Bringing Sophia Home

Sorry that we have not been posting regularly.  Our internet connection can be quite slow so it is not always working fast enough for VPN or for Skype.

Yesterday was our finalization day and it was another busy day at the CAB office.  All 40 families arrived again at the same time and got into line, or at least our guides did.  Grace is a dream at all of this stuff.  She has us sit down and wait while she does all the worrying and scurrying.  With the final day of the Asian Games being friday the passport office is closed so we might not be able to get Sophia's passport before our Consulate Appointment on Monday.  Grace was trying to get an urgent urgent passport instead of an urgent passport so it could be ready on Thursday.  She also had a backup plan and put a call into the Consulate about turning in the passport at the swearing in ceremony on Monday afternoon.  She is confident that either way we will be fine, I had full confidence that she would get it all worked out though.  No stressing by me, Grace did enough for both of us.  What a fantastic adoption guide!

Today was our passport photo visit at the police station.  Again all 40 families were there at the same time and again Grace got us in and out as fast as can be.  Sophia has been very tight lipped up until noon today when Nani took a walk to the pool to read for a while.  All the sudden she started running and playing and giving a little half smile.  I just couldn't believe it and of course the camera was with Nani so I couldn't even document it.  She also started taking her bottle again today, she just needs time to digest all of the changes going on.

We took laundry to Shamian Island tonight and ate at Lucy's, it was wonderful to have some of the familiar.  As much as I really like being around real China at our hotel in the city sometimes it gets a little overwhelming with it all.  It was nice to be able to stroll a bit and have some western type food.  We also did a little shopping at my favorite store, Jenny's and then stopped at the WS for some ice cream before catching a taxi back to the hotel.  The taxi was a bit of an adventure as the driver took us to the Holiday Inn City Center instead of Shifu.  The ride ended up being just as long or longer than if we had walked.  Oh well, we saw some new areas and also saw where the Garden Hotel was.  No wonder so many love it, it was in a beautiful area.

Once we got back to the hotel we got our jammies on and Sophia started being a total nut!  She really let her guard down and was getting wild and crazy.  She has a spunky little personality and I can't wait to see more of it unfold.

Tomorrow we are going to a park to stroll for a while and then Grace will be picking up our final provincial documents.  We have finished the provincial part of the adoption so now we wait for the US side of things to get wrapped up.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good pictures of Sophia as she wouldn't let Nani take any.