Happy Birthday, Liam

Liam with his presents. Cost: $100
Liam with his gloves and trowel for exploring and picking up... Cost: $20
Liam enjoying his birthday cake. Cost: $10
Sleeping with his favorite gift, a rock known as "poor gold"....
...PRICELESS! =)
Today Liam turned three! After a week of "practicing" the happy birthday song and singing all day (til he would shout, NO!"), he finally understood that this is HIS special day! We had to light the candles and sing three separate times as he loved it and wanted "one more" (imagine his finger here). Enjoy the video~feel free to sing along!

We're Home!!!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig! Yahoo! We are home and so incredibly happy to be all together again! Liam was absolutely wonderful on ALL the flights and he is in love with his other brother and sister. Wishing I could say the same for Biscuit, but she's a tough little lab and isn't taking it personally yet.

Our internet was cut off after the last blog entry and we decided we would just wait to finish writing at home. Albeit long, our trip was really wonderful. Our guide, Connie, was fantastic. The Chinese people we met on the island and subways and around town were wonderful. The food ranged from interesting to necessary. The accommodations at the White Swan were very comfortable and pleasant. Nobody (other than Liam's ear infections) got sick. Nothing was lost or stolen (okay, the squeaky shoes went AWOL on the last day but were quickly replaced.) Truly, we have nothing but good things to write about and many things to be thankful for.

I will miss little things about China. I will miss the turn down service at the hotel and the little chocolates on our pillows. =) I will miss the little triangle folds at the end of the toilet paper and the smiles from the hotel attendants. I will miss having breakfast fixed for me each day and I will miss just getting out to walk for no reason other than to walk and be outside. I know I could do the turn down & chocolate here and I can even fold the toilet paper after I use it, but it was really nice to have someone else do that for 17 days!

I will miss the little bits of information I got about Shantou or about Chinese culture from the local people. As I have said, these are little gifts they gave without cost and they are gifts I will treasure always. How else would I know about the tea and the fruits in Shantou? How else would I know that the babies there like to have the blanket draped across their tummies and not covered in the blanket? It may seem like trivial information but when we are grasping for anything of our son's past two years, it is golden.

Our plane rides were functional and we are home so it is all good! I can't tell you how many hours we spent on tarmacs (every connection was delayed) and how difficult it is to entertain a two year old that doesn't really speak the same language and has figured out how to unbuckle the seat belts, especially when you are the window and middle seat customers. For 22 hours in the air/tarmac. BUT, truly, Liam was really, really good. He is a happy kiddo and considering this was another list of firsts for him, he did a fantastic job!

Our flights were uneventful, especially comparing the return flight to the arrival flight debacle. Unfortunately, our seats were scattered again and we were able to get two and two, ten rows apart. Both right next to the bathrooms (yuck), both with middle and window seats (ugh), and both with men who had steel bladders and slept the whole trip on the aisle seat. Like I said, we are home now and it is all good!

We landed in Newark, NJ and had to go through immigration there. With our precious sealed "brown envelope" from the U.S. Consulate with their blessings, we went through the line and little Liam James Thompson became a United States citizen at 2:42pm on September 27th. I got teary eyed and wasn't allowed to take pictures (airport regs, not Wade's) to mark the occasion. We gave him his first hugs and kisses as an American and passed through the rest of the inspections. Of course, over my shoulder I hear someone who sounded like they were rehearsing their lines for the Sopranos, using expletives and adjectives that are distinctly American...Ah, you knew that had to happen somewhere and at least it was here and not in China. Welcome to New Jersey, Welcome to America, WELCOME HOME, LIAM!


Our homecoming was absolutely wonderful!!! Greg, Caroline, Elizabeth and Mark (my brother & family) and Wade's sister, Joni was there with our nephew, Travis! It was wonderful to come around the corner and see such beautiful, happy faces waiting for us! A sweet lady (who gave Liam her blackberry to play with on the plane!) came out before us and asked our family if they were waiting for the beautiful little boy from China, which just made our family beam brighter as we rounded the corner. Liam took everyone in and let everyone coo over him, without much fuss! He was dressed in his "Proud to be an American" outfit, decked out down to the new squeaky sandals.

