Hooray for Kate

OK, I posted alot of pics to my Facebook account and posting them to this blog would just be way too much work. Blogger is just not designed for many many pics.

Here are the lins to the pics. You dont need a Facebook account to view them
Link 1
Link 2

It's been a while since I did an update and well, it's time for another one.

Kate is doing fabulous. We're keeping her busy with walks in the stroller or sled and trips in the car to visit people and she seems to love every moment of it. We were able to go to a friends place Friday night, put her to sleep there, and bring her home and put her to bed without an issue. What a relief. Now we know we can still socialize outside of the house without any major issues from Kate.

Jen and Kate started their "Talk with Me" class Thursday. This is a provincial gov't sponsored class which helps to teach us the proper way to communicate to her. She seemed to have enjoyed it.

Things are still positive here. She's still sleeping thru the night and still taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. We're still getting some company but not as much as before. if you want to come visit, come on over... just call first.

No real words yet - lots of baby babble, but nothing understandable. She's crawling up a storm, but no real walking yet. Lots of steps holding onto our hands and she can stand on her own for 5--10 seconds so any day now she should be off running like a track and field star.

One thing we've noticed about her is how "mechanical" she is... she needs to know HOW things work. What makes the pages of a book turn, how does her walker work, how does the sound come from that toy, and my favorite, what happens when I push the release button or squeeze the chest strap on the car seat. You need muscles to undo the car seat so she wont be getting out any time soon.

We're doing well, she's doing great and life here is good. Stop by and visit!

I'll upload some more pics later today.

Another great day. We were storm stuck all day but Grampy and nanny F still managed to stop by for a visit.

Here are some more pics from Grampy F.

Christmas socializing with family on Boxing Day.
Kate's favorite "bribe" - Cheerios More Christmas socializing. The best 50 cents we ever spent. We bought this set of stacking cups at a yard sale for 50 cents and they are Kate's favorite toy. They kept her amused for hours in China.
Part of the welcome home crew at the airport. Thanks girls for the awesome signs.
Kate and Nanny FKate and MY Nanny (and more Cheerios)

Its been a few days but I thought it was time to post another entry before the curtain closes on this journey.

I hope Day 1 of 2008 was a great day for everyone. We're in between snowstorms today so we were appreciative of the sun and enjoyed the day. Jen is still fighting a cold so Kate and I had some extra time to ourselves today.

Things are going exceptionally well here. Awesome would be a better word. Kate is bonding nicely and is still sleeping thru the night. She is healthy, happy and just a joy to be around. She's taken nicely to her grandparents and still wants to come to her mommy and daddy. Travelling in the car goes well, nap time goes well, everything goes well.

Looking back on the trip, China was an absolutely beautiful country and the trip was nearly perfect. We have nothing bad to say about China at all. It surpassed our expectations 100%. A word to everyone who is waiting... anything you need can quickly, cheaply and easily be found close to the hotel, so do not over pack. We packed quite lightly and still had lots that we didn't need or had too much of. We had 2 large suitcases 3/4 full... if we did the same trip again, I could do it all in 1 suitcase and get the rest in China. I'll post more on that at a later time as I feel this subject deserves a detailed explanation as this is the information I found hardest to find before we left.

The arrival into Moncton and seeing all of those people there was spectacular. We didn't receive many pics from people who were at the airport when we arrived home, so if you have some pics, could you please send us a few? We've shared so many with you... can you share some with us?

Work wise, I've been given the opportunity to spend more time with Kate and Jennifer than I had planned. This notice was given to me on my last week at work and came as quite a surprise. I will not be returning to my old job or to my old employer. Wait... this is a good thing. I can honestly say that I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bond more with Kate over the next few weeks. The timing on this ended up working out perfectly with our adoption so I packed up my desk for good on that last Friday. So, if someone is looking for an excellent people person / sales guy / IT professional, call me.

Jen and I would like to thank everyone for all the gifts and well wishes we've received. We could never have expected all the support over the last few years and especially over the last few weeks. Giving everyone a look into our lives thru this blog and the previous blog was a labour of love and I'm glad I maintained this since the very beginning. Now we have a complete documented journey for Kate to read in the years to come.

As we begin our lives together as a family, we will always be indebted to a family in China for being brave and strong and doing what they felt was best for their child. We will never know what thoughts were going thru their minds when she found out she was pregnant, when her belly began to grow, as she gave birth, as she walked away, we will never fully understand the process on how He Fu Qing ended up being matched with us, we will never be able to fully understand how a year in an orphanage feels, but we do know that no other child out there could make us as happy or as proud as we are right now. Because of those people who we will never know, who we can never thank, who we can never update, because of a system we don't understand, because of a society so different than ours, we can now live the dream that we've been chasing for so long. We are mother and father. Thank you whoever you are and wherever you may be. We love our baby Kate.

It was a long day here but we're all home and full of turkey.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Another good night of sleep last night. She went to bed @ 7PM and woke up at 5AM. One little fuss during the night but nothing that took more than 2 minutes to gte her back to sleep. Jen got up with her for the first bit then her and I had breakfast and did some laundry while Jen rested. It's Jen's turn today to feel jetlagged.

