Better late than never

http://delapaz.smugmug.com/gallery/431469/1/17317140 - Well, we've had so many issues with the front end of the this trip, I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll start by saying that we're having problems posting to the Web log, hence the delay. We're not able to post photos at all at this point, so please see the link above to take a look at the one photo we've posted to our photo Web site. As some of you know, about an hour and a half before we left on Monday, Tony got the word that due to a serious infection resulting from his Achilles surgery, he would not be able to travel with us. Mark dropped me and the three kids at the airport and then dropped Tony off at the hospital for another surgery. What a day. Thanks also to my wonderful co-workers who helped us get a Power of Attorney notarized and Fed Ex'ed in under an hour! So the kids and I flew out on Monday night and had a long but uneventful trip to Guangzhou. We were able to check into our very nice suite on Wednesday morning at around 10. We wandered around a bit and got reacclimated to Shamian Island. It's a gorgeous place to walk around and the weather was good, thought we haven't seen the sun since we've been here - the haze is ever-present. We were trying to figure out a way to communicate with Tony, but it took us a while to get our local phone and Internet access. I was thrilled to get an email saying that he would be flying out Tuesday night. Unfortunately, that didn't come to pass due to the snow you all got that day. He wasn't able to get to New York for a connection. We were greatly disappointed, knowing that it would mean that he would miss "Gotcha Day" for Sydney. But we kept our perspective, knowing that he would be with her as soon as he could. Gotcha Day went very well, and Sydney only took about half an hour before she smiled for us. Joe got her first smile and soon she was even laughing. She is super-friendly and SUPER full of energy. Velvet described her perfectly as a "fireball." She's talking lots, but of course we can't understand her. My very limited Cantonese has come in handy - the first day we had her, I asked her "Mama hai been do ah" (Where is Mama?) and she would point to me! She's also really coordinated and FAST. Claire is taking her big sister role very seriously and we've only had a few incidents of jealousy. Claire has "modeled" lots of behavior (potty, bath, etc), which has helped a great deal. She loves "showing" Sydney how to do things. For the time being, we're calling Sydney "Yin Yin," which is how Ying Yan is pronounced in her local dialect. So fast forward to yesterday morning, when we were all SO thrilled when Tony arrived at long last. Because of the surgery he's back on crutches not allowed to bear weight at all. Fortunately we had lugged all of the luggage with us and he only had to tote a backpack. But he still had to rely on wheelchairs through airports. Yesterday morning our "outing" was to a local grocery/department store which resulted in the usual "circus" atmosphere - eight American families with Chinese daughters, along with the man with crutches - LOTS of b0ld staring. We even had check out people laughing at us - we had no idea we were supposed to weigh our doughnuts and oranges BEFORE check out. The checkout girl thought if she told us enough times in Cantonese, we would suddenly understand. Nope. She had to send a co-worker back to do it for us. And we were not the only ones. They were glad when we left. Last night we had a fabulous Chinese dinner. Sydney, who was content to let me feed her for her first few meals, was shoveling food in throughout dinner. I can't believe how much she ate. She loves fried rice and noodles (in addition to juice and chickens - Barb). We were supposed to go on an outing to some type of museum this morning, but it was POURING rain, so we're to try again this afternoon. Thank goodness for the Swan Room, sponsored by Mattel. A huge room, full of toys. Claire and Sydney love it and it gives us a chance to meet other adopting parents from all over the world. The girls also love the indoor waterfall and goldfish pond. Claire has named every fish "Shang" - one of her favorite characters from Mulan. So that about brings us up to date. We're hang out here for six more days, trying to fatten Sydney up and teach her a few words of English (Joe already has her saying "hello" perfectly). Much more later. Love to you all! Katie, Tony, Joe, Sam, Claire, and Sydney