I will post pictures later today when I can see more than just the screen to type! mct

and a few more

Pictures du jour 14

Happy Moon Festival

Thirty four hours until we are flying home! Gosh, when I began this blog, I was counting the days until we left for China, coming to pick up Liam. Now we are counting the hours until we leave China and bring Liam home. As I write this, I think about all that has happened in the last two weeks...flying to Hong Kong and then Guangzhou, going to pick up Liam but having him not there, going back the next day and finally getting to hold our little guy...and that is all within the first 72 hours! We have had two weeks full of love!!! Lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles. Lots of laughter, confusion, guessing. Experimenting with the local cuisine, speaking with the locals, and seeing the world through a two year old's eyes. We will leave here with many treasures and although the trip has seemed really long, we have been richly blessed.

Today was our consulate appointment. We had no idea what to expect and apparently, it didn't even involve us! We had all our paperwork filled out ahead of time and our guide, Connie, took our paperwork to the US Consulate's office in downtown Guangzhou and delivered it. She waited while it was looked over (and approved) and then she called us to let us know everything went just fine. All we had to do was stay by the phone in case there were any questions!

Tomorrow is our oath ceremony. As I understand, we will swear that all that we have written on his paperwork is true and genuine. Somehow, all this comes together and we will have a brand new United States citizen when our plane lands at the airport in Newark on Thursday! =) We will have his Chinese passport but he will be an American citizen. How exciting!

Today was a very rainy day! There was a typhoon south of here and we have the rain from that. We did get some thunder and lightning and that was neat, especially since it came in the middle of the day. It is a very warm rain and it clears the air...and adds just a little smidge more humidity.

We had our group picture on the famous "red couch" here at the White Swan hotel. I don't know if anything makes this famous, really, but it is tradion for families to have their picture taken on the red couch before they leave, and any children of families that used the same agency. I will post our picture so you can see all the beautiful children. Looks like we didn't get the memo about dressing your child in traditional Chinese outfits. Instead, Liam is in the traditional American two year old outfit. =)

Today is the Moon Festival, or mid-Autumn festival for the Chinese. There are many lanterns out tonight and the boats cruised the river with their neon lights dancing along the outlines. The harbors and paths that follow the river are all lit up and festive. The Chinese bring oranges for good luck (like Liam's orange last night) and a moon cake, which is similar to a fruit cake where people give them but nobody really eats them. They are quite expensive and pretty looking though. The streets have been crowded with people buying their moon cakes since we got here. We thought, "hey, we'll buy one before we leave and take it home to have with the family", only to find they stopped selling them at noon today! We couldn't find a moon cake anywhere tonight!

We had dinner with a couple of families at a local cafe called Lucy's. After dinner, Liam and Mahri (pronounced the same!)played with the lights on the patio and then ran around by the harbor where we watched the neon boats float by. Liam was quiet intrigued by the dogs and cracked himself up as he chased around after them. Biscuit is in for a treat!!!

This afternoon decided to go for a walk before the rain hit but we didn't get far before the sky opened up and poured buckets of water! We were heading to a shop to exchange an outfit of Liam's. This shop is where we shopped the first day and bought his squeaky shoes. The shopkeeper is a very nice young man and he speaks wonderful English. His shop is small, maybe 12x8, but he has some art, shoes, outfits, and antiques...everything I love to shop for! Anyway, we paid for our things, exchanged the outfit and started to head out when the shopkeeper offered us his umbrella. He said we needed three and we only had two (true) and he didn't need it today and we could just return it tomorrow. That is just an example of the generosity and kindness we have experienced during our time here. Again, another treasure...

The pictures tonight are of Liam's snack (corn juice...he LOVED it!!!) and the kids all hanging on Andrew after dinner. Everyone loves Andrew! There is the red couch picture and Liam chasing (and finally, petting) the dog. mct

four days to home...

