From Mike:  We have made it to Goungzhou.  What a difference a couple of hours south makes.  Here the flowers are still in bloom and the environment is full of healthy and unpainted trees.  Even the pace is different.  The drivers use their turn signals and there is far less horn beeping.  It's like the citizens know they are living in a weather paradise compared to many of their fellow citizens, like a California to the U.S. I guess.  In fact, the van from the airport had the air conditioner on.  The drivers in Jinan all had their heaters blasting because everyone in Jinan was freezing but it had the affect of creating moving saunas for all the passengers.  Frankly, it feels great to get out of a car not dripping with sweat.

It was nice to leave Jinan.  Each morning we were awakened by a weird alarm clock.  About 5:30 a.m. there began some yelling outside along the canal below the hotel.  Depending upon who you asked, it was either someone that was cheering the start of a new day or someone that was yelling away the "bad spirits".  Whatever the reason, it was certainly different to have a human alarm clock that I was never able to turn off and that included the snooze button since about every ten minutes someone else would begin the yelling.

Eli had his first plane trip today.  He asked Jodi if we were going to America so someone must have prepped him during his time in foster care.  He did great and even created a funny story with the security personnel.  After checking the boarding pass, everyone steps on a platform and a security agent, usually a very young person waves a wand that looks like the kind you would use to make bubbles in the backyard.  They put the wand on your body and move it around.  Eli was having none of that and actually took a swing at the security agent checking us.  It was apparent from her reaction that this was not a common reaction and she didn't know how to proceed.  She called over an equally young agent to try to hold Eli up while she completed her security sweep.  By the anxious look on his face and the unhidden laughter of his superiors, this young man was obviously out of his element and kept his eyes on Eli as he had to dodge frequent swats from our annoyed child.

The plane was delayed numerous times but we packed plenty of snacks and had ample space to run him tired.  Now we are trying to calm him down for bedtime because we begin the process of trying to get him admitted to the U.S. first thing tomorrow. 

From Jodi:  Last night Mike and I attempted to go out for dinner and enjoy one of my favorite Chinese meals--hot pot.  Accomplishing this with a two year old we don't always understand made it quite the challenge.  There was one person in the restaurant who spoke English, but unfortunately his English was about as good as my Chinese.  Not very.  So between the two of us and our poor second language skills, we were able to manage the process of ordering.  Now hot pot is a meal that you are supposed to eat over a long period of time, with drinks and conversation and lots of rounds of different meats and veggies to throw in the boiling pot of spicy soup.  We knew our meal would be abbreviated due to the company of a toddler, but we were okay with that.  With the help of some toys we'd packed in his backpack and the magic peez dispenser that seems to distract him for short periods of time, we were able to tag team our meal so that we both could eat.  I don't know if I could say that we experienced hot pot the way it is intended, but we tried and wemade it out of the restaurant without a major scene.

Tonight we decided that we would avoid the stress of a restaurant by purchasing street food.  The three of us wandered around until we soon found ourselves on a street that had a variety of very cheap (and probably sketchy) food choices.  For a total of $2.75 we had purchased our meal for the night.  Spicy noodles to-go (which meant they gave them to us in a plastic bag), lotus root, fried onion bread, pickled cabbage, an unidentifiable pastry and THE CHICKEN FOOT.  We brought all of this food back to our room and had ourselves a little carpet picnic--this was a lot more relaxed than our previous dining experience.  The chicken foot provided us all with some good laughs.  Since I had already tried this Chinese favorite ten years ago, I did not feel the need eat another.  Liam and Rowan, I can't say that your dad actually ate the foot...but he did put it in his mouth to taste it.  You can see by the pictures how much he enjoyed it.  If you look closely at the pictures, you can see that the foot still had claws! 

