Two Whirlwind Days in Beijing

We all crashed in the hotel and slept fairly reasonably. I seem to be the only one still jetlagging (or maybe that's just nervousness). In the morning we had breakfast and met Rose and two travel companions (Mark and Anne, adopting a little girl in Guangdong). We took a private bus to a section of the Great Wall that
protects a strategic pass through the mountains.
We tied Gus onto Jim's back and hiked up the first sets of stairs. I didn't expect that the stairs would be a) so steep and b) so uneven. Some are very shallow, and then there are stairs that you practically have to hoist yourself up. The men who manned this wall must've been some of the fittest in China.
We got up to the first tower, and decided to walk a little of the way around the loop. Gus wanted to get down and hiked some of the wall himself. Eventually we did the entire loop. My calves are still mad at me, but it was really neat. You look back and think "I climbed THAT!?"
We discovered a new Chinese hobby: taking pictures with random tourists. We all got stopped at one point or another to take pictures with other climbers. Jim got stopped most often (tall white man with a toddler tied to him).
After that we went to an amazing lunch on top of a cloisonne factory, and did a little shopping there (we like to collect Christmas ornaments from interesting places, and although I was surprised to find them in a Communist state-run store, there they were). We came home with a hummingbird (beautiful), an armadillo (because really, an armadillo?), and did not come home with a burnt-orange Longhorn Dad ornament. The arm of the Longhorns is long indeed.
Then we drove back to Beijing and saw the Water Cube (which is way cooler in person) and the Bird's Nest. Gus was losing it at this point, so we skipped a tea ceremony to go take a nap. We barely woke up for dinner, and then went back to bed. Discovered that a lot of the milk in China may be rice milk, which Gus doesn't like. It put him pretty off-kilter to be milk-less for a few days; maybe we'll find some more like home when we get to Guangzhou.
The next day we took a walk to the Temple of Heaven. Only got to see the Temple through the trees, because the real purpose was to let Gus climb all over the Seven Mountain Stones (everyone else's kids were climbing all over them, so we figured we weren't desecrating too much). We saw a neat game with balls and rackets and bought a couple sets to play with later, then headed to the Hong Qiao Pearl Market for some quick shopping. Jim and Dad grabbed a couple of things that they needed, and I did some necklace shopping. You're supposed to haggle, but it's hard when they say, "Best offer, $40." And you're supposed to say, "No, $4!" but you're thinking "$40 is awfully reasonable!" So I bargained down to about $30 and felt fine with that.
Then we had another amazing lunch and went to Tiananmen Square. Not fun for Gus. At the end of it is the Forbidden City, and he could run around a bit more there. Super-hot. Apparently there are 15 layers of bricks underlying the whole place to discouraging tunnelling assassins. It is humongous.
We were told that the hawkers there are relentless, so to tell them right off that you aren't interested. Reb said, "I don't want any, thank you" with such great sincerity, big smile, and apparently murderous pronunciation that one hawker actually stopped to give her a big smile and pat on the arm in the universal sign of "It's okay, dear, at least you're trying."
Then back to the airport, where Gus and Reb slept the whole flight, into the next hotel (which is WOW). Gotta stop typing to go meet Jed!

A Long Series of Flights

The Amazing James dropped us off at the airport at around 4 a.m. Gus was up late picking up Dad from the airport, so no one slept more than 5 hours (and I only slept around 3). Then we flew to Minneapolis, sleeping on the way. Ate breakfast in Minneapolis and had a six-hour layover. Unluckily, Minneapolis has only one interesting thing for children. Luckily, it was right on our concourse, and it was a pretty good playplace. We managed to spend 3.5 hours there, with some effort. Then had some lunch and got on the LOOOONG flight.

Which wasn't too bad, actually. We all slept a few hours here and there, nothing too long. Gus was hysterical twice when he woke up and found himself still on a plane, but overall he did well. He was amused by the first bit of turbulence and scared as it got worse. I barely missed throwing my glass of water all over my husband (he woke up not from the turbulence but from the gasps from the passengers).

