Life at The White Swan

The White Swan is the hotel where many families stay before they get their visa at theAmerican consulate here in Guanzhou. LiLi passed her medical exam today so everything is going smoothly. In the room LiLi loves to play on the king size bed running from Pam to me and falling down and getting tickled. She rides piggy back on us. She loves to be lifted in the air high and get a wheee from her Ba Ba. Mama lifts her up to the window and night where she can wathch all the colorful boats on the river. The hotel gaved her a Barbie doll with an Asian baby. We found out that dada din't mean Papa but doll.. she missed her doll

In a nearby park there are old couple learning to Salsa, a whole group of ladies praticing a kind of fan dance, snapping their fans. They grabbed Pam to join them.

As fun as it is here we are ready to come home.

Telephones and Bellybuttons

LiLi has learned to use the tv remote. If she doesn't like the channel she pushes buttons until she finds the one that makes the channel change. She has been doing this for a couple of days. This morning she held the remote up to her ear like a phone and said Wai--hello. The she punched a bunch of numbers on the remote and held it to her ear again and started talking.

She likes bellybuttons. She pulled up her shirt and was looking at hers and started giggling. Then she pulled up my shirt to look at my bellybutton.

All the wait staff at the hotel gather and around her and talk to her and giggle when she responds. Our two social workers Echo and Mary seems to love her . They talk to her in Chinese and the three of them giggle and smile

Sometimes LiLi sings a soft song . We don't know what it is. She likes books. She likes to flip the pages like a deck of cards. She found a pen and pretended to write in the book.

Today is our last day in Kunming. Last night we sat in an beautiful outdoor restaurant by the side of a lake and ate dinner. Of course the waitresses loved LiLi. We have enjoyed Kunming but look forward to Guangzhou where buying things for LiLil will be easier. Next blog from the White Swan Hotel.

We Are Parents of LiLi

it Happened we made it to Kunming and found the most wonderful little girle waiting for us . This morning we became her parents. It was a joyous moment. Made even more joyous after the rough first day . She is very smart and so wanted to stay with her care takers whom she slept with and called mother and father .
We thought we had torn her away from them . This mroing though LiLi looked at Pam and said MaMa and gave her a kiss. Pam could have died..

Here We Are in Hong Kong

We arrived last night in Hong Kong after a 16 hour flight. All in all it wasn't that bad. Hong Kong is so modern. We literally were through customs, on the train to Kowloon and in our hotel in one hour. It's all so tomorrrow here. Giant skyscrappers, tons of people speaking all languages. Hong Kong island from Kowloon at night is stunning. Kowloon park near us was muy interesante with lots of people practicing Tai Chi in a totally beautiful setting of trees flowers and birds in an urban oasis

We met our social worker Mary and got a big surprise. ten more pictures of LiLi. She even cuter now and she is walking!!. After we went to the famous bird marker where they sell thousand of bird and people bring their birds for a walk..
it's world cup time here and everyone is so into it... an easy way to start a converstaion

Tomorrow we are going to Hong Kong island to visit Aberdeen and the ' Peak' and maybe taste some dim sum.

Sunday is the big day.. only two more days and its seem so real now.

The Night Before

This is the last night before we leave. Last night a tropical storm blew through our area. There' a storm going on in the house today as we get ready. So much to do and to get ready. Here's LiLi' room the night before we leave

Next stop Hong Kong

Journey Is Set

Our journey to LiLi is now set. We leave for Hong Kong on Tuesday , June 14th. Here's the link to our hotel which was set up by ISS, our Chinese social workers. http://hongkonghotel.marcopolohotels.com/
We thought that we might be in our typical budget hotels but as you can see this will not be the case.
We leave for Kunming on Sunday the 18th and will get LiLi at 4pm.. Father's Day!!!! We are so excited and at the same time a bit nervous about being first time parents.

Looks like the hotel there will be very modern. Antoher red thread . Our friends daughter Lisa is studying in Kunming and will come visit us. http://www.harbour-plaza.com

After a week in Kunming where we will adopt LiLi it's on to Guangzhou and the famous White Swan hotel. http://www.white-swan-hotel.com/eng/Public/index.asp

We leave Hong Kong for NYC on June 30 and LiLi will be home in St. Pete on July 2nd.

Last night we made our final pre-LiLi trip up to BabiesRus. We bought a rocker for reading with LiLi. What stories will be readthere? What moments shared?

Are we ready to be parents.? Yes..Sunday will not come soon enough.