Final China Days / Life at Home

Ok, so I have been gently informed (thank you, Jessie) that I need to update the blog. Since Aiden is, for the time being, playing quietly with his ever-present plastic bag full of "treasures" - read: crayons, scraps of paper, a plastic stir stick, and a cardboard coaster, etc - I will try to do a brief update. I believe the last you really heard from us we were in our last day in Guangzhou. I cannot begin to describe the marathon of those last couple of days. Well, actually, I will give it a shot. After a long morning of photos with our Xi'an group and the entire Holt contingency, Troy and I made a final shopping foray into the quaint shops of the old town. I bought two Coach purses, a Coach wallet, and a Samsonite suitcase all for under $75. :) I love to haggle! Alright, trivial information, but pretty big news as far as I'm concerned! Anyway, we had to be ready for the bus to take us to the U.S. Consulate and then to the train station at 2:00. We got the visas without a hitch and then made it to the train station - with PLENTY of time to spare. All of us traveling to Hong Kong that night had to amuse our children for two hours. In a train station. Fun. Then, we had over a two hour train ride to get to Hong Kong. Luckily, there were few other people besides adoptive families in that train car, and I feel nothing but sympathy for those who were there without screaming, crying, fussing kids. It was a scene, I assure you. We'd been on the go since 2:00 with little food (except for the cheerios and other snacks we had in our diaper bags), and a cursory nap. We got to Hong Kong around 8:30 that night, if memory serves, and had to wait for our luggage, and then we had to take a 45 minute bus ride to our hotel. It was around 10:00, and we were exhausted. Aiden got some peanut butter crackers and fruit snacks before he went to bed. I'm sure he was famished as Troy and I were. He barely slept that night; I'm guessing I got in the neighborhood of 3 hours of sleep. We were up early, checked out, and to the airport with what we thought would be an abundance of time. I'm glad we left when we did. We weren't rushed and did have time for breakfast, but we didn't have a lot of time to kill before boarding then. The flight home was interminable. Wow. Even with better parenting through chemistry, Aiden was restless and irritable. He slept little, and when he did, it had to be on me (except for one short stint with Dad). There was no economy plus available, so we were packed in like sardines. 747s are NOT the way to fly! Really, though, the flight was uneventful, and he was remarkably good at O'Hare. (On a side note, when his little feet touched the ground, he became an American citizen! His first meal? McDonald's. Of course!) The 1+ hour flight from Chicago to Sioux Falls was a piece of cake. We were met at the airport by grandmas, grandpa, and a couple of uncles. They were all taken with the little guy who was, as is par for the course, extremely shy. We came home to a house with banners, flowers, gifts, and a huge pumpkin decorated with "Welcome Home Aiden." We snacked, gave Aiden a bath, and put him down for the night. I slept in his room on an air mattress so he wouldn't wake up scared. And wake up, a lot, he did! Sigh. That has been the trend. After a few nights, I moved back into our bedroom, but he continues to wake up several times during the night, a sad departure from China where he often slept straight through. Last night was progress. He only woke up three times and for short periods of time. He only slept for about 8 1/2 hours, but hey! Progress is progress! Pray we're getting things on schedule. I have heard from other families with whom we traveled, and they have said jet lag/time difference has been an issue with them as well. Hopefully it will soon be just a bad memory. Now, if I could just convince Aiden that our pets are not Satan's spawns, and he and I could kick these colds or whatever, we'd be in really good shape! Well, Aiden is still playing quietly by himself, but is showing signs of tiring of it (i.e. chucking his colors around the room and coloring on the tiles). We have to take a brief excursion; we need to replinish supplies. I will try to update in the near future should there be any note-worthy events or activities (i.e. doctor's appointments). Until then....!! Bye!
Pictures: Aiden in beautiful Guangzhou; Train to Hong Kong (this says it all!); Busy with his treasures; Ready for bed;