March 20, 2007 Paperwork and Police Station Visit to Apply for Natalie’s Passport
Before I get to the events of today, I wanted to update everyone on yesterday evening – after we posted. Natalie’s medical visit was not too bad but, you may not get that impression from the picture below. She does not like to have her temperature taken or have her ears looked at. Her throat was easy for the doctor to see since she was screaming! We have a petite baby – 20 pounds and 30.5 inches long. But boy does she like to eat now – she will fit right in at our house!
The Cantonese dinner was absolutely wonderful. XiXi and Bob ordered for our families and we ate “Family style” and were able to try many things. We were even adventurous and tried the pigeon – one of their delicacies – however, only XiXi and Bob, our guides, ate the heads. Natalie loved the steamed eggs they served – she ate three bowls and beat on the table for more. I highly recommend it to other adopters when they are in Guangzhou. It is the restaurant with the fish tanks and fish market in the front – yes only fresh fish is served!
Now for today. Another day of firsts for Miss Natalie.
At breakfast I had to leave early to do the US Consulate paperwork so, Drew and Natalie were at breakfast together and Drew then got to do his first REALLY dirty diaper on his own – of course he did fine, but it makes me chuckle! Then Drew had two hours to wait for me to finish the paperwork so, they went and played in the Mattel playroom. Natalie really came out of her shell – she walked, ran, and shared a toy with her former Leizhou Orphanage mate – also now named Natalie. We had a brief visit to the Police station to finish the request for Natalie’s passport. We met another family from Richmond while we are waiting. Their daughter is from YangJian – the other orphanage from our group. This evening, she startled babbling/talking for the first time. We tried and think she said “BaBa” – which is Daddy in Mandarin. We will work on “MaMa” tomorrow.
We did a lot of shopping today – including going to the Pearl and Coral markets – of course Drew had to buy his ladies some pearls. We also found out that Natalie likes Thai food --- she drank a bowl of Coconut soup – it was great, along with some peas and a tapioca type dessert. It was really good too! (Message to Mit: I hope you can find the recipe for steamed eggs, coconut soup and the dessert – like you did for the congee.)
There is also a picture of Natalie in her new pink bear hat – we had to buy last night because the temperature dropped dramatically and the wind kicked up. She is so cute in it! So cute in fact, two Asian young men stopped and took her picture. We definitely have a Cantonese Cutie on our hands!
