Sophia tried to look for a four leaf clover but had no luck.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Green Acres by Michelle Hazelwood Hyde
My talented friend, Michelle Hazelwood Hyde,
created this amazing family portrait of our family.
This was life before Sophia.
We loved the first illustration and this one with Sophia is even better!
Check out her work at: www.michellehazelwood.com
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A Day in the Life of Sophia
Sophia & Lucky
Learning how to play the piano.
Wai Po (Grandma) teaching Sophia Chinese.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Made in China
That does not mean that there has been nothing to write about. Our week in Guangzhou flew by. I must say that China really grew on me. After spending a couple days in Taiwan, my initial impression of China was not especially favorable in comparison. However, the more time I spent in the mainland the more it impressed me. The change that has happened there over the past 20 years is unreal. There are very obvious differences between Chinese and American culture, but I suspect the differences now are much less pronounced than they were a generation ago. It amazes me what people are capable of building when given the opportunity to pursue their own prosperity.
Oh, and the food... magnificent!
Last Friday, December 23, we took a train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. In the short time we were there we got to meet more of Wendy's family. One of her cousins is from Hong Kong and speaks English. It was cool to hear someone speaking English with both a Chinese and British accent! We only got to spend about 24 hours in HK, but it was enough time to know I'd like to go back.
Through all of our travels Sophia was amazing. She has now spent over 24 hours of her life on airplanes, and only once did she cry - and then only briefly. My kid can roll with the punches. Just give her a xiāngjiāo (banana), and she is a happy kid!
We flew from Hong Kong to Taipei, changed planes, and then flew on to New York - all on Christmas Eve. Literally the longest day of my life. With time changes it was a 37 hour day! Our long flight from Taipei to New York was about 15 hours long, and it was awesome. I swear! EVA Air has to be the best airline you've probably never heard of. The service was amazing. They really made our flights the easiest part of the trip.
We got home Christmas day about 5pm.
Since then we've been dealing with jet lag and colds. Wendy has had the worst of that. My weird work schedule has gotten me somewhat accustomed to handling big changes to my sleep schedule. Wendy and Sophia - not so much. It's taken a week, but I think we are finally starting to settle in to Eastern Standard Time.
Sophia met Augie, Foster and Bailey on Monday. We brought home Lucky and Ellie Tuesday. She was a bit overwhelmed at first. I doubt she'd ever seen a dog or cat in person before.
She's getting used to lots of kisses from lots of dogs.
They're getting used to harvesting crumbs, scraps, and spills from the dining room floor.
She also loves learning what to call things. Sophia is repeatedly asking, "who is this" in
Chinese. Here she is learning the names of all the pups!
Oh, and the kid loves noodles. I think noodles are more of a staple in Harbin than rice, and Sophie is certainly a fan!
We are so in love with this kid!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Ann from Red Thread China
In Guangzhou China there lives a woman named Ann Yang. She is a small, spritely Asian woman with short hair and boundless energy. She has the exaggerated mannerisms of someone familiar with the art of making oneself understood in a foreign language. She is jovial, and sweet. She is smart and kind. She is our friend.
A few snapshots and a description pulled from the intake forms of an orphanage half a world away. Although you'd give anything to reach out and give your child a hug, these are all you can hold.
Enter Ann at Red Thread China. Through her website she gives parents the chance to affect the life of their waiting child in a small way. Perhaps more importantly she gives waiting parents the chance to feel in control again - if only for a moment. For a small fee she will send a care package, translate a letter, and best of all - make a phone call to your child's orphanage on your behalf to request updates on her condition and an updated photo.
We found Ann's website through one of the internet message boards that are gathering places for families expecting an adoption. There are a few websites like Ann's. During a period of our wait when we were receiving no updated information from our adoption agency I contacted them all to ask them to request updates on our behalf. All the rest failed, but Ann came through. Within 2 days of my first contact with her Ann got us Sophia's updated measurements. A couple weeks later we had new photos. For Sophie's 3rd birthday we were able to send her a cake, a stuffed animal, and candy. Ann translated 2 letters for us - one to Sophia and one to her caretakers. She got us photos of the birthday party.
She gave us hope.
When Ann moved to Guangzhou she spoke no English, and worked in a shop on Shaiman Island. The U.S. Consulate used to be located on Shaiman Island, so all American adoptions funneled through there. Ann taught herself English by talking to the customers at the shop.
She taught herself English! As someone who has been trying to learn Mandarin Chinese with the help of software, and books, and family and friends - the fact that she taught herself English blows me away.
She grew up in a country that has not always rewarded ambition and self direction. Yet, she saw a need and took the initiative. She started her website and filled a void. She is a self made success. She is my hero!
33 years ago Wendy's dad brought his family to the United States, learned a new language, taught himself the restaurant business, and lived what we call the American dream. How cool is it that 3 decades later the world has grown so small that the same dream lives on in Guangzhou China!
