When you Wish upon a Star

I am a day behind, but yesterday we finalized our adoption. Bao Sha Hao is officially Reid Sterling Shahao Henningfeld! We started our day off with breakfast after Mr. sleepy head finally got moving-we had to wake him up. Then we met our guide and the other families in the lobby at 9:30 a.m. to head back to the Civil Affairs office where we met Reid. I was worried he'd think we were taking him back, but he was fine. We met with an official, which was very short. We then met with the notary, which was a man. Richard, our guide, had told us that this guy was a little 'strange.' He was right. He was an odd duck, but funny. They both asked us how Reid was doing and if we were happy with him. They wanted us to promise we would love him the same as our other children and never hurt or abandon him. We also had a picture taken for the important paperwork- just Reid and myself. Last year they took at least a few shots. This time I think he took just one. I am pretty sure Reid was not smiling- he was supposed to go sit on top of of baby seat they had put up so he'd be at camera level. He wanted nothing to do with that. When I tried to pick him up and sit him on it, he went all stiff and straight on me. I asked if I could just hold him up- they said that was fine, so that is what I did. I may not have the best posture in that picture...he's a big kid!

After all the families were done, we headed to the Trust Mart (Chinese version of Wal-Mart) to get some groceries. We got some noodle bowels, bread and peanut butter, water, Gatorade and Propel (it's pretty cheap at the 7-11 where we've been getting it every day, but it was cheaper at the Trust Mart). The kids picked out some snacks- peanuts and one candy each. Reid wanted quite a few things in the store- I am sure this was his first visit to a store like this and his first time being able to pick some things out. He tried to put many things into the cart, including a big glass bottle of beer....I will not be needing that. He did point at a few things that he wanted that were unrecognizable to me. We ended up getting a bag of chicken feet for Reid- they are pre-packaged in small packages. I hope he enjoys them, because those are not things we will find or have access to at home. He was pretty excited about them. I will not be able to watch him eat them or I might get sick...lol. We carried our heavy bags to the van- it was raining on and off all day due to the typhoon in the area. We then headed back to the hotel to put our bags away and then back to the lobby to meet Richard for lunch. We went to a local Chinese restaurant and sat in the back room. Many dishes were ordered. Reid tried a few things. Evan and I being the picky eaters we are stuck to the simple things. Evan ate very little- some plain rice. I had some chicken fried rice. Reid was a little bit of a stinker on the walk back- pulled a phone off a hook that I had to back up to fix, got too far ahead of me (luckily Richard and the guys were up ahead), laid on the floor of the hotel a couple times, etc. He definitely has a naughty streak in him. I have already decided there will be no train back to Hong Kong for us. We will take a van no matter how much we have to pay. I am a bit worried about the airport part already, but thankfully we just have to get through Hong Kong and then have a direct flight. Hoping by then he'll listen a little better. He has some major selective hearing! I thought maybe he had a hearing loss at first, but it didn't take me long to realize he listens when he wants to.

Trust Mart- China's version of Wal-Mart.

Having fun with mom's sunglasses in the restaurant!

Hanging out in the hotel room.

Once we got back to the hotel, we headed to our room to play for a bit. That got old fast.   The rain finally moved out and it was a bit cooler out, so I put the boys in their suits and we headed down to the pool. They swam in the little kid pool and in the shallow end of the big pool for awhile with two boys from another family that we had met this past weekend.   They had a good time! Reid was not quite as confident in the pool as he was in the bathtub, but he still enjoyed himself.