We went to visit my grandmother this morning and Kate was a bit shy but did quite well. The carseat is not an issue for her as she now does quite well with the high chair and all of those restraints. We were going to take her for a walk in the sled that was goiven to us but it's quite mild here today and any snow on the roads melted away this morning.

Kate is down now for her nap and we're going to let her sleep a bit longer to try to move her bedtime by an hour to get her back in sync with her China bedtime.

Here are some pics of us arriving at the airport Thursday night.

Jen Kate and Grammy O
Kate checking out Grampy O
Grampy O's wife Jane beside me.

At last, we are home. Kate is now asleep in her own room and we're about to get some shut-eye.

Thanks to everyone for the AWESOME turnout at the airport.

And here's thinking to you Chris, Tracy and Madison, who we hear are delayed from their arrival in Moncton tonight.

More tomorrow. We're tired tonight.

How they delivery money to a bank in China. With military precision. Yep, those are shotguns and they are on guard.Jason... I went here just because you are such a good friend.

It was a bit chilly today in Beijing but still a sunny day. We headed off early this morning and went to Tianamen Square then the Forbidden City. Tianamen Square was disappointing as we were constantly hounded by street vendors and it really was overwhelming from a personal space and pickpocket concern. I did get a couple of good deals on things though. We all have this image of Tianamen Square in our heads form the massacre, but it doesn't look like that at all. Alot of buildings in it than I pictured. And alot more open. I pictured more of a large wide open square with some type of privacy hedge or wall around it but there's just a small steel fence around it and people were hopping over it all the time.

A building at Tianamen Square.

Next, we crossed under the road to the Forbidden City. This is a huge "compound" where emperors used to live. It was off limits to locals hence the forbidden name. Impressive, but after the Great Wall, not much compares. Busy there as well, but no vendors inside.



We just got back from a Peking Duck supper. Interesting to say the least. Jason, here;s the pics you wanted.

Yep, thats a ducks head. Nope, I didnt eat it... Just kissed it to wish it a good afterlife.
Some mystery food. Alot of garlic.
Tomorrow is a free day and we're off to do some Christmas shopping at a couple of markets.


Thursday is fly home day. lets hope for good weather.


Kate is progressing well. She decided to crawl last night so she is now a menace to everything in the room. Amazing how one minute she is sitting, the next minute is a full crawl. We are so happy with her progress since we got her. She's slept thru every night and has generally been a joy to be around. No major tantrums or disasters so far.


That's it from here... off to have a few local beer with some others in the room to celebrate our trip.

The "birdsnest". The stadium for the Olympics that will host the openign and closing ceremonies... Looks kinda like a birds next, hence the name. Seats 95,000 people.

Can't wait to be home! Less than 3 days to go!

We just got back form the doctor and Kate is healthy. HOORAY! Kates sleeping now then some some lunch then we're off to see a Chinese acrobatic show late this afternoon. This shoudl be quite interesting.

I went to use my laptop this mornign and it is not working. It was froze and when I rebooted it, it just would not boot up again. I'm in the business cetner entering this post buit pictures might be a bit tricky form here on out and quick and easy communication home will definately be trickier.

After being treated like royalty inChongqing, we're rerally not impressed with this hotel. There's no highchairs, the rooms are hot hot hot, they are slow to clean the rooms, the staff is not as nice, and generally (my opinion here) Beijing people are much ruder than the people were in Beijing. Twice this morning, I jot jostled around while trying to get food from the breakfast buffet. People just dont care.

Not a great day... we're hot, tired and now my computer is dead.

Our luggage all arrived, we took the Immingration paperwork to Ma-rie and we just got back from getting some basics from the grocery store. Someone found out tat Pizza Hut delivers to the room so a bunch of us had a "traditional" Chinese pizza and beer party tonight.

This area is baby central. We ran into a bunch of Spaniards in the grocery store and then walking thru the hotel lobby we saw several families with children.

So, to satisfy your urge for more pics, here are some more for you. The internet connection here in Beijing seems much faster.

We figured out how to save airfare... check Kate as luggage. She doesnt seem to agree with us.



Here's our Chongqing driver on the left and Michael our gide on the right. Michael usually has a smile a mile wide.
Our plane from Chongqing to Beijing. The flight is almost identical as a flight form Mocnton to Toronto expcept they bahve twice as many flight attendants, they try to kep you happy and they serve a meal.
Kate being cute
Beijing somewhere between the airport and our hotel. Its Saturday so not much traffic.

Here's Kate in her stroller. This was yesterday and it was her first ride in it. We tried just after we got her and no way, but yesterday was a piece of cake. Not a tear was shed.
On our walk yesterday, after we crossed under the road, thsi s waht we walked into. Wht a great find to immerse oursellves in local activities. Look at the 2 shopkeepers in the bakground watching wht we're doing.
On our way home, the kids were out waiting for their busses at the school next to the hotel. I got more of a "Bazooka Joe" swarming than a rockstar swarming when I started handing our bubble gum and Canadian flags. It was amazing. Alot of these kids could speak some english and some understood Canada when I said it.
And finally, here's the video that I tired uploading yesterday. I think Kate will go from nothign to walking and skip the crawling stage. If I hold her in a crawling position, she always tries to stand. She's not interested in crawling.