Mia's First Real Food...

Well, we finally figured out that part of the reason Mia is not sleeping very long is because she is 8 months old and has no real food in her diet, other than bottles... She gets hungry in a hurry. So this weekend Mom introduced a new food: rice cereal with apple sauce! Mmmmm mmmm. That's good stuff! Or at least Mia thinks so...

Tubby Time!

I'm happy to announce that with a little a widsom & experience gleened from Nancy, Mia now loves her baths! Nancy was kind enough to have a baby bathtub waiting for us when we returned. Now Mia is all cozy in the tub and thinks it's a wonderful new place to play! Thanks Nanc.

Meeting Aunt Cari

It's pretty clear that Mia has Aunt Cari wrapped around her finger. Self admittedly, Aunt Cari isn't much of a baby person... It only took about 15 seconds of Mia in her arms for Aunt Cari & cousin McKenzie to begin offering to babysit and spend time with little Mia. She's so tiny and cute that she's irresistible.

Mia's Aunt Cari & cousins McKenzie & Nicholas have been so helpful this weekend. They not only entertained Mia long enough for us to finally unpack, but helped Stacy at the grocery store as well... Without their help, this weekend would have been much more difficult than it already was.

First Night in Hell... (Part 2)

Those of you who are not yet parents, please don't be too frightened by the following text. Those of you who are parents, please don't laugh too hard at us...

Oh my god, why did NOBODY tell us that our lives would turn into this!!!! We've been home for over 48 hours and have slept maybe a combined 6 hours, between the two of us!! That beautiful little baby of ours has decided that 45 minute naps are more than enough, and then it's back to play time... I'm fairly certain our home has somehow been magically transported to a far away land where nobody sleeps and parents are completely controlled by little people who smile and warm your heart, while slowly killing you...

All joking aside, this has been a very difficult weekend. Unfortunately, the change in time zone's has really hurt us, especially little Mia. At about 2:00 am on Saturday morning Mia decided that 2 hours was enough sleep, and it was time to play. Stacy and I spent the rest of the night trying to soothe her back to sleep, meeting failure at every turn. With little to no sleep on Saturday, we introduced Mia to Nancy & her kids, Skip & Jen, Aunt Cari, Uncle Perry & cousins McKenzie & Nicholas.

Saturday night we hoped that Mia would be tired enough at this point to sleep through the night... Boy were we wrong! I finally got to sleep at about 2:30 am. At 4:30 am I was awoken by the sound of both Mia & Mommy crying. Apparently little Mia had fallen down while playing and Mommy was convinced that Mia needed to go the hospital. I think it's sufficient to say that Mommy was not operating on all cylinders at this point... For those of you lucky enough to know Stacy, you know well her ability to give beyond the point of most mortals. Stacy has been loving & caring for little Mia all weekend as if she was getting 12 hours sleep per night. It was at this point that I put Mommy to bed and took over the duties of entertaining Mia. At about 5:30 am I gave up and put her in bed with us. The above photo is evidence of the carnage that was once our marital bed!! I'm confident that tonight we will see imrovement...

First Night in Crib... (Part 1)

By the time we got home from the airport, well after midnight, Mia was fast asleep. So we crept into her new room and laid her down in her crib. How peaceful and quiet our first night together at home would be... Hint: the preceding line may not be entirely true, as evidenced by the 'Part 1' in the title!

Mia's 1st Plane Ride!

This picture was taken several moments before the largest melt down of young Mia's short life! Our final day in China went well. We made it to the US Consulate and received Mia's Chinese passport, along with her American Visa. (As she cleared Customs in the U.S. she automatically became a U.S. citizen!!) However, that ordeal coupled with a long van ride to the airport and a 3 hour wait to board the plane was a little too much for our precious Mia. By the time we got settled on the plane it was after her bed time and feeding time. A hulacious meltdown ensued... What started as a mere cry, quickly melded into the shriek of a teradactyl. The screams and tears were more than Mom could handle, and soon enough both Mommy & Mia were crying... Thankfully she settled down after about 15 minutes and was fast asleep shortly after take off. The rest of the 14 hour flight went smoothly. Not much sleep for Mom & Dad, but Mia didn't seem to mind!

