Trip to China
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008 CONSULATE APPOINTMENT, SHOPPING ON SHAMIAN ISLAND AND SOPHIE’S FIRST VISIT TO THE SWAN ROOM “In every single moment there is significance. Wonder is sprinkled all around us.” ~Flavia I’m not sure why we were so tired last night, but Ian and I both feel asleep the same time Sophie did last night…and the reason for the late post : ) Yesterday morning, our guide, Jocelyn, went to the Adoption Unit of U.S. Consulate in our behalf. She brought with her a stack of documents and paperwork which she had collected from us a couple of days prior to our appointment. We were required to stay in our hotel room in case any questions arose during the meeting. She called us around 11:30 a.m. and told us that everything had gone well! I was so relieved to have this final step in the process behind us! Today, we will go with Jocelyn to the consulate to take the official oath. We will receive all the documents necessary for Sophie’s U.S. citizenship and will also receive her visa allowing her to enter the U.S. Because both Ian and I were able to travel to China , Sophie will automatically become a U.S. citizen when her feet touch American soil! In the afternoon, we spent some time doing a little shopping on Shamian Island . Despite the oppressive heat and humidity, it was a lot of fun to walk through the shops and try to find the best deals. Sophie’s favorite part of the day was definitely our visit to the Swan Room. Here at the White Swan Hotel, there is a very nice play room which is sponsored by Mattel. We had the entire room to ourselves. Sophie busied herself for quite a long time. She loved exploring and taking toys out and then putting them away. In fact, she was SO BUSY that she barely had any time to spare…not even time for a quick smile for mom with the camera. Hence, all the pictures of the top of her cute little head : ) She is babbling a lot and has even begun to imitate ma-ma-ma and da-da-da. She hasn’t used mama and dada spontaneously, but is happy to humor her doting parents through imitation : ) She seems to be more and more comfortable with us everyday. She is becoming familiar with routines and holds out her arm every morning for me to put her bracelet on, touches the top of her head to make sure her hair is done, puckers her lips for a little lip gloss, etc. Watch out Jessie, she’s gonna want to share everything! She IS a girly girl! Every time we come into our hotel room, she toddles over to the nightstand and daintily lifts the lid to a little jar that the housekeepers put chocolate in each night when they turn down our bed. She has learned that there are treats in that little jar and never forgets to check : ) She smiles her big cheesy smile if she finds a treat! Hopefully she won’t be too disappointed when we get home and there is no gigantic breakfast buffet every morning, room service, shopping and chocolates on the nightstand each night. One thing I do know for sure…there will be plenty of people to love her! “It’s so much more friendly with two.” ~Winnie the Pooh

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