Last Night in Changsha (Updated Pics!)

Many of you have been wondering if Nana and Papa actually exist because I have not been very good about adding pictures to the blog entries. I do have some great pictures of Nana and Papa now with their new granddaughter. I will have to update this entry tomorrow with photos since I'm experiencing technical difficulties with adding photos and I'm quite tired. Please stay tuned...

First of all, we want to thank everyone for all of the great messages we have received in response to our blog. We had no idea how much this journey would mean. We avidly read all of the wonderful encouraging emails that come through even if we don't have time to respond. It does mean so much.

We're wrapping up the end of our trip to Changsha in the Hunana province where Amelie is from. Tomorrow (way early) we fly to Guangzhou in the Guangdong province. Guangzhou is the city with the American consulate. This is where we'll take Amelie to her first medical appointment to get her checked out. I know this will be hard for us as first time parents. I imagine Amelie will not be thrilled with this part of the trip. Guangzhou is where we will also get Amelie's visa so we can bring her back home to the States with us. We just got her Chinese passport today. When we get back home, we will re-adopt her so we can get the U.S. version of all of these documents - passport, birth certificate, etc. This will make it much easier in the future when we do any kind of travel or check her into school, among other bureacratic processes.

So today has been another big day for Amelie's development. She has completely warmed up to her Nana and Papa and deliberately reaches out to them. Now we'll just have to work on getting Nana and Papa to share nicely. Amelie has a way of hooking parents and grandparents when she goes to them and puts her head on their shoulder and looks up at them with those deep, expressive eyes. That bright smile will go along way to wrap us all around her tiny little fingers too.

Some other developments she has made, has been to stand up completely unassisted for several seconds. She even took two steps toward me this evening. We've decided we are absolutely not getting her a walker when we get home. It seems as though she has spent most of her time up until now in a walker. Her growth report states that she walks with support. When you support her and she walks she tries to thrust forward with her hips and her legs go rubbery. In four days without a walker, we are so impressed with the progress she has made. My next goal is to get her to say Mama (or Baba) by the end of the trip. It sounds like she is already saying Mama, but I'm not sure if she is saying it in the right context.

Today, we ventured off, just the 5 of us, to Martyr's Park here in Changsha. It is a beautiful park and quite large. There was a very large new car show going on today and it was very interesting to see the makes and models that are sold over here. Hyundais and Volkswagens seem to be much cheaper here, while Toyotas and Mercedes are a lot more expensive. Once we past the car show, we got to see how beautiful the park really was. All throughout, were beautifully designed Asian gardens and landscapes. Part of the park was actually an amusement park with some rides like roller coasters that looked like they had never been through a safety inspection and bumper cars as well as midway games.

Well, it's late and we head off quite early. Our guide, Veronica, heads off to the airport ahead of us to check in our bags. Man are we getting spoiled! Allen was nominated to be the group leader in her place to make sure everyone settles their bill and gets on the bus on time. So far, he is running a tight ship.

Talk to you soon from Guangzhou!

Here are the pictures:

• Nana and her Baby Girl Valentine
• Ah, that face!
• Papa just chillin' with Xiao Xiao
• Amelie is ready for the park
• Chinglish - Does anyone know what this sign says?!?!