Paperwork, Pictures, Medical & Fun

Linda, Linda, Linda. I sit here with a bottle of Jack and Coke. You read that right. We hit the 7-Eleven for some simple stuff and I saw this bottle of premixed Jack and Coke. I’ve never saw that before, but I digress….

Linda had an interesting sleep last night. Three times she woke up with a little whiny type cry. I would get up and rub her chest or stroke her hair, and once held her little hand. She immediately went back to sleep. This told me she never really woke up fully, but was like in that half awake state. Other than disrupting me sleep and Mel’s, who was already having a tough time with the cold, Linda had a pretty good sleep overall. She was up about 5:30am which is pretty much right on schedule for her.

We had a nice breakfast and met Susan and Jim who adopted a waiting child and you may know through the FCC. Molly, their recent addition is very cute. They also brought Hailey along, whom they adopted 4 or 5 years ago. She is 7 years old and very outgoing.

I drew the short straw and got to do the paperwork meeting while Mel got to go get the visa photo session. We actually had a pretty good time in the paperwork session as everyone would chide each other on what mistakes we made. This session was only just over an hour as Holt had us pre-fill out the paperwork before we even traveled. Our poor Holt representative had fun as some of the instructions changed slightly because there were 4 different provinces that she had to cover in one group. We all managed to get through it and we all have our fingers crossed we didn’t miss something the US Consulate will not like.

11:00am and we head off for the visa medical exam. Mel was treated with a free, yes free, stroller rental from the laundry place earlier, and I received help from Hailey on the walk over to the medical offices. Our exam went just fine. No obvious problem with our little one, her weight is still about 20 pounds, but she has grown 2cm! She is now 72cm long! Linda was a trooper through the ordeal. The only time she cried was when she had to drop trow and get checked out. This cry lasted about as long as the doctor check her belly, heart, and make sure everything was in place, if you know what I mean. That was it. Done. We headed back to the hotel.

Mel was craving Mac n’ Cheese, so a call to Danny’s was made and we ate good. We watched a little TV. and played with Linda. All day Linda seemed to be a little needy. She had minor fits here and there while we are in the room, and seemed to squirm more when held. This could also be her trying to become more mobile. We wanted her to nap, but that was not going to happen. Crazy kid.

This afternoon we took a trip to the Pearl and Jade markets a short bus trip away. We wandered the Jade market a bit. Some very beautiful stuff was to bee seen. We ended up buying a jade bangle for Linda which we plan on giving to her on a future birthday. On hindsight it was a little fun bargaining with a wholesaler. To kill the rest of the time, we crossed the street and entered the pearl market. We were beat, so I hung with Linda while Mel took a quick walk around one floor of the market. The jade market was 5 levels and a long block. The pearl market looked to be 7 levels and setup like an indoor mall.

Once we returned to the hotel we made our for mentioned 7-eleven trip. On the way back another couple asked us about this Danny’s place. Then Paul from another family we told about the place saw us and asked us for more information. We have become the information source for laundry and food. By the time we got back to our room 3 families were planning an order from Danny’s. Thanks to you all who did the reconnaissance mission earlier this year! When things settled down, our phone rang and another family asked about where we were having our laundry done. We chose Susan’s, btw. I answered the phone, “Bill’s Bait and Beer”, and the guy was laughing at the other end. His name is Bill, too.

Once this little party ended, we had time to bathe Linda. She is now quite content to sit with one of us in the tub and play with the stacking cups. (Another good call, gang!) She whimpered a little with the head wetting and rinsing, but overall it was a successful bath. While waiting for the time to pass I need to exchange some cash to pay for said laundry and prepare for the next day, so I headed to the lobby. Mel entertained Linda, who once again was in needy mode. Oh, we are not be talking about being held needy, just plain be in the room needy. A bit of retraining between Nanchang and here I guess. We proceeded to prepare and feed Linda who was showing signs of hunger and we were trying to hit the “regularly scheduled time” mark. A feeble attempt at some order in her life, but worth the effort. Guess what? Linda fell asleep while sucking down the bottle. It must have been right at the end as she did finish the bottle. Poor thing must have been wiped out from her two days of over-stimulation.

Now it is time for Mel and I to unwind and get this stuff posted! Sorry, no pictures today as we did not have the urge or drive to carry the camera. I guess this tells you how tired we really are and we can’t wait to get home. Tomorrow is our exit meeting with Holt and group picture at the red couch, and a BBQ at the pool! We will get pictures for you on those! Have a great day!

PS: Congrats to all who have just received their match! We are very excited for you!