Kurt & Susan greeted us at the airport with their kids, Alex & Parker. It was so nice coming through security and having close friends waiting to greet us! Our neighbors Nancy & Skip came over shortly after our arrival home to meet the now sleeping Mia. They greeted us with balloons, flowers & welcome home cards! We're lucky to have such great friends in our lives...

Final post from China...

We're sad to announce that this will be our final post from China!
We're excited though, because that means we're almost home and we'll finally get the chance to introduce you all to Mia Sara Jia Lovell...
We depart in the morning and won't arrive back in Phoenix until almost midnight on Friday night. We're hoping that Mia continues her peaceful ways and that our flights are enjoyable. We can't thank you all enough for your love and support over the past few weeks. It has meant so much to us to run to our email each morning and check out all the supportive comments left on Mia's blog. We'll continue to provide periodic updates for anyone who is interestd in learning of Mia's progress and continued growth. We'll certainly provide an update this weekend as we're getting settled in, to let you all know how the trip home and first night in Mia's new palace of a room goes! Plus it should be interesting to see how our cat Sofia accepts Mia into her domain... Who knows, this is pretty addictive sharing Mia's life with you all, maybe we'll find we can't stop... Thank you & see you soon!
Love,
Mike, Stacy & Mia!

Best Friends...

It's so sad to be wrapping up our trip and parting ways with so many of our new friends... Skip & Joy are from NJ and have been an absolute blast to hang with. Skip shares our demented sense of humor, and Joy balances him out with her beautiful personality. Wendy & V, also from NJ, were the angels of our group. V is an ortho surgeon & Wendy is a pediatrician. Their knowledge and willingness to help everyone in the group has been endless... All of this despite the fact that they adopted twin girls! Talk about having your hands full... Dan & Christine, from Illinois, are the low key sweethearts of the group. They are true midwesterners in their friendliness. Alex & Sandy, from California, were here for the second time. They were very nice people, with the sweetest little girl. They adopted their 4 year old daughter Joy about 3 years ago.
Like most kids, she couldn't get enough of Stacy...
I have to reserve a special section of our blog for Uncle Kenny & Aunt Kathy! They are true best friends who will be a part of our lives forever... Not only were we blessed with beautiful little Mia, but we were also lucky enough to meet a NJ couple who personifies caring and compassion.
Well, except for Kathy's crazy & demented sense of humor! Truly, these two helped us through the stress of not knowing what the heck was going to happen with this process. We helped each other out by acting as a pressure release. The things we shared between us might have gotten us arrested in some countries, but made this experience so rich and rewarding... We are very thankful to have them as a part of our lives, and Mia's... As a footnote, Kenny is apparently one of the best guitarists on the East Coast.
He even had a hit video on MTV in the 80's with his band 'Prophet'. We can't wait to get home and check out his video on YouTube. We're also planning on visiting them before Christmas, and can't wait to see this guitar virtuoso firsthand.

Final play date...

Tonight, after dinner, we went back to Kenny & Kathy's room to let Mia & Molly play for a bit. This was their last chance to spend time togther for a few months. They had an incredible time playing together on the bed. At one point they even seemed to have a fairly serious wrestling match. I'm proud to announce that, while outweighed by several pounds, Mia was firmly able to establish dominance and continue the long legacy of Lovell domination! In all seriousness, they have been so cute together.
Molly was the child who you may remember we wrote was giving her parents a hard time just a week ago. That seems like quite a while back, because now Molly is all smiles and giggles! She's s a total sweetheart and I'm sure Mia & Molly will be close for many years to come... Aren't they just the cutest?! And yes, Molly is the nake one. You know how those New Jersey girls are!

Farewell Dinner...

