother was smart, since it is very busy there and Lotus would be found quickly. I am glad that she was found quickly and found her way to us. I hate to admit this, but all the waiting, all the ups & downs, all the heart ache during the wait, was all so very worth it. You really do forget all about it once you are holding your baby in your arms. The first night with Lotus, I kept waking up and I would look to watch her breath. I am just in awe and am really enjoying motherhood. It is alot of work but the rewards are priceless. You cheer over the silliest things but these are milestones. She has impacted my life in such a way, it leaves me speechless. Ok, I cannot read the screen, as I am all teary so I will just post some photos from today.

Using the remote to the TV!!!!!!!!! She can use the ipod too, she forwards quickly through the pics, lol. Tomorrow is trip to the Pearl Market. More shopping, did you ever think you would hear me say I am tired of shopping! Going to bed, zzzzzzzzzzz!

Love,

Deb, Kevin, and Lotus

Rest of Today (Nov 9th 10:11 pm GZ )

Blogger is acting up, I can no longer view our blog. I can post still, just not view everything. Very strange. So anyway, today we went to the Banyan Buddist Temple, the Chen House, and an Art Craft Shopping area. In between,, Lotus had a bottle and a nap. I cannot remember if I told you in the last post, but we bought her a piece of jade for her 16th bday, to make a necklace out of for her. Very pretty. It is a circle which means happy family. The outing was nice but long. Afterwards, Kevin and Lotus took a nap while I while I went for an hour massage. It was nice and very relaxing. Later we went to the Cow & Bridge for dinner, this is the best place on the island to eat, the food is excellent and not very expensive. Dinner for two was less than 26 USD and that was including tip! Lotus sat in a highchair and played while we ate. She was content. We walked a very little bit after dinner, bought a few more things. I am getting tired of shopping, lol!

I have to say Lotus laughed today and smiled and hams it up for the camera. She babbles babababaaba and mamamamama and makes other noises which are not words. She was also walking a bit supported by me. While we were playing on the bed she did more crawling and turning over herself. It really has been great to see her blossom more each day! Cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds.

Love,

Deb , Kevin, and Lotus

Some pics to end our night:

Some Yesterday and Today (Nov 9th 4 pm GZ)

Shopping was good yesterday, confusing though with the slips and paying and going back to each area to pick up. Bought some winter clothes for Lotus and gifts for others. I am also getting gifts for her b-days till she is 18 and I want to find something nice for her wedding (maybe a set of pearls). It was exhuasting since I decided not to bring the stroller and use the hip hamock for almost 4 hours! It is hard when you have no hips, lol. Lotus had her Visa Photo taken and her physical. She is 19.5 lbs and 29.5 inches tall! She does have a skinny waist! She is wearing like 12-18 mos tops and 12 mos bottoms that still need to be rolled at the waist. I have been buying her lots of pant jumpers and dresses. They seem to work out well. Let me tell you Lotus hated her physical, she screamed bloody murder when they were checking her ears. I had to hold her hands down and Kevin had to hold her head still, it was heart breaking to hear her scream so strongly. She was happy when it was over. We had Papa John's for dinner. Then Kevin went to get a 2 hour massage for less than 13 USD, incredible. Once I am done posting it is my turn! Lotus and I went shopping for formula and diapers and of course some clothes and gifts. The bartering is tough.

Lotus is doing so well with toys and eating and she blossoms more each day. It is great. She was so meant for us! Here are some photos from the past few days, later I will post about today.

Love,

Deb, Kevin, and Lotus