And Now We Are Six!

Here is the update from our first 2 days in China with Donovan! Sorry it is a bit long!


WARNING! THIS IS A SUPER LONG UPDATE! SORRY! YOU MAY WANT TO READ IT IN PIECES!

Our trip to Beijing was very good. The flight was 13 hours but it went by very well. The girls did amazing on the plane and in the end we have lots of extra things to do on the flight home that we did not get to yet! Beijing was hot and we were absolutely exhausted when we arrived. Our guide picked us up at the airport and took us to the hotel where we met Yulin (the lady from our agency in Ottawa.) She is so organized and informative. Great to put a face to the name!

We all had a short sleep as we were having a wake up call for 4:30 am to get to the airport and fly out at 7:55 to Changsha. We were awake around 2 am (which is 2 in the afternoon for us) because we are jet-lagged. So we were ready for our wake up call for sure! Flight from Beijing to Changsha was very good. No goats or other animals. Just a regular flight. I was a little disappointed to be honest! I am thinking that Bob (Yulin's husband) was joking about the farm animals on planes???? We will find out!

Once we landed in Changsha our guide picked us up and brought us to our hotel. We were under the impression that the hotel in Beijing would be very nice and other hotels would be of lesser quality. This has not been the case for us. Our hotel in Changsha is quite extravagant. Marble everywhere, huge pillars, paintings, artwork, woodwork...etc. It is quite exquisite. So our instructions were that we would get ready get some lunch and then we would be off to the Hunan Civil Affairs office to meet our children! YAY!

The time went by fast as we had lots to do. We made it to the Civil Affairs office at around 3:00. Our guide was very good and got us to do a bit of paperwork. The girls were so good. We were all pretty tired but Cait and Becca hit a "wall" around 3:15. They each curled up on a chair and fell asleep. At about 3:40 we heard that Donovan was there. Lauren looked out the door into the other room and she said "I see him! He is here!" A gentleman brought him to us and Donovan was a little scared and started backing away. Kendall reached down and picked up Donovan. The man who was holding his hand just left the room. Donovan realized then he did not know anyone in the room and he was very sad. He was trying so hard not to cry. He was very brave. We brought him to a window to look outside and that seemed to be better.

Lauren tried to give him a toy that we had brought for him but he did not want anything to do with it. I (Tam) tried to hold him for a minute but he was sticking close to Kendall. He only wanted to look out the window.

Cait and Becca were still asleep on the chairs at this point. We tried several times to wake them up but they were right asleep. Completely out. Crystal even moved Caitlyn and she would not wake up. Eventually though Cait roused and she was able to meet Donovan too. He did not want the toy that Cait had for him either. It was kind of cute!

Crystal had the brains to bring a little toy truck. Donovan took it right away. :) He loved the wheels and how it rolled around. He was totally taken with the truck. And it was a good distraction. He is such a little boy! I had brought these stuffies for him but all he wanted was a truck! I am on a great learning curve! Lots of fun!

I was able to hold him for a little bit in the room there after he had his truck! So that was amazing. He looks so good and he is very solid! He is a heavy little guy! He is known at the orphanage for being a good eater. I can see that he is doing well.

It was not very long until our guide said that it was time for us to go back to the hotel. Wow! Just like that we are now six! Donovan would only go with Kendall still. He was unsure about us and everything, which is totally understandable. He observes everything around him and is taking it all in. You can see that he is very bright and understands so much.

We had a really late supper and went straight to bed. Donovan ate A LOT. It was awesome to watch! He would eat everything from his plate and then we would put more on and he would just continue. It seemed like he would eat until we stopped putting food on his plate. He did not eat fast he just kept eating. Amazing! It was encouraging to see him eating and fitting in with us at supper. He had already become more relaxed.

When we went to bed Donovan was very sad. He cried for about 30-40 minutes. Kendall layed with him for a bit but we realized this was probably not the greatest idea since we are sure no one lays with him in the orphanage. Once he was by himself he settled a little better and was shortly asleep, probably around 9:30ish. He slept the whole night until 7:15. In the middle of the night I checked on him and he had fallen off the cot onto the floor. He did not wake up and he stayed there until morning. Becca was amazing through all this. She went to sleep just fine with Donovan crying. She did not complain or fuss. We were so proud of her. She is a wonderful big sister.

DAY 2

When Donovan woke up we thought he might be sad because he woke up in a strange place and still doesn't know us. But this did not happen. He woke up and Kendall said "Good morning! Would you like a drink?" Donovan rubbed his eyes and went over to Kendall. Had a drink and Kendall got him dressed. He was ready to go!

We all came into the room at this point and the girls all said good morning to him and it was just like regular. We all hung out and got ready for the day. Went down to the first floor for a big breakfast buffet. The buffet had both Chinese and Western foods. It was spectacular. I took Donovan through the buffet and pointed at foods and he would nod his head or hesitate. If he hesitated I did not put that food on his plate. It is quite mind boggling how much can be communicated with out words! He is very expressive and is good to tell us when he wants something or doesn't want something. Again, he ate A LOT! Very good appetite. He is very neat. If there is some food that has fallen off his plate he makes sure to eat that first before eating what is on his plate. After he is finished he pushes his plate gently away, but he has to be sure there is no more food on the plate. He finishes everything.

At 9:00 we went back to the Civil Affairs office to make everything official. Today is the actual day of adoption! We were interviewed by a government lady and then had to have documents notarized. This process ended up taking about 2 hours as we were waiting with several other families and had to take turns. During this waiting time Donovan was hilarious. He was playing with all of us. He was running around and giving hugs to us and playing with the girls. It was a real bonding time. He has changed so much in the last 17 hours. It was amazing to watch that as well. He was starting to be a little jokester. And he had his first real belly laugh. It was fantastic! It is feeling like he is fitting in so well. Lauren had said, "I feel like we have always had him." Awesome!

Donovan is having a nap right now and later today we have to get some clothes for him. I brought a little bit but not enough. So will be good to get somethings he can wear!

I will update more when we can. I know these big long updates are overwhelming. Sorry this was so long. Will try to keep it shorter.
Until next time,
T