Tonight we had a group dinner at a local Thai restaurant called the 'Cow & Bridge'. They have phenomenol food... It was one last chance to get together as a group and interact. The great part is that this was not part of the planned activities. Our group has become so close that we planned this on our own. We also invited our Holt representative, Catherine, and her son Cormak. After dinner as we were saying goodnight, Catherine began crying. She has been leading groups through the adoption process for 10 years and told us this is the first time she has brought her seven year old son around her clients. She says we're her favorite group ever! It was really a touching moment, and we're hoping that Catherine & Cormak will visit us in the States someday, as they are now a part of our family...
Catherine played a huge role in helping us realize our dream of adding Mia to our family. She has been endlessly supportive, and really reminds me of Stacy... She must work 24 hours a day, because she always seems to be there when we need her. She's endlessly dedicated to her work of helping these children into their new families. Unfortunately Catherine's husband was killed in a tragic car accident and she is left to raise Cormak alone. You would never know tihs from her glowing spirit. She is always laughing and smiling. We will miss Catherine and hope that she is still around when we come back to pick up Mia's little sister. Yep, that's right, we'll definitely be doing this again...

Chinese women sharing their wisdom...

The Chinese have very distinct beliefs about the way children should be cared for. While they absolutely have the best intentions of the children in mind, it is interesting to see how they differ from our Western views... For instance, when we go out shopping or walking in Guangzhou, older Chinese women routinely come up and wrap Mia's legs and feet in her blanket if they are exposed. Sometimes they'll even tell us in a stern voice that "Baby's feet need be covered...". It's very sweet and they absolutely are trying to help us out. This picture is a great example. As Kathy was walking by with Molly, who happened to be sucking her thumb, they called her over. One of the women pulled Molly's thumb from her mouth and sternly told Kathy that it is bad to allow children to suck their thumbs!
They then pointed at us who were being horrible parents by allowing Mia to have a pacifier, God forbid!! I'll miss this culture where elders are respected and revered...

Bhuddist Blessing...

This is the Bhuddist monk who performed our group's Blessing. This particular blessing was created solely to recognize the efforts of Westerners in saving Chinese orphans... The chanting and holy water ceremony were quite unique and really interesting to be a part of.

Bhudda

Bhuddism is the second largest religion practiced in China. Second only to Taoism. Bhuddism stems back over 4,000 years in China, and the Bhuddist temples can be seen all over the country. The local Bhuddist monks have created a special blessing to recognize the efforts of Westerners in saving the many Chinese orphans... Today we participated in a voluntary visit to the 'Six Banyan Tree Temple'. This particular temple has been burnt down three times during the wars which separate various dynasties.
The most recent version of this temple is now 1,000 years old!
It is an unbelievably beautiful experience to visit a Bhuddist temple.
Their is a sense of peace and tranquility that permeates not only the monks, but the visitors and surroundings. We lit incense and offered a prayer for our little Mia. This picture was taken in front of three large Bhuddas signifying past, present & future...

Pearl River Cruise!

Tonight we planned for all of the families to take a cruise along the Pearl River. Our guide, Catherine, was kind enough to reserve a private boat for us, so we wouldn't be stuck in crowds with our children. It's still a very celebratory environment around Guangzhou, as the Autumn Moon Festival was only last night... We ordered some pizzas for the cruise and had a great time checking out the skyline from the water. Everyone is getting pretty excited as we're finally winding down and preparing to head back to the States. With such a long trip we all settled in and became like a big family. Now the excitement is building again as we're nearing Mia's big American introduction. I'm sure People magazine will have plenty of photographers anxiously awaiting her American debut!! We hope you enjoy our silly family photo. Mia seems to be fitting right into the serious and structured nature of the Lovell's...

Da Boys...

Here's a shot of a few of the Dad's on the river cruise. The relaxed expressions and beers seem familiar, but somehow I think a few extra people found their way into the photo! The times they are a changin...

Mia's First Medical Exam!