Tomorrow we will fly to Guangzhou and will move to the second phase of our China journey. We have had many good memories in Jinan, but I think it is safe to say that Mike and I are both ready to leave. Living out of a hotel room with a two year old that we can't easily communicate with has worn us both down. And while Eli has been a trooper throughout the week, he is worn down too.  I hope we all have a good night's sleep tonight so we're in good spirits for tomorrow's plane ride.  We may need your prayers.  :)

From Jodi: For the past day and a half we have been able to enjoy our time in Jinan without rushing around. Yesterday we walked around the springs near the city center and Eli was content to be carried around by Mike and I as we strolled along the water. Later we went to WALMART...yup, Chinese Walmart. I couldn't believe it. Jinan has changed so much since I lived here ten years ago. I have had a difficult time recognizing places I once knew quite well. Now you can find a Pizza Hut in almost any part of the city and I saw a Starbucks during our taxi ride today. Crazy. Eli seems to enjoy taking in all the sights as well. Every time we are in a taxi, his eyes are glued out the window. He likes to point out everything he sees, which is mostly cars and busses. He is a very curious little boy and is now starting to ask what things are in English. He also loves to mimic what is dad is saying. I smile every time they are in the bathroom because Eli sounds like a little parrot sitting on the toilet copying everything Mike says--and he has know idea what most of it means. He has already mastered a few words though including okay, uh-oh, car, hello, bye-bye, banana (another favorite food) and, of course, Mickey Mouse...which he pronounces Mickey Mousey. Who would have thought that my best itunes purchase ever would be a few episodes of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoons. Eli LOVES it and it has become a routine to watch before both nap and bedtime. When it is over he says "Bye-bye Mickey Mousey" and is ready for sleep. This is good because I am always ready for sleep too. This trip has been so full of great experiences with our new son, but it has also been completely exhausting. Sure, the jetlag is part of it. But there are many other contributing factors as well. Take my dear husband and his snoring for example. With each day we spend in the smog-filled air of China, his snoring and his coughing gets louder and louder. Between his snoring and the gymnastics routine Eli seems to be performing each night during his sleep, I have yet to get a good night's rest. :) It has also been mentally tiring trying to communicate in Chinese, both with Eli and with people we encounter on the streets and in stores. Most times I love trying to interpret for Mike and Eli, but it hard to keep up with the back and forth. Today, while we were out shopping, I actually answered Mike in Chinese. I am loosing it for sure. And the last factor is the lack of food. This is not because I don't like Chinese food...I love Chinese food. However, I am currently some kind of weight loss plan called the Eli diet. He demands to eat his meals in my lap (which I do love, really) and little time is left for me to eat my own food. Between this and the fact that he wants me to carry him everywhere, I should be in great shape by the time we return to the U.S.

