We can see two more teeth coming on her upper gums. Sophia is repeating more words. She likes to say "no more," "hi," "thank you," "leche," etc. She woke up calling Assen ("acho"). She continues being adorable. She was a little bit cranky today. We think maybe her gums are hurting.

Christmas Day

Sophia and Assen opened all the gifts early in the morning. Assen got a razor scooter and Sophia got a dolly. We had dinner at K's cousin's house. Today, we went walking on the Wilhelm Lake trail.

Sophia is learning to give kisses

Sophia is eating very well and she makes all kinds of noises. She really wants to start talking. She's learned to wave her hand to say bye bye, and surprisingly, she came to give me a good night smack! she is sooooo cute!
She is 19.5 pounds. We are ready to turn her seat in the car. I wonder how she is goiing to do in our long trip to PA this Sunday. We shall see...

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a nice dinner with the Degen's Family and my in-laws Cliff and Sandy. Cristobal Colon discovered America in 1492. The pilgrims came about fifty years later and ate turkey. Since then, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day and eat lots of turkey.

Trick or Treat?

Sophia wore her Chinese dress and went out with mom and Assen for trick or treat. Not sure if she got some candy, but she had fun. This morning she was having a conversation with her brother. She was in her room and making all kind of noises and Assen was answering back to her. They did this for more than 20 minutes! They both were having so much fun, each in their own room.
Sophia is helping us set the table. Mom gives her plates and silverware and she goes to the dining room and sets them on the table. She is also holding crayons with her little hand and trying to color books.
She coughs in the mornings and her nose keeps running. But she eats very well. She likes to eat grapes. She also eats scrambled eggs and cheerios, of course.

Bethany Playshop Day

Sophia is 73 cm tall (almost 29"). Today's topic was Mexican Day. There was Mexican music on the background. The children made pinnatas, and they also broke a real pinnata. Emily read a book and they also sang the Hokey-Pokey song. Assen met a boy born in Bulgaria. They all had so much fun.

Can't stop this girl! she walks so fast. She likes to climb up the stairs and she also goes down. She has so much energy!
We took Sophia for quite some hikes this weekend. She rides in the stroller, but I bet she will be hiking along with us sometime soon.
She weighs about 18 pounds now. She can also eat pieces of food all by herself. She likes cheerios. What is it with cheerios that everybody likes them?

Assen discovered a tooth in Sophia's mouth! Finally! Her first tooth! The dentist told us she was late, but some kids are late...
We went to a playshop in CR. The theme was "Independence Day." The children had so much fun! They painted flags, and also had a parade. They sang and danced too. Leah read a book called "Apple Pie Fourth of July."

She is walking!

Sophia is having such fun walking from one furniture to the next! She just loves to walk! She also likes to get on her new horse and ride it. She is so lovable! This girl was made for walking.

08/08/08 Happy FIRST Birthday Sophia!

Sophia keeps learning things quickly. She can throw kisses now! She is so adorable! She has a pretty nice tan from being in the outdoors with mom and Assen. We all had lunch at Jimmy Jack's and celebrated Sophia's birthday having grilled chicken and cake at home. We sang Happy Birthday and Sophia had a birthday cake with one little candle. She received many gifts from everybody. She opened her savings account today.

Sophia enjoys making us laugh when we clap our hands and she repeats what we do. She just got her new bedroom furniture. Assen got jealous of the new furniture. Sophia likes her big mirror. She keeps eating very well and she is very active: crawls very fast and stands up as soon as she can get help from any furniture or nearby hands. Sometimes we find Sophia walking under the dinner table! Here she is with her big bro!

Sophia is starting to repeat words she hears. We think she started saying "stop!." It sounds like that. She also loves to play and she's unstoppable. She sees Assen playing the piano, and she tries to play too. She is so adorable.

Sophia arrived yesterday from Pennsylvania. Iowa City is having the worst flood ever. Water keeps rising and roads are being closed. Restaurants are also closed. Sophia is getting stronger. She can crawl faster, and she can also stand up pretty fast. She seemed happy to be back home again.

Sophia crawls all over the place. She likes to get up and stand up -holding something, of course. No doubts she will be walking soon... She is also eating better. She takes most of her formula and loves to eat solid food. She also likes to move the alphabet letters from the refrigerator and put them on the floor [for mama to pick them up].

Went to Naiobi zoo. We saw the new giraffe exhibit. They have about four giraffes. It looks very nice. Assen had a pony ride. We also rode the train.

An earthquake rocks central China (Sichuan) killing thousands! Reading the news and watching pictures break my heart in tears. My prayers and thougths are with all whose heart is close to these people.
Postville, Iowa. About 300 illegal immigrants were detained in a kosher meatpacking plant. The largest raid in the history of Iowa.

Sophia was nine months old today. She had her first visit to the doctor (and a few shots!). She is 16.2 lbs (10%) and 28.35 inches long (77%), and that's American standards! She is a tall and skinny girl. She is working hard on her crawling, she'll be crawling very soon. She is not a good eater, but she is doing OK. She is very happy and loves to laugh. Loves pushing buttons on her toys.

