And the nearby swings...

But she is getting used to her shades....

Lately Pan Pan is not interested in napping...

This was taken earlier today.

More gorgeous weather

It was a glorious day in Chicago, and we played tourists again. We
walked around the park near Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. Pan
Pan loved seeing the birds, and I loved the summer jazz music. She had
her afternoon bottle looking out at the lake.

We got a real tourist to take our picture.

Crawling....

Still works best on her back. But she's starting to try on her belly
after all the PT exercises. We think the full moon got to Pan Pan.
She barely took any naps for the last three days. We think/hope/pray
she is back on schedule.

Nice day

It was a beautiful day in Chicago, and we took advantage of it. We
went to two playgrounds (see picture) then met my friend Phuong and
her daughter Lilly, eight months and hung out at the Art Institute
sculpture garden and then went to Pritzker Pavilion to hear a free
concert, which happen every noon all summer. Then Rikki and I checked
out a Children's musical performance (these happen every day at 1pm
and today was Brazilian) for a few minutes.

On the way home we checked out the Bean, a big coffee bean shaped
mirrored sculpture. Chicago summers really are quite nice - I didn't
catch that much last year because of work and travel so Pan Pan and I
are discovering it together.

Only problem was she seemed to have been caffeinated for the last 24
hours. Not sure why but her last three naps were either shortened or
skipped, and last night it took her 90 minutes to fall asleep.
Thankfully she went to sleep about on time tonight so hopefully we
will be back on schedule tomorrow.

Olive is helping ...

The Ocean Spray cranberry man by standing in a pool of cranberries.
Okay, I take back the part about none of the food being nutritious.

Still walking...

I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but Pan Pan is leading
the way. She walked quite some distance, probably the farthest ever,
including across a major street (okay, it was closed for the Taste,
but we are still counting it...)

We are finally getting perfect summer weather - eighties and sunny and
not miserably humid - after a series of thunderstorms and even
apparently a tornado (only the third to hit Chicago in many years).
Because we have lots of windows, we've had quite a view of it all.
There is also a lightning rod right outside our window, but thankfully
it hasn't seen any activity.

As I write this, Miss Rikki Pan Pan is in her crib falling asleep. She
always makes a sucking sound when going to sleep. We have Bach cello
suites playing, which seems to be the most reliable sleeping music.

Guess I had too much watermelon ice ...

Family pic at Taste of Chicago

Lousy food but lovely weather.

Another popular new toy...

New outfit.

A few friends came over today to meet Rikki, so she wore her pretty
new outfit. Notice her singing dog and red balloon, which are rarely
far from her.

P

Almost time...

to lower the crib mattress. (And past time for the nap to begin.)

Ride em cowboy

Pan Pan likes the little "rocking horse" at our nearby playground
though I cannot get far away for a good picture without risking a fall.

She "made friends" with a little Chinese girl whose grandparents
came from Suzhou to babysit for her. But Lizzie was crying alot so we
couldn't get a picture. We will soon I'm sure. Lizzie lives in our
same complex and is one month older than PanPan and a beautiful child.
The grandparents like me because they cannot speak English so their
circle is limited (then there's my natural charm too).

The weather yesterday and this morning was perfect 70s. It is
going to heat up this afternoon. Our neighborhood is abuzz because of
people coming to the Taste of Chicago as well as diverted traffic
affected by it. The Taste is full of lots of the greasy unhealthy
food you would never find at a Bay Area festival, but it's a big draw
here. We will have to hunker down and not drive around too much
until after July 4.

More milestones...

Rikki has been with us for one month as of yesterday and officially my
daughter for one month as of today. Davis and I have marveled at how
far she has come and how much her world has changed. Ironically,
being in an orphanage seems to force kids to "grow up" fast - they
hold their own bottles, sit on potties before the age of one, cry out
at feeding time to make sure they don't get skipped over, etc. etc.
Now Pan Pan can just go back to being a baby and being taken care of,
and she seems to like it quite a bit.