We landed in Tokyo and took Gus to a playplace. He was NOT in the mood to play, so we headed to the next gate instead. We were afraid that the next flight would be a diasaster, but Gus settled down to watch some movies and was fine. He lost it again as we waited in Immigration and Customs lines, but we all survived (and moved a little faster through Customs as the lady took pity on the family with the freaking-out kid). At 10:30 p.m. we exited the secure area and waited for our Beijing guide, Rose. Gus has a huge crush on Miss Rose.

Leaving tomorrow!

Just realized I didn't announce this on the blog (been posting about the packing process over at Facebook). Once the excited grandfather arrives, we will have everything we need to go.

We will meet Jed on Monday (Sunday evening over here). We would appreciate prayers for the transition for everyone, extra patience for us, and relief from jetlag.

We'll post when we can!

Consulate Appointment

Has been scheduled for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, September 7. Working to figure out what that means in terms of "get there" and "leave by" dates for flights.

Travel Approval!

Our travel approval arrived last night. It only took 1.5 weeks; the first thing to go fast since the surprise referral! Our agency will be working on consulate appointments this week, and then we can schedule our travel (likely end of August-early September).

Funny thing, I finally sat down to start the packing list for China this morning...

Article 5!

After some agency nagging and fingernail chewing, we finally heard that our Article 5 has been picked up from the Consulate. It's theoretically supposed to take 2 weeks; it's been a month. At least we have it. It tells China that if they let us pick up Jed, the U.S. will let us bring him home.

Now the Article 5 gets sent to the main adoption office in China. They do whatever they need to do with it, including doublechecking that Jed is still in the orphanage and ready to be adopted. Then they give us Travel Approval, which is running approximately a month after Article 5. Then we schedule a Consulate Appointment in consultation with our agency, and then we will go to China! We're probably still at least 2 months away, but one more step down. I'm starting to collect things we'll need to pack.

Visa info is in Guangzhou

Got our letter yesterday informing us that Jed's visa information has been sent to the consulate in Guangzhou. Our agency will send some more paperwork, along with a copy of that letter, to Guangzhou, and then they will start working on his visa.

Once his visa is almost ready, they will issue an Article 5. That piece of paper will be sent to the CCAA and will start the process for travel approval. We should hear about our Article 5 in about 3 weeks.

I-800 APPROVED!

Provisionally. Apparently it doesn't get fully finalized until after we pick up Jed, and they still reserve the right to deny it, if you read the small print. But we've never heard of that happening. We were approved last Wednesday and got the notification letter in the mail yesterday.

Next step: USCIS has sent our I-800 to the National Visa Center, where they will begin processing paperwork for Jed's visa. They will send an official electronic communication to the US Consulate in Guangzhou so that they can open a file for him there. Recently the Consulate has begun requiring a copy of the notification letter that the NVC sends the family just to tell them something has been done on their behalf. This is DESPITE the fact that they already hold the official communication, and since the NVC letter is worthless in all other instances its arrival can be 4 days - 2 weeks after the official communication, slowing down the process AGAIN. Why did the Consulate add this ridiculous requirement? The adoptive parent community has been speculating for months (because the Consulate didn't offer any information with the abrupt change in policy). No one has ANY idea. Our government at work, people.

We should have an update on the NVC step in 2-3 weeks.

Visas have landed

We are now the proud possessors of three visas to visit China up to twice within the next six months. Here's hoping that twice won't be necessary, and that cutting it close won't even be a question.

Visas away!

Yesterday we Fedex'd out our visa applications. For reasons we do not understand, you cannot send your application directly to the Consulate. Someone must hand-carry it inside. Since we do not have time to drive down to NYC and hand-deliver our visa applications, we sent it to a courier who does this for a living.

They are not cheap. It'll cost almost $500 for our 3 visas, wow.

In other news, Gus is eagerly anticipating his brother's arrival. He asks me if tomorrow we will be going on our big trip to pick up his Jed. I tell him that it will be summer before we go (and possibly the end of summer, sigh!).