We headed back to the room for some snacks and skyping and then a quick shower and bedtime.   Reid and Evan have been getting on each other's nerves a bit here and there- already acting like brothers. They don't want to share the i-pad mini and Reid has a tendency to just pull things away pretty forcefully when he wants something....no matter what it is. He is not too keen on sharing. I am sure that is orphanage related. He is a little too aggressive at times- again, something we'll really have to work on once home. Evan has been a little too bossy, which he can be at home with his other brothers too. He tells him to stop it more often and louder than he needs to.    I did feel bad for him though last night- he was telling Reid to stop playing with the light switches and Reid took a mini flashlight and just pounded him on the shoulder. Evan is very sensitive so of course he was bawling. I think Reid felt bad, but he didn't cry or try to apologize or hug him...he has a bit of stubborness in there too. I had him sit on the bed for a couple minutes- tried to explain with words and actions/signs that he hurt Evan and that was not nice- that we don't hurt people. He looked like he was going to cry and still was not too apologetic. Evan usually doesn't want someone to hug him anyways after they hurt him. I then tucked them into bed. He was a little more sad, but I am sure this had to do with what just happened. I gave them some snuggles and kisses and shut the lights off.   He came out maybe 3 times this time- better than the night before. He was asleep maybe within 30 minutes this time. He had to be tired. He is used to a nap and he didn't get one today.    About an hour or less into his sleep he was half awake, crying out. Not sure if it was a bad dream or sadness. But he cried out for MAMA. That made me feel good. I got him back to sleep pretty quickly.   He moves around a lot in his sleep. I wish my camera battery wasn't dead. He is still sleeping this morning. I'd love to show you how he sleeps on a king sized bed....long ways across near the pillow area- Evan and I were on the sides and both had very little room. I got hit and kicked quite a few times.

Today we have some time after we go to breakfast and then we will meet at 1:30 p.m. for the medical exam and to apply for the passports.   Reid will have to have a full check-up and a TB test- blood test this time. I am sure this will be nothing for him- he is quite used to medical appointments and needles.

We woke up, me much too early after not such a good night of sleep. I woke up before it was light and just couldn't get back to sleep. I eventually had to drag Evan out of bed to go get some breakfast. We had a lot of time to kill between breakfast and gotcha time. The night before I had made up all the gift bags we'd need to give out this week. I spent some time in the morning getting the kids' bags of stuff to do ready and questions written out to ask about Reid. I wrote down all of the kids who I'd like to see for families waiting back at home and some kids who I'd just like to advocate for so our guide could give it to the orphanage so they could prepare for Thursday's visit. We checked out a few bakeries for a cake for Reid- they were outrageously expensive for a very small cake. We went to check out the playroom in our hotel- it is on the tower apartment side and the whole floor smelled like smoke. It was only for kids 3 and under in my opinion and it was hot in the room- I was not impressed. We then went down a floor to check out the Can Am clinic/hospital should we need to have to go there.   We met with our guide at 12:30 p.m. in the hotel library to go to the bank to change money at the local bank. We then had a short meeting in our room to prepare for the afternoon.   Evan and I then went with another family to McDonald's for a quick lunch because we did not have much time.   At 2:00 we met back in the lobby to head to the Guangdong Province Civil Affairs building for our gotcha moment!

This day was special for so many reasons- it was my anniversary- 7 years married to my wonderful husband. It was Reid's gotcha day- our 7th child in 7 years. And, it was Reid's 6th birthday! I was nervous, but not as nervous as I was last year.   We got to the Civil Affairs office to see that many families had already been united with their children.   There were a handful still waiting. I got to meet one of my adoption friends, Liberty, who was also waiting for her son who has beta thalassemia like Reid.   Talking to her, I started to get a little emotional. She said she had saw him come out from behind the secret curtain room. Our guide had us fill out some paperwork.   We were all nervous that we'd be filling out the paperwork when the children walked through the door.   Reid actually did come out, along with his best friend Mason, at one point. He wasn't paying attention so he didn't even notice us. It was hard not to just go give him a hug, but we were supposed to wait. So we waited and not long later, out they came. It all happened so fast. There were some babies crying, but not as many as I thought there would be. There were quite a few families in the room. We were adopting the oldest child that day. It made me realize how hard it is for school aged and older children to find a forever family and how each year, their odds just keep getting less and less.