From Mike: We are doing our best to bond with Eli even as his schedule is difficult to maintain. At his foster home, he would be put down for almost 3 hours each day for nap. Thus far, we have only been able to put him down for about 1 1/2 hours. He also was potty trained but right now he will pee in his pull ups and only tell us, actually just me when he needs to go poop. In China, kids wear clothing that is split at the seam where the legs meet. That way, the child can just squat wherever he or she is and go to the bathroom. For the obvious yuck factor and also since this is not something that people do in the U.S. it is not a behavior we are continuing so he has not gotten used to asking to go pee yet. He also is a fitful sleeper. We have tried to keep his bedtime consistent but he talks in his sleep, just like a certain 4th grader that I know, and doesn't seem to be getting that good REM sleep. That is why at nighttime he tends to get a bit squirrelly, somethings giggling over the silliest things like shouting his new favorite t.v. program in English "Mickey Mouse" or sometimes he cries when he wants something, usually food, that we say he can't have. I am looking forward to being able to establish a consistent schedule once we get home so that everyone will be able to see his outgoing personality like we do throughout the entire day and not just in bits and pieces. It is wintertime in Jinan and the Chinese take this time of year seriously. I know us in Minnesota spend a tremendous amount of time talking about the weather; rain totals, snow amounts, soil temperature, etc but the Chinese are obsessed with this time of year. Not like a certain 2nd grader I know that has to watch the forecast on t.v. each day before school type of obsession but they fear this season. To me, it isn't that cold compared to what we experience but to everyone we meet, this weather is freezing. As I look out the hotel window there are still trees and bushes with leaves on it and water puddled on the sidewalk is not freezing. The Chinese try to protect their trees by painting the first four to six week of the trunk. They paint it white to attract sunlight supposedly but the smog keeps that from happening often. To the Chinese, it is time to hunker down into multiple layers, especially if you are a child. They dress their children up in so many layers that they look like the offspring of the Michelin man. We don't and have been paying for it ever since. When we put Eli into the baby carrier, women will come by and start tugging on his pants legs if there is any exposed skin visible. And that includes women that we don't know. More than one woman has suggested to us that we need to put Eli into more than one pair of pants because "it is so cold". They are very concerned that he is not wearing gloves even though we have tried but he doesn't want them because he cannot carry around his matchbox cars with them on. While Eli slept and Jodi rested I ventured out to a section of town nearby that had rows of street food vendors selling a variety of products. As you can imagine, there are not too many Americans here and we are celebrities of sorts. Can you imagine the stares I received when I was by myself in a non-tourist part of town? They don't want to be disrespectful and come right up to you. Instead the Chinese will slowly turn their heads to stare and if you catch them they will continue their gaze as if they were intending to look at something else and were just pausing to look at you. They also take pictures of us but again often they will wait until we have passed or get a side view. Luckily I was working out frequently before China because there are quite a few people with pictures of my behind in this city. At the market people would start to smile and giggle when I approached their food stand. I brought along a guidebook to help me with numbers and the rest we were able to communicate through gestures. It seemed to be a source of pride that the tall American was at their stand buying something. And I would like to stress the "something" there because often I did not know what I was buying. I just used my sense of smell and which vendors had longer lines to determine what was popular. At the stands, the vendor became impressed when I did not shy away from things that to our eyes would be unusual. One vendor in particular could not believe I was buying what looked like wingless cicadas on a stick that are fried, smoked and spiced. Once I bought the food, the novelty of my visit became an object of hilarity as I began to sweat due to the amount of spice included on the food items. I tried to use my fingers to say little but apparently they interpreted that to mean the thickness of the spice layer on the food. Then I became the unique sweaty American with a large pod of giggling young Chinese following behind me.

Jodi, Mike and Eli

Paperwork

Since Mike and I seem to have different times where we can't sleep, our blog posts are going to continue to come in random bits and pieces. Day two in Jinan was an interesting combination of wonderful and horrible. The wonderful part was all of the positive interaction we were able to have with Eli...the horrible part was a grueling process of completing Chinese paperwork. From 7:45-3:00 Mike, Eli and I along with another family adopting, were shuffled from office to office to sign documents, take pictures, and pay money. All of this was completed with a typical Chinese flair of hurry, hurry, hurry...now we must wait here because this man is a "little busy." It was fun to watch Mike take in the way things get done in this country. Since I was on entertain Eli duty, this left him to complete all the forms as he was pushed from one place to another. It is a good thing Rita, our adoption guide here in Jinan, is so nice because I'm not sure Mike would have kept his patience as long as he did without her. We were lucky we packed snacks and extra clothes for Eli because both were needed. Apparently we didn't even have time to stop for lunch, so Eli snacked on rice crackers, hard boiled eggs (compliments of his foster moms who said they were one of his favorites) and M&Ms. Our schedule also meant that Eli didn't get his normal nap, which according to his foster moms is typically three hours. All of this considered, our group did extremely well. With three hungry, impatient American adults, one frazzled Chinese guide, one eight year old big sister who was along for the ride and two Chinese toddlers...it was amazing that there wasn't at least one melt down. Since we got all of this paperwork done today, the next few days are free of appointments and paperwork. We are very much looking forward to just hanging out and enjoying time with our son in Jinan.

