Medical Exam

Today, we met up with three new adoptive families from our agency (two from Texas and one from Minnesota) and made our way, via bus, to the International Travel Clinic. This facility has a special section just for adoptive families. When we walked into this high-rise building, I was struck by how pretty and open the ground floor was...and empty! Next to the information desk was this vending machine...with full-sized bottles of wine. I found this unique and decided to take a picture of it...then immediately got yelled at by security. Really? I'm not sure what national security was at risk, here, but I politely put my camera away and apologized.

We rode up the elevator and the doors opened to a jam-packed clinic. Literally, wall-to-wall adoptive families and their children. It was hot and a complete mad-house. So, I also found it odd that there were large TV cameras and boom mikes extending over the crowd. Kai and I patiently waited through several lines: one for height and weight, one for ear, nose, and throat, one for general exam, and one for lab work and immunizations. As we approached the front of one of the lines, I could see the the subjects of the film crew. It was the stars of the TLC show, "The Little Couple." Turns out, they have adopted a little Chinese boy and he was a real cutie! The stars were super nice and made a point to wait their turn like everyone else, introducing themselves to the other parents...just like we all do. It was pretty cool! I did get a couple of shots of them (and no one yelled at me).

Kai did great on all of his exams and appears to be a very health boy. At this facility, the nurses stand at the door for the lab and take your child from you, then bring them back to the parents screaming, with band-aids and a couple of pieces of candy. My tough little dude came back to me without a single tear...just happy to have candy! I was so proud. While I was told to bring the operative report from the orphanage, no one would look at it, so it looks like I will have to see about getting it translated another way.

When we got back to the hotel, Jay was ready for a break from school, so we took the other families to our new favorite noodle shop. It was here that we discovered that Kai can use chopsticks pretty well!

We are now back in the room. Kai is down for a much-needed nap and I am fading fast. Last night, Jay and I made a cup of coffee around 7 p.m. in an effort to stay up late enough to Skype with the boys when they woke up, back home. Jay was asleep 30 minutes after he drank his coffee! I, on the other hand, was awake until 10 p.m...a new record for me on this trip. Since I did not want to wake everyone else, up, I ended up just texting with Campbell for about 45 minutes before I fell asleep. Naturally, Jay was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed by 0300...therefore, so was I:-) We did have a break-through this morning. I told Kai to stay with Baba and I would be back. While he was not happy, he did not cry!

Tomorrow, we will visit the Chen Family Temple and the Pearl Market. Here's to a good night's sleep tonight!