Today the only formal activity we had was the requisite Chinese medical exam. We walked to a very basic medical facility where we had to stop at three stations. First was weight and height. Mia weighed in at a wopping 15 poundsl, the lightest in the group! The second stop was to have her ears, nose and throat checked. The attached picture shows how much she loved that... The final stop was a general physical. They felt around on her tummy, determined she doesn't have any glaring medical issues, and cleared her for travel to the U.S. Only 48 more hours before Mia officially becomes a U.S. citizen, and heads for home!!

Self Portrait

While Daddy & Mia were out walking today we decided to take a self portrait... We almost look like twins, huh?

Night, night...

If this picture doesn't melt your heart, please close this web page and immediately head to the nearest clinic! Can she be any sweeter?!

Tasting Daddy...

Mia has an obsession with tasting everything. Her little tongue is always hanging out! We thought is was so funny that during a sweet and tender moment, Mia felt it was appropriate to try and taste Daddy's nose...
Silly Mia!

Happy Family!

While we had Mia dressed up for her big photo shoot, we figured we'd take the opportunity to try and get a good family portrait! If only Dad had remembered to shave... At least Mia has upped the beauty quotient in the family. We've gone from 50% beautiful to 66% beautiful.

Red Couch photo

It has become a tradition for all adoptive families staying at the White Swan to take a group picture on the 'Red Couch' in the lounge. It's loads of fun as everyone dresses their new daughters up in traditional silk dresses. They are all so adorable... As you can see, the Mom's had their hands full trying to prop the kids up, while the Dad's snapped several thousand photos! Can you pick out which one is little Mia?

Happy Dad's!

Today was Mid Autumn Moon Festival here in China. It's actually the largest holiday of the year for gift giving... We celebrated by having a group tea party in the hotel. Kenny's little girl Molly was having a hard time staying awake, so Mia decided to pet her and make sure she slept soundly!! The woman in the photo is Catherine. She is our local Holt adoption agency representative. She is originally from Beijing, but has been living in Guangzhou for the past 10 years. She is an amazing woman who is on call 24 hours to help us out with anything and everything we need.
She loves Mia and has been hugely helpful to us during our stay. We'll miss Catherine...

Christmas Baby!

Mia wanted everyone to see her first Chanukah jacket! Added bonus that it doubles as her Christmas coat... Isn't she adorbable?

Relaxing day...

As we near the end of our trip, this Friday, things are really settling in and it's becoming less about adventures and more about quality family time! Today we had to have Mia's passport photo taken for her new US passport. Over the next few days the US Consulate will process her visa and passport paperwork. We are required to have a US medical check done on Wednesday, followed by her oath of citizenship on Friday afternoon. We'll then fly home that night. Since we cross back over the international date line coming home, we'll actually get home on Friday night, just before midnight. It should be fun trying to get little Mia's schedule back on track from that time change!!
The only difficulty today was the new task of cutting Mia's tiny little finger nails. We've needed to do it for several days, but were both afraid to hurt her. Today we finally realized that it can't wait any longer or she'll begin scratching herself. Mommy nominated Daddy to undertake this task. Mia did surprisingly well. In fact, she did much better than expectd considering two of her little fingers were bleeding profusely by the time we were done... And of course Daddy got scolded many times over for wounding Mia. Strange thing is that Mia never even realized anything negative ocurred. The blood seemed to hurt Mommy more than it did Mia! She's one happy little girl...

Daddy's Girl...

Mommy thinks Daddy has finally found something he loves more than his cars!

Acrobatic Mia!

Mia has assumed the unique ritual of doing some baby gymnastics just prior to nap time. As she gets tired, she gets into a push up position and pushes her butt way up high into the air... It's very cute, so we thought we'd show you the view from underneath. As her little personality blossoms and continues to develop, she really comes up with some amazingly cute character attributes. She's also decided she loves the sound of her little screams, so we now hear them quite often. Thankfully they are almost always shrieks of joy...

Heaven on Earth...

