Lula Grace

Six Months

Fu is the word. She's got groove, she's got meaning.

"Gao Fu Le, female, was born on January 23, 2005. On January 24, 2005, Nie Fen Tian, an employee of the Gao'an City Grain Administration, found the baby abandoned at the gate of the Gao'an City Movie Theater on his way to the vegetable market on Nan Street in the morning." And so the report started, the report that greeted us this afternoon upon our arrival home from work. At last, more info on our Fu! Gather 'round folks, I'm only gonna type this once. Fu Le was found with a note indicating she was born on December 14, 2004 (Chinese lunar calendar) at 1:15 pm. After the police were notified, she was taken to the orphanage to be cared for. On that first day she weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 17.3 inches long. Her physical exam was perfectly normal and she was declared a healthy baby girl. She currently resides in a foster home and is visited regularly by the orphanage staff. She adapted to her new home quickly and currently follows a regular routine. She eats five meals a day and finishes all her food at one time. She gets loud and fussy when she's hungry and eats quickly. She wakes at 5:00 am and naps twice daily, two hours each. When put to bed at 10:00 pm, she falls asleep naturally and sleeps soundly. The orphanage director who completed the report describes her as having fair skin, delicate facial features, spirited eyes, and a delicate stature. Her hands and feet are strong and she enjoys outdoor activities. She especially likes to sit in the warm sunshine and bounces nonstop when she hears music with strong rhythms. She is further described as extroverted and eager to interact. She is happy to talk to people, listens very attentively and responds with "ah ah" sounds. She likes to smile and her loud laughter is always heard in her caretaker's home. There's more about immunizations and toileting but I'll spare y'all. Peace, love, and Fu Le.

"Pfft, that's no reason to block the TV."

An associate of mine recently informed me of a "fact" of which I was previously unaware. Seems the reason so many people adopt children from China is because the process is so easy. Easy?  Easier than some things, yes, but easy?  Easy would be finishing all your Jello or falling asleep while reading in bed. What was this guy smoking? Upon further reflection (or was it the beer?), it occurred to me that my associate was not unlike so many of us who have very little personal experience with adoption. Sure, we all know someone (or at least read of them in People or Us magazines!) who adopted a child or who themselves were adopted, but what beyond that? In the beginning of our own adoption experience, while Chris and I had a list of all the actions and documents required, we had absolutely no concept of the amount of labor this would entail (and there sits an embarrassingly obvious metaphor for parenting in general, I'm sure). Some folks have asked us what the adoption process involves. After watching many of their eyes loose focus only halfway through our tale, I've subsequently learned to answer these queries by stating simply, "paper work". Oddly, this seems to satisfy the curiosity of some. For those among you who continue to wonder, I've attached this timeline.doc. Having now had time to reflect upon this process, I'm certain we'd complete it again ten times over (and truly, how would this even touch what we imagine our daughter will go through, what her take on this will be?) so that we may become a family of three. After jumping through the many hoops and facing the bureaucratic scrutiny of multiple agencies, it's quite humbling (and just a little bizarre) for someone to hand you a child, thus seemingly confirming your suitability or worth. Will our daughter agree? In any case, if ever there comes a time I find myself getting too sentimental over all the work we've completed, I need only remind myself of all the post-adoption paper work yet to come.

Later edited: I think what bothered me most about my associates comment at the time, and what I wanted to articulate but did so poorly, was the notion that our daughter was less 'valued' by this individual because she was so 'easily obtained', seen not as a child but reduced to a commodity. I'm quite certain this idea was not intended by my associate and only imagined by a psycho me. By posting the timeline as I did, I think I was trying to prove how very 'valued' she was to us, even then when only an abstract, a child whom we'd not yet met but whom I think we already loved. As if a long list of required actions somehow proved this.

NASA Celebrates Launch of Fu-1 Observatory

Early images confirm, "It's a girl!".

I always preferred multiple choice.

It's hardly official, however, this document.jpg puts us one step closer. After China receives our "acceptance", we wait.  We wait for travel approval, we wait for travel visas, and we wait for appointments with Chinese officials and with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou.  I like saying that, sounds so diplomatic.  "Hello, my name is Candy.  I have a 9:00 appointment at the U.S. Consulate today.  Are you gonna eat that?"  The wait is not so bad.  We've had practice and we're actually getting quite good at it.  Never any shortage of projects around the house.  Only difference now is that finishing said projects has become a priority.