I-800 in the lockbox

We mailed out our I-800 (along with its accompanying verification paperwork) to the Dallas lockbox last Wednesday. It was picked up at 9:44 on Sunday night. Seriously? I'm delighted you picked it up, but it could have waited until Monday morning.

The I-800 will now be collated with the official version of the pre-approved I-800A and whatever else they have there, then sent to Missouri where our USCIS officer will review and approve it. Hopefully that will take about 2 weeks.

LOA!!!!!

Our Letter of Acceptance arrived from China today, day 89. It's been a long three months. This letter is the final approval from China for our son. Now we need the U.S. to process his visa, but barring unexpected acts of God he is our boy!

We were waiting for the LOA to talk with Gus about him, since the wait will still be around 3 months before we can travel. We told him that he had a little brother, that we would all be going on a big trip to get him and bring him home. He wanted to know if I would be sleeping in his room too, and we said no, just your little brother. He seemed pretty chill with it.

Now we will also share his name. He will be Josiah Junwei O'Donnell. And in keeping with the 3-letter nickname rule of the house (if you don't have a three-letter nickname, you can't get in, apparently), the names in this house will now consist of Jim, Reb, Gus, and Jed.

What happens next: another whole series of paperwork.

Tomorrow we stop by the agency to sign the LOA and have our I-800 proofread, then send it to USCIS. The I-800A (application to adopt A child) has been approved; the I-800 is the approval for THIS child.

Once that is approved, USCIS sends our file to the National Visa Center, which processes his visa papers. They will cable that information to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. However, the Consulate will not do anything until we send them a hard copy of the letter which the NVC sends to us confirming the paperwork. This is stupid and redundant, but unfortunately we can't fix that. The Consulate will review the paperwork and issue an Article 5, which goes to the Chinese government and then they issue a travel approval. Once we have that, our agency can schedule a Consulate Appointment and we schedule our travel around that. Travel in July sounds realistic, barring unusual paperwork holdups.

Please, if you haven't yet contacted your senators about the immunization issue, please do. Also, if you live in Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Vermont, or Indiana, your senators are cosponsors and may be able to push the vote to sooner rather than Christmas.

Call to Action Tuesday

I was hoping for LOA yesterday (a lot of them come on Mondays). Nope. We've now been waiting 75 days.

But in the meantime, there's something important we'd like to ask your help with.

Background: A few years ago, the US government approved the Hague Treaty that deals with international adoption. Our first adoption took place under the old rules, this adoption will take place under the new ones. In our last adoption, we signed a paper promising to get Gus's immunizations up to date as fast as reasonably possible, and we did. However, when the new legislation was typed up, a clerk accidentally left out the paragraph that allows for that to happen. OOOPS!!! But now it's US law. The result is that no child can come home under the new rules without being completely up to date on shots.

That means that after approximately a week with Little Dragon, just as he's starting to trust us, we will have to take him to the Embassy doctor and give him up to 8 shots in one day. That is BAD for a few reasons.

1) Attachment. Terrible! He will just be starting to trust us and then this happens. And then a few days later we will enclose him in a tube for 18 hours. Terrible.

2) Health. I am a big fan of immunizations (I am an immunologist, after all), but 8 shots in a day is too much stress for a little system. ESPECIALLY for a child with KNOWN special needs. ESPECIALLY for a child in less than the best of health (like one who has been in an institution). There was a recent case in which a little girl became very sick after her shots.

I am very concerned about Little Dragon's shots. I could apply for a medical waiver, but the Embassy has a history of not honoring them. I cannot apply for an exemption, because I would have to prove that I am categorically against shots (which I am not, just against shots done dangerously).

And to add insult to injury, several children have needed their shots redone anyway when they arrive home, because the shots given at the Embassy didn't "take".

I would like to have my child's immunizations performed under the supervision of the doctors we trust in the US, under a reasonable schedule. And there is a way. Unfortunately it will take an act of Congress! The Senate has finally cleared a bill through the Judiciary Committee and the State Department to deal with the typing oops. The bill is 1376, the International Adoption Simplification Act. But it is number 330 on their to-do list.

Please call your Senators today and ask them for quick and favorable resolution on this bill. Little Dragon would thank you.

