China Day 8 - Making it Official

According to the Chinese, Sophie is now officially our daughter!  We signed all of the papers today at the provincial gov't registration office and gave the orphanage director a $3000 mandatory "donation" which had to be in cash - new $100 bills! This pays for all of the other children that don't get adopted as well as for Sophie's past year's rearing costs so it is being put to good use!

They took pictures of us for their records and to give to the ex foster parents so they will be comfortable with where she is going. 

Here's Tim at the registration office with Sophie waiting for them to call our name.  She is kind of a daredevil like Jack; she would jump off of a big step and I would catch her but she has NO FEAR!  She is also very curious like Peter.  She went over to the vending machine, opened the door at the bottom and slid her hand around to see if she could score something.  Nothing there so she went over to another baby and took a cracker that she was in the process of eating. 

I spoke with the orphanage director today and she said, "No problems, eats well, plays well".  Here are some pics of her after her nap.  She always wakes up happy!

Oh I almost forgot to mention some of the fare at the hotel buffet - pan fried turtle in some kind of sauce, and braised pigeon.  No I'm not kidding.  Yum Yum.

When you click to enlarge the pictures on this page you might say, "Gosh Tim, what crappy pictures!".  We bought a temporary cheap digital camera since we left our charger in Hong Kong.  So you get what you pay for, even in China!  Luckily the hotel in Hong Kong is sending it to our next destination in Guangzhou so we will get it back!

We went on a little shopping trip to the local mall which included Walmart!  We go all the way to China and we still can't get away from it.  We found a few outfits for her that fit her better - she is tiny so 0 - 6 month clothing seems to fit her best.  The Walmart was HUGE and has fish and other delicious items in aquariums that you can buy.

Here they are, 3 moms with their new (to them) babies!  We all went on this excursion for diapers, bottles, clothes and a few other necessities.  Sue found some candies (??) that are little tiny crabs with sesame seeds on them, that she will pass out to the boys' classrooms when we get home.

Our Chinese Mall Rat!  We walked ALL around the mall looking for a few items and Tim got to practice his Mandarin some more.  We also had some other parents with us who speak Mandarin fluently and they were a big help!  Sophie's choice was to walk on her own most of the time -- but in the direction SHE wanted.  We got lots of stares and Sophie got a few pats on the leg from the locals.

Coffee Break!

Sophie finally settles for not walking on her own!