Consulate and Back to the Island

Today we had our Consulate appointment at 8:30am.  This appointment is part of the process for Juliet to become a U.S. citizen.  The appointment was fairly uneventful, more forms to fill out and documents to sign.  Then we (all the families there) had to stand up and swear an oath that all information we provided was correct.  Once that was complete, we were on our way again.  We'll get Juliet's passport tomorrow night and she'll officially become a U.S. citizen once we go through customs in Detroit.

After that, we headed back to Shamian Island to let Juliet run around and to do a little more shopping.  She had fun exploring all the bronze statues throughout the island and was especially interested in the one with all the little children following a piper. The wedding couples were out again today for their photograph sessions and there were older people playing cards and badminton in the boulevards.  We met an extremely friendly shop owner named Jordan who hand painted a picture of Juliet's name using different Chinese animal characters for each letter of her name.  He also made a picture for her using Chinese caligraphy characters for her name.  He was one of the nicest people we've met her so far.

Today, Juliet also debuted her "squeeky shoes" that we bought for her last night.  They're very popular here and they have a little squeeker in the heal.  Each time she steps they squeek.   She was really surprised at first but then she had a ball walking around and squeeking.  She was quite the hit where ever we went today.  Beth liked them so much that she had to buy several more pairs to bring home.

We had lunch on the island again and then walked over to a park for a bit.  Juliet met a little boy and was showing him all the leaves on the ground.  They were very cute together and he tried to take Juliet by the hand and lead her to the play structure.  She did not like this at all!  She started crying very hard, shook her hand loose and came running back to Beth and I.   Once she calmed down she resumed her search for leaves.



After heading back to the hotel and a short nap, we played in the room for a while and then headed out for dinner.  We went to a Mexican restaurant by our hotel that is very popular.  The owners are both from Mexico and the food is about as authentic as you can get (in China).  We met a couple from Lebanon who was very nice and had many questions about the adoption process and Juliet's story.  She seemed to like them very much and even let the man hold her while his wife took pictures.  We headed back to the hotel and Skyped with Luke and Mia for a while so they could see their new sister again.  Then it was bath time and bed time.

After such an easy first few days with Juliet, the last few have been more challenging and more as expected.  She's definitely going through some grieving and she's becoming more stubborn and seemingly frustrated.  We're doing our best to reenforce to her that we're not going to leave her and that she can trust us.  We're planning to hold her quite a bit, make as much eye contact as possible, feed her instead of letting her feed herself, etc.   All the things that are recommended to promote attachment and bonding.

Tomorrow night, we fly to Hong Kong for a short night's stay and then and early flight back to the States (via Tokyo).  It's going to be another long day as we have to check out of our hotel at 2pm and then we're not being picked up to go to the airport until 7:30pm.  We still have to come up with something to occupy ourselves during that time.  I'm sure we'll find something to do.

This will probably be our last long post until we get back home.  I may be able to post from my phone before the flights, but I don't know for sure.  Thanks for all your comments and encouragement along the way.  We can't wait for everyone to meet Juliet!

- Matt and Beth