Sent from my iPhone

Yet another day....with balloon

So I'm trying to send a pic every day or two, but now catching up for
the last few days. We love this new pajama onesie.

Pan Pan is talking more and more. She still answers to her nickname
Pan Pan but eventually she will learn that her real name is Rikki.
She will have a Hebrew name as well, so some day she can choose what
she wants to use.

She was pronouncing d's and b's but lately has acquired m's and t's.
She says Mamama and our nanny says she looks for me when she does.
She also says bababa and baba is dad in Chinese. But today I realized
this might also be how she pronounces her own name, since she cannot
yet say p.
I also think she misses her dad, who is in Baltimore today.

She is also trying out mixing sounds together and it's starting to
sound like (some) real language.

On the physical front, she has started to roll over and back. Her PT
helped with this, and she seems to like it because she giggles every
time. She still doesn't realize she can roll across the floor to go
get a toy or something but she is getting very close to walking on her
own (she can walk just holding one hand now - though she vastly
prefers two hands of two people) so that must seem too elementary to
her.

It's really a joy to be part of all this new discovery.

To Dickie Burdman

No, I cannot sit still, even while I'm drinking my bottle. There are
balloons and all kinds of other toys around here. What's a kid to do?

So I just woke up...

I still want that balloon. Rikki's nanny brought her a red balloon
and she loves it. Amazingly it still has air nine days later.
(Balloon not pictured.)

Morning sisters pic

Pan Pan is in her hooded bath towel from Shanghai!

Why do you keep putting hats on me?

Answer A: Practicing for Chicago winter.

Answer B: Because you look SO cute!

Living in the USA

Hard to believe we've been back 9 days already. And we are SO happy to be home and SO happy to have our daughter with us and SO happy to be with Olive again. And, yes, SO happy that our Rikki is asleep during the hours between 2am and 5am now. And that I am not waking up at 4am even when she doesn't.

We are thrilled that she is such a happy girl. Yes, she gets cranky, but she doesn't let that ruin her fun. She loves a good time. She is amazingly calm and yet she is quite clear about asking for what she wants.

In a little over a week, she's been to the blues festival, to the nearby playground (where we met a little Chinese girl named Lizzie with her grandparents who flew over from Suzhou to take care of her), at least 3-4 times to Walgreens, twice to Target, to Ancona School to meet Olive's friends. She and Olive have had a chance to bond, and I think she knows that Olive is part of the family. She's met her Nana, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Jeff, and played with her neighbors Jordan, 3, and Travis, 7 months. She's tried out Mom's home cooking, and eaten lots of Cheerios. She's broken in her new stroller, car seat, crib, and high chair. She's seen many things for the first time (we think): dogs, swings, and balloons, to name a few. Tonight she even tried pizza. It was pretty good, but maybe not as good as french fries.

She also met her new nanny, Jean, a nurse who recently moved here from Shanghai, and they're getting along really well. This will give me some essential time for my wellbeing. Our longest trip was to Evanston, to meet with a craniosacral practitioner who worked with her to improve her muscle tone to help her catch up physically. On the way home, she had her first date, with a little boy named Kubla. Kubla's mom is Chinese and he now speaks a little Chinese, so he was ready for the visit from meimei (little sister). Monday is her first pediatrician visit. We are expecting a clean bill of health ; )

Pan Pan is walking up a storm. She's still holding on to us, but at this point she is pulling us along rather than vice versa. She is even determined to walk up steps.

I discovered upon returning home that we've had some religious followers of the blog. We're so glad you could share this journey with us. Now that we're home, I can't promise to update it so frequently, but I will still post stories and pictures when I can.


Groovin' at the Chicago Blues Festival




Got Milk? Courtesy of Duke Law, my granddad's alma mater




Strolling in Style




Playing with Olive and Neighborhood Kids





Chinese children are born knowing how to slurp noodles




Wow! I didn't know this came with a Nana!