From Mike: It is great to see Eli develop a bond with his mother. He looks at her and smiles. I even saw him give her a kiss on his own. And his mother can't stop smiling, and holding her son. This is great news especially after the traumatic first night. According to the literature, the bond between child and caregiver is critical for any healthy adoption. I am very optimistic that we are on the right path watching the two of them interact. Of course, those same books also said that it usually is between new dad and new child. Usually the adoptive child will reject the mother as a response to being abandoned by a previous female caregiver especially if that bond has been positive. When his entourage of caregivers arrived to hand him over fussing over him I admit I was concerned this might be the case. Instead we think that he only knows female caregivesr and was drawn to Jodi. I'm fine with that since he is at least bonding. My role is more like a personal assistant. I am his gopher, diaper and clothes changer, and waiter and I'm fine with that. I typical sentence is "Baba (dad) get me/give me a ______". Then the fun begins as I try with my limited Chinese to decipher that last part. Sometimes I get it right and I get a "ShuiShui baba (thank you dad)". More often I get a growl, a furrowed brow and the sentence repeated with an empahsis on the object as I have brought over the wrong toy or food item. Usually Jodi just giggles. Again I'm fine with this since he is developing an attachment to one of us. Later on, back home if this continues we are going to have a chat about not being so bossy. I am man enough to admit when I have been conquered. I am defeated, I quit, I lose, I give up. I have been beaten by the Chinese toilet. Actually, I am usually beaten by the whole bathroom experience with Eli. It begins with some translation time loss for his words for potty. Unlike some kids that grab certain parts or do that little crab walk as a visual cue, Eli will just say "Laushi" for poop or "neenee" for pee. Of course, we only arrive at this after a few minutes of question and answer from Jodi since he never strings it into an "I have to go to the bathroom" kind of a sentence. This means by the time I start looking for the toilet, we have already lost valuable time since kids don't say "well, I feel a poop coming so I'm taking these magazines into the bathroom. See you in 20 minutes." like some adults do. That isn't the worst part. What happens next is what is beating me. There is a dizzying amount of different commodes in this country. I feel like I'm entering a twisted game show of Decipher the Toilet when we get in the room. There are the standard urinals you will find in any U.S. stadium or the usual toilets but never both in the same place. Unfortunately, they don't have these in kids sizes and Eli if he is to have a chance must be held up for either of these to be effective. Then there are toilets that are long rectangles and rest almost on the floor with no seat cover. Finally, there is the hole in the floor, literally. In these stalls, there are no handrails and the porcelain part is too wide for a kid to straddle. By the time I have set upon a plan of attack based upon the bathroom design, it is usually too late. When I have lost, the look on Eli's face is priceless. His eyes say "get it together". He usually mutters something in Chinese. Since I have limited language skills I am not certain but loosely translated I think he is saying "Dude, you have to figure out what to do in the bathroom. I can't keep peeing on my pants. I'm gonna run out of clothes." At one point, in desperation, I had him stand on the counter and pee into a sink. This was in full view of the hallway as the door to the bathroom was taken down for some reason. I looked across to the women's room, also without a door and saw two older ladies watching us and giggling. Then a gentleman came in, stopped dead in his tracks after seeing us, and walked back out slowly never taking his eyes off us. I looked at him smiling trying to think what the Chinese equivalent to "I will wash the sink when he is done" but wasn't able to get the words out before he was gone.

Jinan

Eli eating soup

Mopeds

Tired little boy!

