Family Day!

We are in Nanjing since Sunday! We met Jun Ke yesterday and he is the most wonderful, loving little boy. He is calling us Mama and Baba and calls Chloe the Chinese word for Big Sister. He is "Didi", little brother. He had a visit from the doctor yesterday and was deemed very healthy and very smart. We are sure of this as well. He eats and sleeps very well. He speaks a little English and uses many gestures. He also takes our phrase books and finds words in Chinese characters to show us. Since he can read Chinese we went to a bookstore and bought a stack of Chinese children's books including a Tom and Jerry comic book which he says is his favorite. He orders Chinese food at restaurants twice now and seems to banter quiet comfortably with all the waitresses. (I think he is a little flirt!)

Jun Ke and Chloe are getting along very well. Sharing the DVD player and toys and walking hand in hand together when we are out.

Today was the official adoption ceremony. We met the orphanage director who spoke very highly of Jun Ke. She says he is a very good boy and a favorite of hers. We took their picture together and she asked that we email it to her. Tomorrow we visit the Children's Institute where he has been living so that he can say good bye to the nannies there.

We'll post again but maybe not until Gaunghzhou.

In Beijing!

Hello All! We arrived in Beijing on Wednesday after a smooth trip to the airport and an uneventful flight. (Thanks to Mom and Phil for the ride to Newark). We were pretty bleary eyed after 14 hr. flight, when we were greeted at airport by tour guide and driver and taken to our hotel. The Crowne Plaza is definately four star! Very posh and comfortable.

We caught some sleep and then walked around area near hotel including the Night Market- an outdoor food vendor area, and the shopping district. Yesterday we saw many sights on our tour including the Forbidden City and Tiannamen Square. Also Temple of Heaven and an amazing acrobatic show. The acrobatic show was definately Chloe's favorite part. We also had a very fancy Vegetarian dinner at the Lotus Restuarant. Today we hiked the Great Wall and saw the Ming Tombs. Also the Olympic Venues. Quite impressive! The Bird's nest and the Water Cube are so much bigger in real life than they appeared on TV.

Chloe is not enjoying all the attention her blonde ("yellow") hair and pretty eyes are attracting. So many people comment about her and ask to take her picture. She just hides behind us some times. She did agree to pose for a couple pictures when children asked. She must appear quite novel to the people here. In general everything is wonderful. The tour is quite well organized and we are kept busy all day. We have briefly met three other Homeland Adoption families today, but we arrived a day before them and have a private tour. We will all be traveling to Nanjing together Sunday, then we will meet the other four families. We'll update you when we can.

Love, Bonnie, Allan and Chloe

Happy St. Pat's day!

Today was another beautiful early Spring day. We received our plane tickets in the mail yesterday, got prescriptions filled for Cipro (just in case) and bought small gifts to bring for the ophanage staff that have been caring for Jun Ke and the agency staff who will help us with the adoption. It is traditional to give people small gifts as a "thank you" and we will be wrapping them in bright red tissue when we get to china to make nice little gifts. (thanks Maia, again). We are also looking at getting a small digital camera for the trip.

End of ski season

We had some BEAUTIFUL weather this weekend and really enjoyed skiing and seeing many of our friends at Belleayre. We are still packing, running last minute errands and counting down to our date to China. 9 days and counting....

Hello Everyone! We are busy getting ready to leave for China (March 24th) to meet our son and bring him home with us. Thank you to my dear friend Maia for setting up this blog and agreeing to keep it posted while we travel.

test

test