« November 2008 | Main | February 2009 »

What's Gonna Happen on the Next Page?

When Lia wants us to entertain her during stroller and car rides, she asks "Can you read me a pretend story?" I love that books are her primary model for narrative :-)

Her request is usually followed up with plot specs: "A pretend story about Cinderella and all her family going to the pet store/gymnastics/daycare/Chinese school." She has not lost her obsession with the fairy-tale princess, and now insists on calling Daddy "Prince" and Mommy "Fairy Godmother", even at night when she's half-asleep. If we say, "Lia, come put on your coat," she'll reply, "Can you say 'Put on your coat, Cinderella'?"

When we pause in our pretend story, Cinderella pipes up, "What's gonna happen on a next page?"

That question has been echoing in my head as we prepare for our flight to China. I'm intensely curious to see what our son is like, how the trip will unfold, what memories will be created. Our first two weeks with Lia are near-mythic now, full of moments that revealed the essence of our little girl: crying with gusto, then unable to keep herself from laughing at her father's antics; her relish for food; her love of music and dance; her fascination with other children. I believe that, if we look carefully, we may be able to see the whole of our life with Nico Han-Kun reveal itself in our first hours and days with him. I'm making it sound melodramatic, but so much of our future will be shaped by this boy and his sister that the moments of meeting them -- well, they're like earthquakes, avalanches, utterly changing the landscape.

Practical arrangements are not going as smoothly this time around. Fees are higher than expected, paperwork is delayed. Yesterday we had to make a decision about whether to postpone our trip by ten days, or leave as scheduled with the possibility of being held up in China. We chose to fly as planned on February 3. Worst case scenario, I will have to stay in China with Han Kun while Shawn, Lia, and Shawn's mother Boukje return without us.

But things are also falling into place as needed. We have the money to cover our fees. The freezer is full of meals. The packing lists are complete. We will be ready.

We have an exciting itinerary. This Tuesday we fly Ottawa/Toronto/Shanghai, arriving on Wednesday afternoon. Two days to explore Shanghai and recover from jet lag, and then we take a train to Nanjing. Monday, February 9 is Adoption Day, the day we meet Han Kun. Our request to visit his orphanage in Lianyungang has been approved, so if all goes well, we will travel there on February 12. Then a few days later we fly to Beijing for another week of paperwork and sightseeing. Lia is excited about seeing pandas at the Beijing Zoo. We've packed swimsuits for the hotel pools.

View Larger Map

This trip will be very different from our last in that we will be travelling on our own, rather than in a group of twenty families. We will have a guide with us from beginning to end. We will spend less time waiting around in administrative offices getting paperwork done, and have more choice about what we see and where we go.

What's going to happen on the next page? Stay tuned . . .

Approved!

Just in time for Christmas, we received news that the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs has approved us as an adoptive family for Nico Han-Kun! This was about the earliest we could have gotten our approval (we waited a little over three months), so we were stunned and delighted.

Not only that, but we learned that we will travel to China in the first week of February. So our son will still be fourteen months old when we meet him for the first time.

Now we are happily making preparations for our trip and a new addition to the house. The nesting instinct has kicked in big time. We've cleaned carpets, filed papers, and gotten documents notarized and couriered. And just last week Lia started sleeping in her big bed for the first time, now that Han Kun will need the crib.

We got an update about Han Kun a few weeks after his birthday. The orphanage sent some great photos of him with his birthday cake, and we also got updated measurements. We can see from the photos that he's had his lip repair surgery, but we don't have any more information about it (like when it was performed or how he recovered). Hopefully we will get more details when we travel to receive him.

Because his city, Lianyungang, is on the east coast of China, we will likely fly to Shanghai and then travel overland by bus or train to Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province. There's a good chance we will be able to visit his orphanage, so we hope that works out.

Four more weeks!