Today was a pretty relaxing and uneventful Sunday, other than the meltdown I already mentioned! After a liesurely morning, Daddy decided to take a nap. Mommy & Mia took the opportunity to join a few other Mom's and visit the Jade & Pearl Market. Mommy bought a beautiful strand of pink pearls and matching earrings for Mia's 16th birthday. Good thing for Mommy, she always seems to be thinking ahead like that...
For dinner we got some take out pasta and went to Kenny, Cathy & Molly's room for dinner. Afterward's, Mommy took Mia up to our room to go to bed while I stayed with kenny to watch a Discovery channel special on the construction of the 3 Gorge dam being built just east of here in China.
Interestingly, this dam will be 1.5 miles wide, which is the width of the Golden Gate Bridge. This will be the largest dam in the world when completed! This one dam will provide enough electricity to accomodate 10% of China's electrical needs. However, as always, with innovation comes sacrifice. Over 1,350 ancient chinese villages will be destroyed as the river waters rise to meet the new dams design. Over 1.3 million villagers will be displaced. Imagine having your city relocated after several thousands years of inhabiting the same land?! It's absolute devastation for many, and a vital link to the future for many more. That single project is so representative of the dillema much of China is facing. With such amazing historical depth, no path to the future can be built without seriously damaging many more links to the past...
Sorry for my digression. Let's get back to what's important here.
Specifically, the two beautiful women in the attached photo. While watching the Discovery channel special with Kenny, I realized I had forgotten my Cheez-It's in the room! When I ran back to our room to grab them, I came across the most beautiful sight I have ever experienced. Lying on the bed, face to face, were Mommy & Mia, fast asleep... They looked like absolute angels and I'm quite sure I've never experienced such a beautiful and touching sight in my entire life. I must have snapped about 25 photos in my excitement! It made me realize how lucky I am to have these two girls in my life. They are everything to me...

First Melt Down!

Today we got to experience our first official Mia melt down!! We noticed over the past few days that Mia has been getting more teeth in, and is definitely teething. What started as an annoyance to her has now become quite irritating! Nap time usually comes with very little drama. However, today Mia seemed very restless as nap time approached. After she gets her late morning bottle, she usually falls asleep with the cutest little smile on her face. Not today... The crying came fast and furious, and lasted for probably 20 minutes. Our quiet little baby showed us that she can be quite the screamer! Full on tears and shrieks were pretty startling as we've enjoyed nothing but sunshine during our first week together. At first it was almost relieving to see that she could get so upset. That lasted about 30 seconds before we both became very frustrrated. Not at her crying, but at our lack of ability to provide her with what she needed. She finally fell asleep in my arms mid cry!
It wasn't until she had fallen asleep that it dawned on us that it was her teething that caused the crying. When her nap was cut short with another bout of crying, we soothed her with a little Tylenol and lot of love! The rest of the day went beautifully once we figured out what was causing the problem. Wow, it sure can be tough to figure these little ones out... But well worth the effort.

Looks like Mia has had one too many Mai Tais!!

Cantonese Delicacy?!

Tonight we had an organized group dinner at a local traditional Cantonese restaurant. I wish I could show you all the photos of the snakes, toads, sand worms and water bugs that were live and ready to eat... Suffice it to say that there are some unique eating habits in other countries. Our guide told us that two American fathers got into a competition several months back and one guy actually ate 25 Water Beetles!! I have to admit, it was a little enticing to try something new... The attached picture is of a deep fried pigeon head. Kenny & I ate the body! Pigeon was about as far as I was willing to go. Especially since one of the other fathers sat back making perfect pigeon cooing impersonations throughout our meal...

Our Asian Princess...

Mommy has decided that it's necessary to buy many traditional silk dresses for our little Mia. So today it only made sense to have a little fashion show. Mia was a great sport considering she didn't have much of a nap today. As you can tell by her expression, this experience wasn't too painful... In fact, this has become the typical Mia expression! Lucky Mommy & Daddy!!

This picture was just too cute not to share!

Mia's First Swim!