Care Package Away!

We mailed out a care package to Little Dragon and his friends. You really can't have too many "personal" toys in an orphanage, so we just sent a couple of special objects for him and the rest is for sharing.

For sharing, we sent a bunch of warm hats, some pants and mittens that I made, a couple of soft toys, and a couple bags of dark chocolate.

For Little Dragon, we sent a ribbon-tagged blanket with dragons on one side (Jim slept with this for a few days), a stuffed panda bear with my perfume on it, and a baby picture book of his new family and room.

We've now been waiting 39 days for our LOA. The average for people in our situation is 77 days, but it doesn't stop me hoping that we'll be fast!

Update: care package was delivered at 11 a.m. on Saturday. We've now been waiting 45 days for our LOA.

Lotsa Shots

Yesterday we had an appointment at our (very) friendly neighborhood travel clinic. We got three shots each (typhoid, HepA, and Tdap), and a blood draw to check titers for HepB and MMR. You know you have a three-year-old when five minutes are happily spent counting the bandaids on your arm when you come home.

Next up, making an appointment at the children's travel clinic for Little Bear. I think he'll only need typhoid and H1N1.

Unfortunately, Little Dragon will also likely need shots before leaving China. It's a bad idea to require 8 or so shots into a small person only a few days before they get on a 12-hour flight (and I'm a pro-vaccine immunologist, so I'm not just being crazy here). It used to be that parents could promise to get their kids up-to-date on a reasonable immunization schedule, but then another rule changed and the kids (including those with medical needs) were swept up in the change too. A bill has been put forward to restore this exemption so that kids can be vaccinated on a more healthy schedule. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1376 If your Senator is on the Judiciary Committee, where this bill is bottled up, please email to ask for it to be moved forward. Thanks!

Update: Good thing we had that blood work done. Our HepB titers are fine (I've actually been wondering about that for a decade), but Jim's mumps (like the unfortunate 1500 people in NYC right now) needs boosting, so he gets to go back for yet another shot.

Update 2: Jim has been re-mumpsed. And Gus's appointment is scheduled for the beginning of April.

LID

Our application is now sitting in a pile on someone's desk in China. Our LID was 1/21/10. Now we wait for LOA, our final approval from China, which is taking an average of 90 days. In the meantime we have some forms to fill out and a care package to prepare. After we get our LOA there's a slow-motion flurry of forms from several US agencies and the consulate. Assuming no snags, we will probably be able to travel around 3 months after LOA, which puts us an estimated 6 months out from travel as of now.

We are DTC!

That's Dossier to China, as of Tuesday afternoon. All the US approvals etc. are finally on their way.

The next acronym we wait for is LID, for Logged In Date, which means we'll have been officially entered into China's system.

I-800A approval

Arrived in Monday's mail in the form of a very boring-looking letter called an I-797, with information about where to send the subsequent I-800 that is already out of date. However, our goverment was at work and has provisionally approved us to adopt a child from a country which is party to the Hague Convention on the Rights of the Child. Excellent! Once we get the final approval from China we file that I-800 which will approve us for our specific child.

What's important about the I-800A approval is that it's the final piece of paper needed for our dossier. So I took it to our agency yesterday afternoon, and they will doublecheck the whole paper stack and then send it to China.

Pre-approved

It looks like China thinks we'll do all right at this parenting thing. Today we got our pre-approval notice which is not unlike getting pre-approval on a mortgage. Assuming that our official dossier, once they receive it, matches the information we sent China in our Letter of Intent, China will let us adopt this young man.

Since we didn't lie in our dossier, that's good news for us!

Biometricated

Yesterday morning we went downtown to our friendly local USCIS franchise to get our fingerprints taken. We did this 3 years ago, and presumably the fingerprints haven't changed a whole lot since then, but what the hey. All told, it was probably the quickest interaction I've ever had with our federal bureaucracy. We were in and out of there in 15 minutes. I totally made it to my 9:00 meeting at work. Applying for my library card took longer than that.

So that's another hurdle out of the way. Now we wait for the governments to agree that we're fit parents.