Among the services Ann offers is Tour Guide / Personal Shopping Assistant. Today we arranged for her to meet us at our hotel for some shopping. Wendy's Mom and Aunt, Wai Po and Yi Po, have been all over Guangzhou exploring it since we've been here, so we didn't really need Ann's help.
But we really wanted to meet her to thank her for her assistance during our wait, and we didn't want to assume that she would want to meet us.
We spent a couple hours with her walking from shop to shop in one of the busiest shopping districts I have ever seen. There are 9 million people in Guangzhou, and apparently they all shop in the same place.
Pushing a stroller through heavy foot traffic made a helluva ride for Sophia!
Wendy was in search of a purse and a string of pearls. Ann knew the best places to look for both. It was fun watching a half dozen Chinese women haggling over prices. Donald Trump has nothing on these ladies.
I got involved only once, and I'm proud to say that I came out on top of the negotiations.
Wendy was looking at a pair of headphones for Sophia to wear while playing with language apps on the iPad on our flight home. The shop keeper asked for 25 Yuan. I came back with a low ball offer of 15. She countered with 20. I acted shocked and disrespected. I made a final offer of 18 Yuan. There was a standoff. The tension was thick. The shopkeeper blinked. I saved 2 Kuai! 32 American Cents! Score one for the white boy!
Thanks Ann, for a fun day of shopping. Good Lord, did I just say fun day of shopping?
When we got back to the hotel Wendy and Sophia worked a bit on English words. It is really cool to hear her learning new words. She has such small voice - our little mouse.
Tomorrow Sophia's TB test will be read. Shouldn't be a problem - we can barely tell where it was administered. Then Wendy's dad arrived from Taiwan. He'll be with us for the rest of the trip.
Adoption is a process in which there are many more unknowns than knowns. Mining for bits of information about your child and your timeline becomes an obsession. Families proudly display their dates and positions in the process - mile markers to help themselves and others quantify the wait.
Still waiting for your Letter of Approval? Well, ours took 62 days - just 2 more than the average!
Why is it taking so long for our I-800 approval? So and so already got theirs and we sent ours 2 days earlier!It's not really like running a marathon. It's more like running a series of sprints. You don't know how the long the race is going to be or when it's going to start. You only know that somewhere over the final finish line waits the child you've grown to love but have yet to meet.
A few snapshots and a description pulled from the intake forms of an orphanage half a world away. Although you'd give anything to reach out and give your child a hug, these are all you can hold.
Enter Ann at Red Thread China. Through her website she gives parents the chance to affect the life of their waiting child in a small way. Perhaps more importantly she gives waiting parents the chance to feel in control again - if only for a moment. For a small fee she will send a care package, translate a letter, and best of all - make a phone call to your child's orphanage on your behalf to request updates on her condition and an updated photo.
We found Ann's website through one of the internet message boards that are gathering places for families expecting an adoption. There are a few websites like Ann's. During a period of our wait when we were receiving no updated information from our adoption agency I contacted them all to ask them to request updates on our behalf. All the rest failed, but Ann came through. Within 2 days of my first contact with her Ann got us Sophia's updated measurements. A couple weeks later we had new photos. For Sophie's 3rd birthday we were able to send her a cake, a stuffed animal, and candy. Ann translated 2 letters for us - one to Sophia and one to her caretakers. She got us photos of the birthday party.
She gave us hope.
When Ann moved to Guangzhou she spoke no English, and worked in a shop on Shaiman Island. The U.S. Consulate used to be located on Shaiman Island, so all American adoptions funneled through there. Ann taught herself English by talking to the customers at the shop.
She taught herself English! As someone who has been trying to learn Mandarin Chinese with the help of software, and books, and family and friends - the fact that she taught herself English blows me away.
She grew up in a country that has not always rewarded ambition and self direction. Yet, she saw a need and took the initiative. She started her website and filled a void. She is a self made success. She is my hero!
33 years ago Wendy's dad brought his family to the United States, learned a new language, taught himself the restaurant business, and lived what we call the American dream. How cool is it that 3 decades later the world has grown so small that the same dream lives on in Guangzhou China!
We spent a couple hours with her walking from shop to shop in one of the busiest shopping districts I have ever seen. There are 9 million people in Guangzhou, and apparently they all shop in the same place.
Wendy was looking at a pair of headphones for Sophia to wear while playing with language apps on the iPad on our flight home. The shop keeper asked for 25 Yuan. I came back with a low ball offer of 15. She countered with 20. I acted shocked and disrespected. I made a final offer of 18 Yuan. There was a standoff. The tension was thick. The shopkeeper blinked. I saved 2 Kuai! 32 American Cents! Score one for the white boy!
Thanks Ann, for a fun day of shopping. Good Lord, did I just say fun day of shopping?
When we got back to the hotel Wendy and Sophia worked a bit on English words. It is really cool to hear her learning new words. She has such small voice - our little mouse.
Tomorrow Sophia's TB test will be read. Shouldn't be a problem - we can barely tell where it was administered. Then Wendy's dad arrived from Taiwan. He'll be with us for the rest of the trip.
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