We decided a lazy Saturday afternoon swim was in order for our little Mia... Seeing her in her little tutu style bathing suit was almost too much to bear! So we did the only logical thing and took about 100 photos of her in her swim suit before we even left the hotel room!! Mia was definitely tentative when we first climbed into the water. Her only experience with water has been her baths, and you all know how well that's gone... But after about 15 minutes of easing her in, she quickly decided she loved splashing water in Mommy & Daddy's faces. In fact, she got so comfortable that, as you can see in the photo, she tried taking her afternoon nap lounged out on Daddy's lap in the kitty pool...

The White Swan Hotel

We mentioned our hotel the other day. We thought we'd give you a glimpse of the lobby, to show you how beautiful things are here. The White Swan Hotel was built in the early 1980's and was the first 5 star hotel in China. It has subsequently become the hub for international adoptions. The area we are in here in Guangzhou is where the British government established a stronghold many decades ago. As a result, most of the embassies are located here on Shamian Island. The US Consulate is right down the street.
As a result, every family adopting a Chinese child ends up here for the final week of their trip to finalize the child's US visa, etc. We were lucky in that our daughter was born locally. As a result we are able to spend almost 2 weeks at this one location, as opposed to splitting our time between a rural province and The White Swan. The service here is impeccable. They even have a young lady stationed on each of the 28 floors to attend to our every need. When we leave the room to go out, the elevator has already been called by the time we get their... In all seriousness, the service here in China is as probably better than we've experienced anywhere in the world! And with so many children coming through here, the hotel is absolutely geared toward families with young children. Mia loves the big buffet breakfasts almost as much as Daddy does...

Coming out of their shells...

This morning before breakfast we stopped up at Kathy & Kenny's room.
They have a beautiful little girl named Molly, who is shown playing with Mia in the attached picture. Unfortunately, Molly has been giving her parents a very difficult time this week... We are absolutely in love spicy little Molly. However, while she is bonding with her new parents, she's also spending a great deal of time crying, hence the 'spicy' nickname. They have been absolute saints in the way they've responded and the patience they have shown. However, today Kathy was able to take Molly for a walk with Stacy & Mia to one of Stacy's favorite spots, Starbucks! They then got some quality family play time on the bed with no crying, followed by a great Thai dinner tonight for all of us. We were so happy to see Molly turn the corner. To think it's only been 4 days and she's already settling in. The pediatrician and her husband in our group, Wendy & V, adopted twin 14 month old little girls, Katie & Lilly. Unfortunately their children came from a different orphanage than Mia, and were very malnourished, and clearly not well cared for. It was heart breaking to meet them. They cried incessantly for days, and didn't want much to do with Wendy & V. But as Stacy, Mia & I were out walking today through the shops, we saw the four of them out taking a walk and the girls were quietly hanging out in their strollers, smiling a bit, and even gave Stacy a high 5.
I share these stories with you to make you realize that it's not all roses adopting a little girl from China. We've been so incredibly lucky with Mia.
Each child is different. Many of the families are having really difficult times. But all seem to be improving dramatically from day to day. Before we go home next week I would imagine that just about everyone will be settled in before their long flights home. Even little Mia's boils on her head are almost completely gone, and her ear infection seems to be healed as well. These little girls are so resilient it's amazing... A little love goes a long way!

All Clean...

Probably the only time we could say there is any stress at all associated with caring for our little Mia is when it's time for a bath...
Mia doesn't seem to love the bath tub, but that's probably the result of our lack of having a good system for bathing her yet. We've tried a number of different methods and have settled in with Daddy climbing in the tub and holding little Mia, while Mommy scrubs all the important places! It makes it all worth it though when we get to see that sweet little face peeking out of the towel. It's also amazing to watch the intense bond developing as Mommy rubs lotion into little Mia's skin. She absolutely loves it. It's about the only time our little wiggle worm lies perfectly still...

Mia the Tourist...