Hey Everybody,
Today we had our first experience with 'errible "errrs" ("err" or something sort of like that being the Mandarin for "two". Our littlest did not get his nap today and this was not his beloved parents decision.
We arose a smidge earlier than normal today and had a relaxed breakfast with all the usual trimmin's. After a stint in the play room with some other very nice families and their beautiful children, we put on the kiddie rucksack and headed downtown for some shoppin' and to get Andrew some promised McDonalds; that being the closest that we can come to his much missed Taco Bell ("Dad, I dreamt last night that I had two soft tacos and a nacho-cheese chalupa). The baby backpack is noticeably heavier since we first put the fourth child in it. I'm thinkin' we need to cut down on the butter flavored pretzel sticks.
Anyway, we had a great morning shopping on Up and Down street and its associated nooks and crannies. We ate at McDonald's for lunch and had the upper floor to ourselves. We didn't even have to share it with the hum of the air conditioner, as that was not turned on for the "empty level." A manager (third string) came up and noticed that we were pouring out sweat faster than we could pour bottled water in and turned on the a/c as we were finishing. No worries, as this Mickey D's also serves ice cream...
Shopping here is not, of course, the same as going to Nordstrom's. For example, bargaining is expected. Not expected by Mari, of course, but expected none the less. Mari thinks that "these poor folks are working sooooo hard, so we should pay what they think is best", while Wade says "Forty cents for this mink coat?... don't try to swindle me, you soul-less pirate!" Although it might not need to be said, Wade fits in the commercial current a little better. Another way that shopping is not like Nordstrom's is that there is no assuaging the feelings of the customer. When Mari went to buy a couple of skirts, the girl working the "store" stre-eee-ee-ched the miniscule waistband to show Mari that it would fit her. "It big enough for you" is not the greatest come-on line ever. Lastly, the display item may, in fact, be the only item. We saw a couple of things that we liked and asked for them in Andrew/Patrick/Mackenzie/American size. After the "clerk" climbed up to the attic, we were told that the "display" was the only one they had in that style/color/pattern. In order to make up for this lack of inventory, they will always offer to sell us something completely different. The customer is always right...if cured of their delusions.
We did some other shopping after lunch (just to keep our muscles loose and toned) and then decided that we should head back to get Liam down for his nap. However, apparently the incense sticks in front of the Rain Buddha worked like a champ, because the skies opened up. We bought a couple of cheap umbrellas, but they didn't keep us all dry...especially Mari, who insisted on walking through the pudddles like a school girl on her way home.
After much cajoling, singing (Mari, not Wade as we didn't want the adjoining rooms to complain), and belly-rubbing (Liam), our little man would not fall asleep. Eventually, the white flag was thrown in the crib and he was paroled to the play room.
Even two hours of tackling stuffed Patrick the Starfish and Eeyores didn't take the edge off of Liam. When we needed to meet everyone else from CHI downstairs at 1730 for our "dinner cruise", he was still up. However, just like a nuclear reactor needs some water, Little Man also needs some nap time. The nuclear meltdown, henceforth known as the Guangzhou China Syndrome, occurred just prior to boarding the bus for dinner. Not quite reaching the Earth's core (for which you should all be grateful), fission ended just about the time that the buffet was served.
Buffet, of course, is a generous term, usually calling to mind lines of affable, if somewhat underexercised, Americans lining up for their turn to spoon up the corned beef hash. Buffet on a Guangzhou dinner cruise is a full contact sport, albeit without pads. Recall Mari's previous posts about this culture's non-existent need for personal space (and the general lack of "mmmm-mmm-good" of this buffet) and this made for a wonderful gastronomic experience. However, the wonderful view of the city lights and the ecstatic pointing by Liam more than made up for the fact that the boat didn't make the Michelin Guide.
All this fussiness didn't mean that Mr. T IV didn't make lots of friends. On the elevator down to the lobby (prior to our departure) he decided to say "hello" by patting a very large Nigerian man on the crotch....a couple of times. Our smiled introductions did a lot to aid international relations. While on the dinner boat, Liam made his normal goo-goo eyes and belly laughs at our neighboring table. He also was running along the side (not a gunwale, but hey, I'm in the Air Force, what do I know about nautical terms?) of the dining area and saying "hello" (by waving this time) and smacking their table. They gave the Little Dude an orange, which is the symbol of luck for the Mid-Autumn Festival (that begins tomorrow night). No one can resist the charms of L.J. Thompson!
After we got back to the White Swan, and a warm bath, Liam was primed to go down for the count. He sang a couple of his "going to sleep songs" (which may be the Cantonese versions of "Old Susanna" or "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", who knows) and promptly crashed. We hope it is for a good long time. Mari and I bought a "delicious" bottle of Chilean merlot to enjoy while watching the artistic suffering of Andrew doing his homework...much better than "China's best" Great Wall Cabernet we had over Thanksgiving.
As we said at the top of the post, four more days. Not that we're counting...