We finally made it to our last destination, Guangzhou. However, we
had to leave without Hanna's Chinese passport. Not ideal. Luckily we
were able to board our flight from Hangzhou with our adoption
certificate without any problems. It was one LONG day. First of all,
our guide was 30 minutes late picking us up to check on the status of
Hanna's passport combined with the fact that we were 20 minutes early
meant we were idle for an hour in a hotel lobby with a toddler. This
extra hour was right in the middle of her normal nap time. After a 2
minute visit to the government office, we quickly discovered her
passport wasn't ready and they provided no details of when they
thought it would be ready. It took us longer to unload from the van
and climb the stairs to the office than it did to find out her
passport wasn't ready. After that, we headed to the location where
Hanna was found and all I can say is that it was a very emotional
day. We arrived at the airport early, because there was nothing left
to do in Hangzhou and our guide's job was over after they dropped us
off for our flights. Once we were finally able to check in, the
flight was 4 hours delayed. Our gates changed a few times after it
took them forever to even assign the first one. Once the final gate
was assigned, we were shoved onto a packed bus out in the middle of
the tarmac to catch our flight. We finally boarded for another hour
delay on the plane. Good times for those of you who haven't traveled
with a toddler in the middle of the night. Luckily Hanna is a trooper
and with a little bit of playing with her hair, she was lights out,
right at about midnight. We finally landed around 2 AM to find no one
there waiting to pick us up. Oh wait- there he is, we are the
Watschers, not the Walkers. He wasn't thrilled to find out the name
was wrong, as he was probably not thrilled to be there at 2AM for a
flight he too was expecting at 10PM. We finally made it on the 45
minute trek to the hotel, and it was like a ghost town that early in
the morning. Hanna slept the entire bumpy ride there and we were able
to check in without any problems. We walked in and alas...a KING
SIZE bed. We all slept like babies and woke up well rested this
morning (Saturday- 31st). We started the morning out with a fantastic
breakfast that is included with our stay and Hanna loved the
cantaloupe juice. She chugged it like it was her last drink. We
left at 10:30 to go get a physical. She is a healthy 2 1/2 year old.
The place was full of Americans with their adopted babies getting
checked out. Compared to many of the other kids her age, Hanna is
tall! Most of the clothes here are too short (dresses). We were also
blessed to find out she has already had one palate surgery. We were
prepared that she had only had a cleft lip repair. How wonderful! I
still don't know how many more are required until we see the doctors
in the US, but it does mean she is halfway there! She then had her
height/weight checked, ENT, and then 4 needle sticks. 3 shots with a
TB test. She grabbed my hand and placed it over her eyes because she
was scared. She knew what those needles meant. Poor thing- I wish I
could have gotten them for her, but it was impressive to see how brave
she was. Within 3 minutes, she was playful again. She is so tough-
have I mentioned that yet? Meanwhile, the reports from home are that
Davis is loving pool time. He tracked out on Friday and is spending a
week with Oma and Pop Pop , and we have swimming lessons planned for
him next week. Missing him like crazy!