Monday, November 26

From Mike: what a difference a day makes. When Eli woke up this morning we were braced for the worst. Instead we got a suprise; when he opened his eyes Eli was looking right at me and I started to say "hello" with a foolish looking grin on my face. He looked at me and started to repeat the word, his first word in English grinning from ear to ear. Jodi came running out of the bathroom to join in the fun and the three of us kept repeating hello to each other. Since he seemed to be in better spirits we tried to introduce him to a shower since he was so sweaty from the night but he was having none of that. We opted for a washcloth bath as an alternative. Then he started to say "Laushi" which means bathroom and we got our second surprise of the morning, he's already potty trained, mostly that is. After dressing we went to the cafeteria for breakfast and he devoured a plate of sausage, fried bread in the shape of a happy face, and hard boiled egg. It was great watching him eat on his mom's lap. Speaking of her, the amount of Chinese that she can recall has been a tremendous asset. It has made this transition more successful since she can ask him things and translate what he needs or wants. This really helps keep the stress low. Not that it's necessarily been high for him. There were a dizzying number of offices and forms to complete and everything needed to have stamps on them for some reason. He played with his matchbox cars almost the entire day and rarely left his mother. In fact, he must have reached for her about a half-dozen times by my count. He even gave his first kiss to her without being asked to. After the initial reaction to the separation, it has been almost indescribable the difference with him. Throughout all the offices and stops to complete more paperwork and pictures he had to take he was smiling and moving. The one exception was the fingerprinting office. He didn't like that and had his first tearless crying incident. I have been absorbing as much of the culture as I can while completing the adoption process. I wanted to tell you about transportation in China. It is really hard to explain but I will try my best. The lines on the street appear to be suggestions only as the cars zigzag about constantly. Also apparently not necessary are turn signals. At one point I noticed a car with the right blinker on taking a left handed turn. Speaking of the cars, the most visible brands are Asian manufacturers (Kia & Hyundai from South Korea and Honda & Toyota from Japan). There must be a Chinese manufacturer as the decal is not something I recognize. Most "foreign" cars are European; Peugeot, VW, BMW, and the occasinal Audi. The most common American brand are Chevrolets and Buicks. I have yet to see a Ford. That includes the trucks. There are no Silverados, F Series, or Dodge Rams. There is a "truck" but it is hardly what I would call full-sized. It is narrow and it's tires are no bigger than those on my riding lawn tractor and based upon how frequently we passed them their engine must be a 4 cylinder. Not that people use only trucks for hauling. One popular transporation tool for work is a 3 wheeled motorcycle that has a truck bed attached. They are often laden with water bottles, produce, and cardboard for recycling at least 6 feet high. Due to the traffic and expense, many Chinese choose alternate forms of transporation. There are city busses and they are packed to the gills with people. I don't know how anyone gets out at a stop. Another cheap form of transporation is the moped. They are probably more common that the bicycle based upon my unsceintific observation. And they are often tricked out with gloves on the handlebars and wild colors. One I saw had an extended seat and a family of four was riding, without helmets I might add. What is most interesting is that bikes and mopeds can be on the streets or sidewalk, no bike only lanes in this country. With all the swerving and mopeds, bicyclists, and foot traffic I was surprised that we made it through out day unscathed. There were some close calls with other merging cars and the people on two wheels or foot that ignore traffice signals. However, I suppose the slow speed keeps these to a minimum; our top speed wa a whopping 55 kilometers per hour which is just barely above 30 mph. This was apparently quite fast as we were often passing people because our guide said we were in a hurry!

Grandma is trying her best to get these uploaded to the blog. 

From Jodi: It is 3:30 am here and I can't sleep. Jetlag adds an interesting twist to the chaos of emotions we've experienced so far. After waking up and crying himself to sleep several times from 6-9 last night, Eli randomly woke up in a different spirit. We had been unable to console him up until this point, but he decided he wanted to play and that was it. He said in Chinese "I want that" which turned into a fun game of Mike trying to guess what it was that he wanted. I have never been so glad to speak a little Chinese so I could "translate" what he was saying and giggling to Mike! Before we knew it, he was on my lap in bed with all the snacks in bed with us and all the toys too. We thought he would eat since he hadn't all day, but he seemed more interested in feeding his treats to us. He had some great belly laughs as Mike and I were being silly as he fed us. It was such huge relief to see a happy little boy when only a couple hours earlier he was grieving so intensely. I sure hope we see some more of that when he wakes up this morning. We spent the next hour digging through his little backpack as he looked at his new toys. It was cute watching him try and hold all the cars in his hands; he didn't want to put anything down. He took more pictures with his camera--a clear favorite. He took a picture of Mike and said "baba" and a picture of me and said "mama" and I'm pretty sure my heart melted right there. As he started to wind down, the eye rubbing began again. Before moods shifted, we broke out the ipad and watched an episode Mickey Mouse Club. He sat curled up between Mike and I with his eyes glued to the show--only glancing to each side once and awhile to make sure Mike and I were still awake. When it was over, we turned out the lights and he laid between us chattering to himself and holding his green toy car. I think I maybe fell asleep before he did, but when I woke up later, he was curled up next to me with his hand on my face. So sweet. As the night progressed, this switched to butt in my face and feet in my face--but even his restless sleep is fun to watch.