Sophia is doing very well (still coughing though). She is drinking her formula and eating other baby food. We weighed her, and it appears that she is about 18.5 pounds! We are glad she is putting some weight into her little body.

Assen rode his bike on a trail and we walked and pushed Sophia on her stroller. It was a windy Sunday in IC. We are all sick with a cold. Hopefully, we will get better soon at the same time. Sophia is now drinking all her formula and she is a lot better than a week ago.

Sophia has an ear infection, so she is now on antibiotics. She is also having problems drinking her formula. Karen has tried almost every possible combination and formulas, and Sophia refuses them all. However, she likes to eat banana and other solid food.

We all went to sleep last night after we got home. Karen said Sophia woke up crying at 3 AM (I believe it). Had a nice home made breakfast and played with Sophia. Took a long nap at noon and went for dinner to Los Portales, Sophia's first Mexican dinner. She liked the rice and the guacamole; she still has problems drinking her formula.

Just arrived home! We are exhausted after being in three different airports.

Last day in Guangzhou! We will be flying to Beijing tomorrow early morning. I have no Internet conection from the hotel anymore. We only paid for one week of internet. This morning, I came to Starbucks, so I could get connected and check my e-mail. We went to the Guangzhou zoo yesterday. We had lots of fun. We saw a lot of children visiting the zoo from their school.

Sophia's first summersault! She was playing in this little soft mattress the hotel provided us. She likes to strectch. She stretched so much, her head went out of the matress, and her body went over her head! she cried a little bit, and she got scared. She might like gymnastics!

Thank you to all who responded my post at the Bethany forums. That was right, I just went to blogger.com and I was able to get access to post in our blogspot!
Went for a walk in Shamian Island. Again, we met more children who wanted to practice their English. We all took pictures of each other. Karen and Assen tried to play badminton with a little Chinese girl. She was pretty good!

I walked downtown and had lunch in a McDonald's. A Bic Mac meal cost only 22 yen. what a deal! It was crowded, but I was still able to get a seat.

I wasn't able to post or access any blogspots for a few hours today. Not sure what happened. I've read China blocks blogspots once in a while (???). I am not sure if that was the reason, or something else is going on.

Karen took Jiaqing for her medical examination this morning. She weighs 6.8 Kg (15 lbs). Not surprisingly, she has an upper respiratory infection. We started her antibiotic medication today (azithromycin).

It was an interesting day. Several children approached us because they wanted to practice English. These children were with their teachers. They had a list of questions for us to ask them. Most of them did very well. They gave Assen some gifts. We all took pictures. They were very friendly and shook hands with us!

Sophia had a hard time going to sleep last night. We rocked her in our arms and she felt asleep, but as soon as we put her in her crib, she gets up and starts crying. We were not sure if she had an ear infection, or her tummy was hurting, or she was just getting spoiled. She didn't go to sleep until about 11 pm. But this morning, after bowel movement and a change of diapers, she gave us lots of smiles, and she looked alright. Walked to a park and rode a couple of rides.

Sophia woke us up this morning. We are all so excited to have a new member in our family!

We were able to meet Carol and her cousin Gina this morning. Carol is from PA and is also adopting a Chinese baby.

I talked to a couple of Chinese people who wanted to practice their English. One of them was a young man, James, 19 years old. James told me he was an only child. He said, parents would be charged about 6,000 yen for having a second child. The other one, was an older man, his English was pretty good. He told me he learns English by watching American movies and talking to tourists. I also played hacky sack with some Chinese people.

Sophia slept the whole night through. I guess she most be feeling better. This morning, she also drank her full bottle of formula. We were so happy about that. We went walking along the Pearl River. We saw old people exercising and dancing with different music.

In the afternoon, we went shopping to Carrefour, and then went to this other building to make the adoption official. Went to Lucy's for dinner.

Had breakfast at the Swan Hotel. It was packed with lots of people and also with families with their adopted Chinese babies. Went to the same office we visited yesterday to receive our babies. This time, we met with the notary and the registration. They also took a family picture of the three of us. It was a very hot day. Karen, Assen, and Sophia went to the swimming pool.

Flew to Guangzhou this morning (CA-1351). Got to the White Swan Hotel and found our room on the ninth floor. A small bus took us to the Civil Affairs Office where we met many children that were being adopted. We received Sophia. She is got a little bit of a cold, so we'll need to take good care of her. She is a very quiet baby (so far). She even fell asleep while other babies were crying. Assen is taking good care of her.

We visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City today. It started as a rainy day, but it actually turned into a nice fresh day. Tiananmen square reminded me of El Zocalo in Mexico City, but is a lot larger. The forbidden city was a lot larger than what I expected also. We also did a bicycle tour of Hutong and visited a house in the neighborhood.

