It’s official!

Yup, today (6/4 China time, 6/3 CA time) we went back to the place where we originally picked up LB and had a LITTLE ceremony in which J and I were officially declared LB’s adoptive parents! I want to emphasize the LITTLE portion of the ceremony as I didn’t even realize we were having a ceremony until it was all over. I need to emphasize this so as to pave the way for my safety when I go home and the momma finds out there is no video of the event. All I got was a quick comment from our guide Daniel as she (yes, this Daniel is a she) along with two other ladies walked up to Jym and Allison, the other couple here in Zhengzhou with us, and I and said something to the effect of “we’ll have a ceremony.” As I am processing this the two ladies standing side by side hand me one red document holder and one to Jym and Allison.  I proceed to open the document holder and the two ladies say something in Chinese which Daniel then translates as “You’re now the official adoptive parents.” “All right!” I think, as  Daniel continues telling us that we need to make sure we hold on to that document as we will need it later at the police station. “Okay. Wait… that’s it?” Well, pray for my safety when I get home and have to try to explain it to the momma.

We then went to the notary. Okay, it’s hot and muggy here, but just doable enough so that I’ve never got much more than a little perspiration going. We start up the stairs and at each floor I keep being surprised because we keep going. Finally at the fifth floor we arrive. So I’m already uncomfortably hot from the mini workout. Then the room is a small office where there is just too much for little hands to get at. At one point LB is trying to get something and I stop him. Of course, as is his SOP, he throws a bit of a temper tantrum. Immediately the people in the office start scrambling to get him something. Next thing I’m being handed two Werther’s Originals. Hard candy, not something I feel comfortable giving a two year old who’s walking around, but even more important, I truly do not want to reward this behavior. I want to break it. So I have to say thanks but no thanks to the offer. I think they thought I was a horrible person based on the looks I was given (and in China they are never people to refrain from looking at you, okay, probably a better word would be stare. Every culture is different!) Anyhow, let’s just suffice it to say that little incident didn’t help to cool the air down for me any.

After that, we had a couple hours back at the hotel in which we Skyped and got some stuff to eat and then we met a different guide, Mr. Liu, down in the lobby to go to the police station where they take care of all the passports. In waiting for the man from the orphanage to get to the police station, Mr. Liu decided to go take us over to a place to get the half dozen or so pictures we needed for the passport process. Of course, this takes a bit of time as they have to have LB in just the exact position to get the exact photo they need, not really something you should expect from a two year old. Finally they are satisfied and we get to get up from all the picture taking. LB is walking around and starting to be a bit of a grump. At one point they stop him from getting something they don’t want him to have and again he throws a bit of an attitude. Now at this point, you need to realize we are well into nap time and I am happy he is doing as well as he is. A while later I was holding him and turned him so he was cradled in my arms. In about 30 seconds he was gone (kind of like he was right now when I laid him down for a nap!). Once we finished there, we went back to the Police Station. I’m struggling to hold this sweaty sleeping baby while trying to get paperwork out of my backpack, trying to sign things (it’s kind of like buying a house, just spread out over a longer time period), etc. Then the gal helping us wants to take his picture. Are you serious? You want me to waken this sleeping baby for a picture? Let’s just say once I tried waking him we had to leave the room for a while. Finally, I decided to try giving him some water to see if that would settle him. It worked briefly, just until we went back in to try the picture again. Then he started melting again. Please Lord?! I try the water thing again and this kid who, once he is done with something  makes it very clear he won’t have anything more to do with that item, actually goes for a second drink. In the brief pause after the drink we were able to get him in position and slip in a quick picture that was satisfactory. Thanks Lord!!

Then back for an actual nap.  I searched for the Korean BBQ place we saw on Google but to no avail, so we eventually ended up in some place with no English anywhere.  We’re all hungry and just decide to try it. Now why is it in some places they hand you the menu and stand there poised to take your order, and just about the time you finish looking at the pictures and decide on three to point to, you look up and they’ve disappeared?! So now I have this progressively melting down two year old (who we’ve determined is like M and does NOT do well post nap) despite my bringing Cheez-its to tide him over while we wait. (I learned that the hard way from our time at Pizza Hut the night before!) Finally a lady returns after I have made a multitude of attempts to get someone’s attention. We start pointing to pictures and all we’re getting in response is “No, no, no.” (Well at least they know that much English! Guess maybe I should work harder on my Chinese.) Finally after rejecting out first three choices, she walks away. I’m slightly confused and considering leaving, when she returns with a tray loaded up with all sorts of different dishes. Ahh, Dim Sum. (Okay, Why the menu then and why were you standing there to take my order???) So we choose four items and are finally able to get a growing fiasco back under control.

Since we’re nearby, we take another trip to WalMart and stock up on all sorts of different items, including several which just looked good, but we weren’t sure what they were. So far they’ve all been winners! I just finished some sort of peach milk thingy. Sweet, but very tasty and refreshing. As we left we some of the dancing that was occuring on three of the four corners of this one intersection, a very interesting Chinese phenomenon.  And then finally back to the hotel room for a very late night.

T-shirt saying of the day, Peace Free Keep Heart.