Reid was very serious- not many smiles, but he was not crying. He was very interested in all of the things we brought for him in his bag- snacks, paper and crayons, a light-up ball, and a tablet to color that had numbers you matched to the marker color. He first drew a picture on the doodle pad- a sun and some grass. He was very interested in the coloring tablet. He was very good at matching the numbers to the correct color. He could pay attention for quite some time when he was coloring. He really seems to enjoy that.   I was able to talk to someone from the orphanage and I got a few of my questions answered. He was transfused this past Friday, so he should be fine making it until we get home to see the hematologist and wait for his next transfusion. He did have a bad cough and was congested, but no fever. They handed me a bottle of medication that he is on to help lower his iron count. Blood transfusions give the body too much iron so children with this special need have to take a daily medication to rid their body of the excess iron from the transfusion.   It was Ferriprox. Through an online group I am on, I have learned that this medication is NOT FDA approved in the United States, at least not for children. I had learned that it would be better for them not to get chelation medication until prescribed by the hematologist at home than to keep on giving them n this medication while in China. Reid was pretty worried about it though- he kept trying to get it and find it in my bag. He has since forgotten about it.   We got some pictures together and with the other families adopting from Bao'an.   It was really all a blur. They boys ran around quite a bit and played with the light up ball- that was a big hit for a handful of kids.   Evan and Reid played catch while I filled out some more paperwork. Before we knew it, it was time to go. We headed to the elevators and loaded back into the van for the hotel. We went to our room and hung out for the rest of the night.

Adopting a school-aged child is kind of like raising a toddler. Everything is new to them and they want to explore their new world, touching and trying everything. He was into everything, turning lights on and off, wanting to see how each toy, puzzle, etc. we had in the room worked.   He is like Curious George. :)    It sure kept me busy and on my toes.   I learned that he is pretty bright and seems to have a good memory. I read through some of the things the orphanage Sunshine School had sent for him- a book of projects he had made and some notes from the teachers and assistant director of the program.   They said that they will miss him and that he is a very good boy- very polite and helpful.   We played a few games on the I-pad mini and from that I was able to see that his fine motor skills are pretty good and that he knows many of the letters and sounds. He can sort and match things and he can recognize many numbers and can count pretty high, skipping a few numbers as he goes- especially in the teens.

One of the dads ran and got some carry out Thai food from Cow and Bridge restaurant. He brought us some delicious chicken fried rice. After eating it was time for a bath and time to brush teeth. I had some of my questions answered- I've been wondering about privacy with an older child, bathing, changing into pajamas, etc. Definitely a boy here- no concern at all for privacy- he could care less if I saw him naked. He heard me turn on the shower for Evan and started a bath (likely his first) and got naked as quick as humanly possible. He jumped right in like a cannon ball and was having a blast! They even have a shower sprayer in there- he loved that. He got his goggles and put them on too. He was laughing so much. Evan joined him instead of taking a shower. He was a fish- all over the place. I think he would have stayed in there forever. He then happily brushed his teeth (though he thought he could still eat more after doing that) and put on his pajamas. That was easy enough!

Not long after that- around 8:30 p.m. the doorbell rang. It was room service with a small cake that our guide had called them about earlier. I just thought it wasn't going to show up. It was tiny, but it was amazing. It had chocolate squares for all of the outside pieces and the cake was inside with whipping in between. It had some sort of edible bow on the top too. We sang him Happy Birthday and also played a video in Chinese from Youtube. We ate some cake and then brushed our teeth again.   Evan crashed shortly after that. Reid and I skyped dad and the kids.

Bedtime wasn't as successful as bath time for Reid, but here's to hoping tonight's will be a little easier. Maybe it was the cake, maybe it's the fact that there is a light near the bed, maybe it was everything going through his head-probably a good combination! Evan fell asleep between 8 and 9 - crashed hard and was up shortly after 5 a.m. Reid, on the other hand, was in and out of bed, flipping the side light on and off and using the bathroom multiple times until midnight. I was exhausted today, but God always gives me the strength I need. All in all it was a memorable and blessed day!

Leaving the hotel