Today was Friday, and thankfully we had no governmental paperwork to attend to. We rewarded ourselves by taking a tour of a private school from the 1800's. Chun Academy was built in the 1880's to provide superior education to children of local wealthy families, in hopes of achieving a position within the goverment. The building is the last remaining example of old world architecture in Guangzhou, a town with a population of 10 million people... There were whole rooms full of jade & ivory carvings.
Unfortunately the building fell into disrepair during Mao's rule, and was utilized as a printing press for several decades. It has been restored and is now open to the public. While it was absolutely beautiful, I have to admit it was more fun to watch the older Chinese women go nuts over our little girl. They get sucked into her little grin & giggles, just like we did!
After a family nap, we joined a couple we've become very close with, Kenny & Kathy, in a Thai food feast. The food is truly spectacular around here.
Although, as always, it's sad to see the goofy side of some Americans. Late in the afternoon Stacy & I took Mia for a walk in her stroller and stopped into Starbucks. As I ordered a chicken sandwich a woman behind me warned me that I'd get the bird flu by eating the chicken in China! She then told me she hasn't eaten in days and is really struggling with her new child. Go figure...

My First Teeth!

Mia wanted to make sure everyone got to see her first teeth. She's very proud of them! As are we...

Can a baby be more precious?!

Mia's First Play Date!

This evening we all decided it was time to relax and spend some time interacting with adults! So we all got together in one couple's suite and ordered some pizza, drank some beer, and let our children play together on the floor. Mia found a new friend in Kayla. They were from the same orphanage, were born one day apart, and clearly enjoyed spending time together. After spending some time forhead to forhead and tasting each others fingers, Mia began making new sounds. They were little shouts of glee, and they were so incredibly cute...
Funny how parenthood changes you. We got a bunch of beer and some wine, ordered some pizzas, and promptly decided that we were all exhausted and went home to go to bed!!

The Two Most Beautiful Women in the World!

She's Crawling!!

While we were getting ready to go out to dinner, we left Mia on the floor to play with some toys for a few minutes. One her toys happened to be about 10 feet away from where she was playing. With a little enouragement Mia learned to crawl and made it all the way across the room to her special toy! She's already displaying the Lovell discipline. Now if we could just get her to fold her clothes properly and keep her toys in order... Hee hee!
In all seriousness, her progress is amazing. 48 hours ago she could barely sit up without falling over. A few days of activity, American formula and love / encouragement, and Mia is crawling around like a little monkey! As a completely unbiased parent, I must say our daughter is Mensa material...

Bureacracy...

Daddy & Mia both agree they've had enough of this government office stuff... Maybe a little hug will help pass the time!

Mia's First Stroller Ride...

This morning we had to spend several hours at the Civil Affairs office again. This time we needed to begin the Visa application process, so that we can get Mia back into the United States. After a long morning of bureaucracy, we decided a walkabout would be the perfect remedy. After buying a pretty nice stroller for all of $20 US, we loaded Mia up for her first official outing. As you can tell, she wasn't exactly thrilled by the whole stroller concept. But in typical Mia fashion she took it like a champ. In fact, within minutes she was out cold...
On our journey we happened upon a beautiful park that was full of activity.
The people in the park again highlighted the cultural differences. First we found a group of about 30 elderly folks sitting together singing. It was great! A little further along we found well over 50 people clustered in groups of 4-6 people playing hacky sack. For those of you who are a bit older, it's a game played where everyone kicks around a pool ball sized leather bag stuffed with beans, and tries to keep it from hitting the ground. The kicker here is that the average age of these players was 50-60 years old! Show me a group of elderly people doing a sport like that in the US!! The people here maintain a very young spirit. That very same park is also filled each morning with hundreds of people doing Tai Chi to stay limber and fit.
We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon together followed by a barbecue buffet along the river with several other families in the group. It's amazing to see the little personalities blossoming from all the children. Unfortunately, some kids are still giving their new parents a tough time. Fortunately, what we're all learning is that most of the cranky children are actually great kids, but are dealing with some physical ailments that are remnants of their disadvantaged days in the orphange... Nothing that a little love and antibiotics can't resolve!

Interesting Country...