Took a bus to visit the famous Great Wall of China with all the adopting families. Joy talked to us about Chinese culture while riding the bus. We visited a Cloisonne factory in our way to the Great Wall. There was a lot of traffic when arriving to the place where we had to park. Took a gondola ride up to the wall and went sight-seeing. There were so many tourists and so many pesty vendors! The tourist crowd reminded me of Niagara Falls.

Breakfast in the hotel was almost as good and delicious as we could have them at home! Met some of the other adopting familes. Assen and dad went swimming for a while while mom ran on a treadmill. Glad we brought our Bulgarian swim caps. Met the rest of the adopting families and went grocery shopping. We were brave enough to try some Chinese food. We asked for two different dishes. One of them was pretty good. In the afternoon, we went to see this Chinese Acrobat Show. It was really worth it! Assen kept attention the whole time!!!

Traveling

Flew from CID to ORD without major events (UA-7116). The plane in ORD was late, so we didn't leave ORD until about 4 PM (UA-851). Assen played for about two hours in the Children's play area. Geography lesson: The plane did not fly west to China, but north! We flew over Lake Superior, Hudson Bay, and very close to the North Pole and the Arctic Ocean. Then, we flew west, and then south through Siberia, Mongolia, and China! The airport at Beijing was huge and amazing (PEK). It looks like they are ready for the olympics. After about an hour-drive, we finally arrived to the Days Hotel and Suites. The hotel room is spacious, with two queen size beds. The beds are really hard, but the bathroom is also spacious and modern.

Two more days of packing before we leave. I am trying to put all my clothes in plastic bags under vacuum, so they take less space! I am making lists of all the things we need to take, so I don't forget anything.

China Itinerary

April 2 Depart CID to ORD at 7:27 AM. Depart ORD to PEK at 12:43 PM

April 3 Arrive to PEK via UA 851 at 3:00 PM. Stay at Days Hotel & Suites

April 4 Acrobatic show

April 5 Great Wall and Cloisonne Factory

April 6 Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Hutong Tour

April 7 Flight to Guangzhou. Stay at the White Swan Hotel. Meet Sophia

April 8 Adoption registration and notarization

April 9 Passports

April 10 Free Day (geocaching)

April 11 Guangzhou Folk art Museum

April 12 Medical exam

April 13 Free day (more geocaching)

April 14 Visa

April 15 Consulate

April 16 Flight CZ3101 at 8:00 am to Beijing. Connecting flight to Chicago

Came back from Riviera Maya last Saturday. Now, it's time to wash clothes and start getting ready for the next trip. We celebrated Assen's sixth birthday last night. We've heard some stories about food in China, but my Chinese colleague at work, Jin, assures me they have both American and Chinese food in all restaurants in China.

Travel Dates to China

We received our Travel Package. We decided to fly from Chicago to Beijing on April 2nd (my brother's birthday) and return on April 16th from Beijing to Chicago. We will do some sightseeing of Beijing. We have our appointment at the US Consulate at Guangzhou on April 14th. Perfect timing. We still have time to go to Cancun next week. Time to pack!

We received the visas to go to China on Monday. It's been an unusual winter with tons of snow and temperatures below zero. We are watching the lunar eclipse from our home tonight. We can see Regulus on top of the moon and Saturn to the left of the moon. How immense the universe is and how little we are.

Chinese New Year Festival

Enjoyed attending the Chinese New Year festival at the UI. 2008 is the year of the rat. We are very excited about learning more about the Chinese culture and getting to know other families with Chinese children.

Getting ready!

K has been painting Sophia's room. We also went shopping for her today. It was a very cold day here (below zero!). We got a baby carrier and lots of things at ToysRus.

Getting the visas

Had our pictures taken for visas. Filled out forms and UPS documents to CaringHands. Got it all done on Saturday. We hope to get our visas back soon, because we need our passports to go to Mexico in March. K started painting Sophia's room and I started re-arranging furniture in the future guest room.

We have pictures!!!

Here's a couple of pictures of Sophia. She is six months old today!!! In her medical report they say she likes to play the drums and listen to music. Assen took the pictures of Sophia to school and showed them in his classroom. He talked about his sister in front of his class.

Washington DC

Well, I had to make this trip and didn't have a chance to go to Bethany's office and see the pictures of Sophia. I called K and A, and they told me they got three pictures of her, and she is adorable. We'll probably travel in eight to ten weeks. Assen was still not feeling well this morning, so he did not go to school. He was feeling a lot better when I called this afternoon.

We got a referral!

Karen has been checking the Rumor Queen (RQ) and found out we should be receiving "the phone call" very soon. We did today! The name of our daughter is Song Jiaqing and she is from Guangdong Province. We are so excited! Assen was sick today and school was cancelled because of an icy-storm we had this morning. We should be getting some more information about Jiaqing on the next few days. Karen will go to CR tomorrow and see the referral information and pictures of the baby. I will be travelling to DC, so I won't be able to see the rest of the information until I come back.