Sunday in Beijing

We made it to Beijing – after a long, long flight!

We are here, safe and sound, but we are just starting to get settled. This trip has been so much harder than the last one. I guess having a four and a one and a half year old might have something to do with it. ;-)

We arrived at the hotel late last night and today was a bit of a whirlwind – citizenship paperwork and photos, getting other things sorted right away that needed attention. It left little time to get things organized, which is essential when you are hauling around five people. It doesn’t help that the grocery store in the mall that we relied on last time we were here went out of business. But – we now have the essentials we need and are getting a routine in this new hotel room (which is nowhere near as nice as the one in Guangzhou).

On Saturday morning, before our flight, we met up with another adoptive couple that was scheduled to travel with us the entire time, but they had to delay, for various reasons. Our paths crossed for one breakfast, but it was wonderful to see them! We had a great time catching up, laughing, and they enjoyed meeting Ailee.

When we got to the airport, we found out we were taking the double-decker plane and it was pretty cool! It was huge and very new. I thought a three hour flight would be no big deal – but it was such a long flight! Neither Ailee or Maelyn slept, which made for a busy flight. The floor around us was littered with food and in the end, we resorted to giving each girl suckers to help distract them. Paul and I spent the entire flight laughing our heads off – we couldn’t believe what a gong show one short flight had turned into.

The biggest development has been our Ailee. She chose yesterday to be the day that she opened up the most (while at the airport and on the plane). Ailee has now taken to walking everywhere (as long as she is holding one of my fingers) and we learned that she definitely loves to dance. There was a piano playing in the lobby of the hotel last night and on unsteady feet, she grabbed my fingers and staying swaying and moving to the music. Ailee smiled and giggled the entire time! Ailee is getting braver and braver. She is starting to get off my lap to play, but she comes back for a hug and some reassurance almost every minute. She has even started to vocalize. She is cooing and saying ‘Mama’ over and over again! In fact, this evening she said, ‘Baba,’ which made Paul’s day.

A few other things we know about our Ailee:

• She is a neat freak and I love it! Ailee will brush crumbs off of everything and point to ask me to wash her hands if they are sticky; she loves to tidy up toys and knows exactly where everything goes
• She looooooves her food!!
• She sucks her thumbs every time she gets tired or very stressed
• She smiles all the time
• She hates getting her diaper changed
• She now has an affinity for throwing things; hence any restaurant we now go into just loves us! :)
• She shares her food and toys wonderfully with everyone; kinda crazy for a one and a half year old

There are so many things to catch up on and so many new things to share about our little monkey. Unfortunately, I am just too tired. Tomorrow I will catch up on many things, when I have hopefully had a little more sleep.

Thank you so much for all of the messages and emails – they mean so much to us while we have been away from home!

(Stay tuned for a photo to come...)