Car seat meets jetlag





Is dinner ready?




Peaceful napping



Our new family

Getting to Know You

Our first meeting - exactly four weeks ago - figuring out her new environment, recovering from a two-hour bumpy road, and getting ready for the ride of her life.

Ta-Da!

Okay, the perfectionists among us are wanting corrections, so here's an announcement that I've made a round of corrections on the blog, including finishing a sentence, eliminating a duplicate photo, changing "none" babies to "nine" babies, and most importantly, these two obstinate pictures, which just wouldn't post from China, are now available for viewing in their appropriate places, and repeated here:

My Favorite New Toy

and the long-awaited Shake, Rattle, and Roll

It's official: We all have jetlag.

She looks like I feel. My attempt to keep her awake by taking a
stroll was unsuccessful, but at least I am awake.

She so far wanted nothing to do with her U.S. stroller, so we are
still using her Happy Dino!

Sisters United ... At Last!

Our neighbor Rachel offered to pick us up at the airport when she
found out we were adopting a baby. Well, we took her up on that. To
emphasize what a big favor this is, I note simply that we were
arriving at O'Hare in the middle of rush hour, so Rachel braved
horrible traffic in both directions. And she brought Olive along.
Pan Pan woke up just in time to meet her jiejie (big sister) Olive.

The two sisters had fun in the car, fun at home, and there's more fun
in store. Right now, we're all still coping with jetlag. I
entertained Pan Pan from 2am til around 4 and then Davis took over,
but I couldn't get back to sleep. Hoping to get a little nap in today.

Now I'm a U.S. citizen ....

But I slept right through it. My parents are hoping that I sleep
tonight.

We're here

Just landed at O'Hare.

Not quite U.S. soil

But here's the plan we are about to board.

Shanghai-Chicago Flight On Time

We take off in less than two hours. Next post should be from U.S.
soil about 15 hours from now.

Finally...

At the Guangzhou Baiyun airport, we are all checked in and ready to
go. All of a sudden, I burst out in tears. .. A combination of joy
and relief that the five-year journey to Rikki Pan Pan is just about
complete. She has no idea what awaits her, but I think she will love
every minute, starting with Olive picking us up at the airport.

Goodbye Guangzhou

Taking off on a rainy morning...

Look what came last night!

We are packed and outta here!

How does this thing come off anywy?

One last stroll

Going for our last outing of the trip. So bittersweet.

Taking Oaths and Swinging Elvis Hips

Today we had our final appointment - at the U.S. consulate with a total of about 40 U.S. families. They had to check the babies against the passports to make sure they are the right babies, and then the entire group had to take an oath affirming that everything in the paperwork we filled out was true. Last year, about 3,000 Chinese children were adopted by Americans, with the majority being special needs children. With that, Pan Pan will become an American citizen. We were not allowed to take pictures inside - these oaths are TOP secret, I guess - so here is one outside.

Much of the rest of the day, Rikki practiced walking. Look at her showing off her new shoes and pivoting like Elvis. She also started learning to roll over, and doesn't cry when we put her on her stomach. It's important for kids like her to learn to crawl, even though she is already starting to walk.

Tomorrow we have the day free, because the babies' visas will not be ready until 4pm. No doubt we will break in those shoes a bunch more. Otherwise, I am busily organizing our supply stocks for the plane ride home.

The Great Firewall

If you are wondering why I cannot read my own blog from China (or post
pictures directly from my laptop), see this article. The hole in the
firewall, I discovered, is that on my iPhone, which is served by AT&T,
I can send pictures and see the blog. The rest of the pictures have
been uploaded from Portland, Oregon by my cousin Joan. Let's hear it
for Joan. Her job as back-up blogger is nearly done.

China says will block online content it considers against its national
honor - chicagotribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-as-china-internet,0,1165211.story

Sent from my iPhone

One step closer

(photos via Joan)
One more photo that brings us all closer!