Travel woes and medical exam

I apologize for keeping you all waiting for the next post. Our last two days have been action packed, as you'll soon see. Yesterday morning started off in typical fashion- meeting our guide Eric in the lobby of our hotel. We loaded up with our luggage and headed to the civil affairs office to get Madeline's passport. Then we had to drive one hour to drop off the Drewes family at the train station so they could catch the 2pm bullet train to Guang*zhou. Then we had to drive another hour to get to the airport. We ate some lunch at the airport, delicious noodle soup for all of us. Then we headed off to the gate. We had about 45 minutes before we boarded the plane. We had to take a bus ride out to the plane. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we began to wonder what was going on. After about an hour of sitting on the tarmac, we saw the beverage cart begin to make its way down the aisle and knew it wasn't looking good. We were also served a snack and started to worry. A few passengers got berate with the flight attendants. We got no word as to how much longer we would have to wait. We were simply told that the bad weather in Guang*zhou was keeping us from taking off.

Two and a half hours later, they are ready to take off. But the container of pringles we gave Madeline to keep her quiet had run out and so did her patience. When I thought it unwise to let her rip all the pages out of the magazine, she threw a first class hissy fit. She tried to glue herself to the wall and the floor. And I felt about all the eyes on the plane staring at me, as my daughter kicked and screamed as if the world was ending. It was quite a sight. Then came the joy of buckling her in her seatbelt, with the hysterics continuing. One of the flight attendants graciously gave us warm water to make her a warm milk bottle. She had one sip, clung to the bottle and then proceeded to sleep the entire 1.5 hour flight.....on my lap. Our guide, Helen, met us at the airport but couldn't drive back to the hotel with us because she had to wait for another family to arrive. Our driver made good timing. We ordered some room service and tried to settling in, around 8pm. We decided that Madeline Bei should be tuckered out from a long day, so we would try to skip the sleeping while standing up part of her bedtime routine. We figured we would make her lay on my chest and cry herself to sleep there. And it worked! She was certainly tired, and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

This morning, we had breakfast with the Drewes in our hotel and then met Helen and headed over to Shaiman island for the medical exam. We got there early and were quite thankful the clinic was pretty empty. We filled out some paperwork and quickly worked through the stations. The first station we went to was medical/surgerical. No sooner did Madeline Bei see the doctor, she started balling. Oh my word. Poor girl. He hadn't even touched her at that point. She cried during the entire exam. Thankfully, she stopped crying for height and weight and ENT.

After the stations, we had to wait our turn for her TB test and vaccinations. We learned she would need 4 shots plus her TB test. Our guide, Helen, was so gracious to hold Madeline Bei for us while she screamed loud enough to wake those of you on the other side of the world. As soon as she was done, though, it was as if she never got any shots. She handled that part well.

After the medical exam, we dropped off our laundry at one of the shops on the island. Then the Drews headed back to the hotel, and we headed over to the White Swan for lunch. When we adopted Caleb, Patrick would bring lunch up to the room from the Deli Shop just about every day. So we wanted to have lunch there today to celebrate our precious son. We all enjoyed our meal, which was like $10USD for all of us. When we finished lunch, we walked over to Starbucks to grab a nice coffee. Then we met our driver and Helen and headed back to the hotel.

As soon as we hopped in the van, Madeline fell asleep in the carrier. Much to my delight, she slept in the carrier for 2 hours. I sat in a chair at one point to rest myself. But as soon as she woke up, the hysterics began. She wouldn't even let me console her. It was clear that she was not happy about how the morning went. She cried for quite a while before she would let me console her. And then to make matters worse, she needed a bath. This would be bath #2 in 6 days. She cried the entire time. Poor girl. Then mama had to take a shower, and the crying continued. Thankfully, Patrick and Caleb left to meet Helen and go over some paperwork for the consulate. Then little Madeline Bei decided she liked me again and wanted me to hold her- standing straight up, no propped up legs or sitting or anything comforting. Oh yes, we were back to square one. Lovely.

Despite the on and off rain, we decided to meet up with another family with our agency and have dinner on the island. We had a nice stroll through the pet and spice markets. I really enjoyed it all. Once at the restaurant, Helen did a great job ordering food. It was nice to finally meet Christine and Rick after emailing for so long. Their little boy Christopher is a doll. I just wanted to scoop him up. Madeline wouldn't eat any of the rice or noodles. So thankfully, Patrick brought her a can of pringles. That did the trick. She sat pretty quietly until she decided she wanted some of the 7 Up we were all drinking. Call us bad parents but we gave her a little in her bottle. She began babbling quite loudy, just laughing and enjoying herself. Whenever I have to relieve myself, I have to bring Madeline with me because she'll have a meltdown if left alone with Patrick. So the two of us scooted off. I have to tell you that I have mastered the Ch*inese way of helping baby pee pee over the squatty potty. Madeline is so proud of herself when she goes. It's really quite precious.

We opted to take a taxi back to the hotel, as it was dark and getting late. I strategically placed Madeline in an outfit for dinner that I knew she could wear to bed, barring any food accidents. We all got cleaned up and ready for bed. Patrick decided he wanted her to go to sleep without her shoes on, for the first time...because when she kicks while sleeping, she'll do less damage. I was floored when she didn't pitch a fit over this. Then I stood her up on the bed for a bit without holding her, and again, she didn't cry. And then, by an act of God, our little girl let me lay her on my chest to sleep....WITHOUT CRYING!!!! I couldn't believe it. After all that she had been through today, she just went to sleep without drama.

Tomorrow we will head to the Chen Family Temple. We went there a few years ago with Caleb's adoption. But I think we will go again so we can hang out with our travel group. We haven't decided yet. Anyway, enjoy the photos. I tried to post a few more to make up for the delay in posting, but blogger and my internet connection weren't cooperating. Until next time...

Caleb playing with the Drewes
The look says it all
Waiting for her shots
Getting her height and weight checked like a big girl
All done with her immunizations and enjoying her chocolate lollipop

Caleb enjoying lunch at the Deli Shop at the White Swan Hotel

Happy when she's holding something