Written by Mike: Today was one of the most exhilirating and anxious days of our lives. When Eli John showed up at our door he was surrounded by his caregivers and had a big smile on his face. Everyone crammed into our small hotel room while Jodi and I tried to bond with him while signing forms and writing down notes given to us by his foster mothers. They all said he was strong and smart for his age and is usually shy. But, Jodi bribed him with chocolate and soon Eli was in her lap playing with toys and clowning around. He is very curious and enjoyed exploring his temporary home and all the toys and goodies stashed throughout the room. Eli really liked gobbling up the M&Ms while making growling noises and sharing with me. Next, he and his new mama and baba were playing with the water bottle making funny noises by tapping on the bottle when he had it up to his mouth. However, probably the most fun was the kiddie camera. Eli is a natural shutterbug and has mastered he art of point and shoot with this device. He also likes to look at what the pictures are after he has taken a few. He only stopped playing with this toy long enough to cram a few more treats into his mouth before taking more photos. One other toy he enjoyed looking at was the photo book we made and mailed to him. In it, we showed him pictures of the house and his room along with his two older brothers and the dog. He knew he was getting brothers and asked to see them in the book. He laughed when he saw a picture of Dixie but really laughed when he saw himself on the last page. Next it was family portrait time and passport photo. This wasn't as much fun and he had to be coaxed into it by his father who would suddenly lift him into the air making everyone giggle. He apparently doesn't like to walk since he kept reaching for both his new mom and dad which was lucky for us since he is a handful. One the way back, we stopped at a bush to shake some leaves off and feel them against our hands and giggle some more. Then the difficult part began. His caregivers had to leave and they and Eli had difficulty saying goodbye. It was obvious that they had established an attachment to the little guy since they kept coming into the room to say goodbye more than once. While we can't read his mind, nor speak his language fluently to know how to communicate with him, Eli is smart enough to know that something was going on and his smile turned to a frown. Not even food could stop him from crying. And cry he did. Eli was not happy that his foster mothers were leaving and continued to call out their name for some time. We traded him back and forth trying to soothe him and saying "I love you" in Chinese but nothing worked. While he did not inherit any biological traits from us, it was quickly apparent that he has a temper like his mom (yay for me) and when he didn't want a toy or snack waved in front of his face he would push it away and turn his head as if he was disgusted with whatever you held in your hand. What did finally stop his wailing was sleep. He had driven over 3 hours to Jinan from the foster home and was off his schedule. He had been rubbing his eyes since we first met each other so it was obvious he was tired. He fell asleep in his MaMa's arms; she lowered him into bed and his new parents took turns snuggling next to him.

So much to be thankful for

We have been BUSY getting everything in order before we leave for China. Passports have arrived, plane tickets are booked, and bags are starting to get packed. We fly out of Minneapolis the day after Thanksgiving and will arrive in Beijing on Sunday. Two weeks later we will be home with our son. Mike and I are glad we'll be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with Liam and Rowan before heading out. No turkey for us this year; instead,we are going to eat at our favorite authentic Chinese restaurant in St. Paul. Duck instead of turkey...it sounds like a scene out of "A Christmas Story". We will try to update this blog regularly. Since social networking sites (including blogs) are blocked in China, we will be emailing our updates to Grandma Peggy who will post them for us.