China is so different from our expectations. We have traveled all over the world and never experienced anything like this... It's interesting to learn about a country so few people really know. The population of the US is currently about 300 million. The population of China is 1.3 billion.

At the same time, the land mass of China is almost identical in size to the US. However, close to 50% of the land is not livable due to mountains and deserts. As a result, you have over 4 times the popultion of America, living in an area half the size of the US. Talk about crowding...

The population of Beijing is currently 30.5 million. New York City, the largest city in the US, is only about 8 million. And Beijing is only the third largest city in China!
Very few Chinese people speak English. Yet they are warm & friendly to foreigners. There is a very strong sense of community and respect of elders. I think the most striking difference about China is that there does not appear to be any jealously or animosity towards Americans. They are very proud of their country and heritage. They are not trying to become the United States of America, and therefore don't share the same obstinence that most Europeans do. It's actually quite refreshing... However, it's still a Communist country. While it feels just like any bustling American city, there are tight controls in place that go unnoticed by the locals. It is impossible to access many Western websites, including Youtube and our own damn blog! While we were watching CNN the other night a segment came on about the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. As the segment moved into a somewhat critical phase, the TV screen went blank for about 3 minutes. The Chinese government had simply pushed a button and cut the signal. A few minutes later it came back on without warning. Hearing that you would think this is a very oppressive society. But the locals truly don't know the difference and look to their government as a source of pride and continued economic success. I guess what you don't know can't hurt you...

Mike & Stacy

Lights Out!

The end of another wonderful but long & hot day... We started our day with a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. We are staying at the White Swan, which was the first 5 star hotel in China. We had heard great things about this hotel, but were blown away at how great it is. It's an amazing hotel with great food, shopping, and impeccable service. Heavy emphasis on the shopping for Mommy & Mia... That should help our two weeks go by a little quicker...

After breakfast we headed over to the Civil Affairs office to take our government family photo, followed by two interviews to confirm our intentions and formally commit to love, nurture and never abandon our child.

After the second interview the adoption was formalized and Mia is truly now Mia Sara Jia Lovell. Sara is in honor of Stacy's late Grandmother, Sara Grossman, who was a very special person in our lives. Jia was Mia's given Chines name. Actually it was Song Jia Feng. Song is the family name given to all children from her orphange, with Jia Feng being her unique name. We maintained Jia as a tie to her homeland. Unfortunately, the trip home from the Civil Affairs office wasn't so smooth. The bus driver decided to leave for a more lucrative job while we were in the office. So six couples carrying seven babies (twins in our group!) were stuck standing on a crowded street in 95 degree weather with about 100% humidity, and it just happened to be nap time for all the kids!! Thankfully our interpreter was able to negotiate for another bus to take us back after a slight delay.

After a busy morning we all decided to forgo exploring the neighborhoods today, and instead spent time in our rooms with our babies. We're still pretty exhausted and in fact skipped dinner tonight and I put Stacy & Mia to bed about 15 minutes ago... I'm sure it won't surprise any of you to hear that Stacy has not taken a moment to herself. With very little sleep or food, Stacy is the absolute picture of sunshine to little Mia. I'm pretty sure Mia has received more love, attention and stimulation in the past 36 hours than she did in the past 7 months in the orphanage. Even more amazing is that her caring and nurturing for Dad has not dwindled a bit. We're both very lucky to have such an incredible Mom & wife...

Good night!

Play time with Momma!

As expected, Mom has quickly figured out what Mia likes most... All these smiles while she's sick! The pediatrician in our group today confirmed our suspicions. We noticed Mia tugging at her ear, and it turns out she has a double ear infection. Thankfully the antibiotics she's already on should cure this within a few days... Poor little girl.

Mia bench presses more than Daddy!

It didn't take long for the Lovell genes to kick in. Mia made it clear we needed to get her to a gym for a quick work out...

Can you say Happy Baby?!?!

Looks like Mia's got a rough life ahead of her...

Mia with Daddy!

This picture was taken shortly after we returned to our room for the first time! Isn't she perfect?

Mike