Super Baby

Jasmine at Louis' play "Guys and Dolls"

November 7, 2007-Ottawa

Baby Jazz as we refer to her now has been up to some amazing tricks in the past couple of weeks. She has now been with us for three months, and her progress is incredible. When we met Jasmine in Guangzhou in August, she was quiet, and serious, and having some trouble sitting up.

Now she sits up, she crawls up on her knees, she claps her hands, she plays peek-a-boo behind the curtain beside her high chair. She eats by herself, she can hold her little bottle, she waves bye-bye, and she does her own version of Super Baby.

When Jasmine gets really excited, she gets a very funny expression of determination on her face, and she punches her fist in the air. We thought this was hilarious, she looks like Wonder Woman when she does this.

So every time she did it, I called "Super Baby", which she thought was really funny. And now she does super baby on command. Jazzy likes to imitate me, and Louis, and Pierre, so you just have to look down, way down when you are doing something, and quite often she will be doing the same thing.

I've been off work now for nearly four months, and I am having an incredible time. So much joy, I just want to savour every second.

One Month Together

Ottawa-September 9, 2007

It's 6:00 a.m. and I am awake, marvelling that baby Jasmine is still asleep. Today marks our first month together. All I can say is that we are still floating, thrilled that this child has come into our lives.

She's an amazing kid. She has lifted a cloud that hung over our lives for five long years.

She is sunshine.

To celebrate this auspicious day, the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, we are going for a walk in the Gatineau Hills. When we were in China, our guide Jenny told us that nine was the luckiest number to the Chinese people. I remember sitting on a tour bus with Jasmine on my lap as she told us to climb a mountain on September 9th, and to make a wish for our children.

My wish for Jasmine is that she will always share the incredible joy that she has brought to our lives. My wish for Louis is that he always chases his dreams, as he did with this one, and remember his wise words to me," to never give up."

Both kids are wonderful. Louis is back at school, growing into a handsome young man, interested in music and theatre and sports. When he is home he is a big help to me with the baby, feeding her, playing with her, and even changing the odd diaper.

Jasmine is really happy. She seemed quite serious to us when we were in China, but that side of her is falling away. She can't stop smiling.

I often think about the massive changes she's endured in her very first year of life. To most of us such upheaval would be daunting.

But she is getting so much of what every baby needs. Lots of hugs and kisses, and good food, and music, and fresh air, and cozy time with her family as we wrap her in a blanket of love and rock her to sleep.

She also needs to know with absolute certainty that she will always have a family to count on. That is why I am so happy to be home for the next nine months. Every day, in countless ways, we will tell her that we love her.

Before Jasmine came into our lives, Pierre and I would tell Louis that we were the three points of a triangle. Strong, and resilient, because we would always hold onto one another.

Now Jasmine has turned our family into a square. She needs to know that the three of us are in one of her corners.

I think she already knows this, she shows it by smiling the moment I walk into her room every morning. And by falling to sleep in our arms every night.

Babies are truly glorious.

Guest Appearance from Grandma Heather

We have been in Ottawa for a week with Baby Jas, she has changed from a dear little rather delicate baby to a real North American baby. She smiles, eats watermelon even the seeds if given a chance, reactes to visitors and is not the least shy or strange with new people. Sleeps thro the night and eats every thing on her plate. She of course is enjoying fresh air, good baby food and all the love that any baby should have. She will be christened while we are here and will wear a beautiful silk two piece red chinese jacket and pants which are typical of her country. We feel very privileged to be the grandparents of this beautiful baby and parents and in laws of this wonderful family.

Homecoming

Ottawa-Thursday August 23, 11:30 pm.

We wanted to introduce baby Jasmine to as many family members as we could as we travelled home to Canada. So we decided to fly through Vancouver, with a three hour lay-over, so she could meet her grand-parents on the Thompson side of the family and my brother Matthew.

We landed half an hour early. It took us no time at all to clear immigration, baby Jasmine was travelling on a Chinese passport, and needed a Canadian visa to come to Canada.

Once that was done, we had to check our luggage in at Air Canada.

My cell phone rang, it was my Mother.

"Where are you?" she asked. I described we were behind the glass at arrivals, and that if she moved up to our section of the glass I could show her the baby.

I pushed the stroller up to the window. My Mother was still on the phone, talking and walking, and then she saw Jasmine.

And we both started to cry.

"I love you Mum," I told her in the opening between the glass panels.

"She beautiful." my Mother said.

We finally got our bags through, got through the exit, and found my side of the family.

"This is the best day of my life," my Mother said. After five years of anguish, and grief, and hope, here was baby Jasmine.

We all sat down for lunch, it was delicious. Then Louis, Pierre, Jasmine, and I boarded the plane to Ottawa.

This time it was only a five hour flight. We were veterans.

We arrived right on time, 11:30 in the evening, to a big crowd at the Ottawa International Airport. There were pink and white helium balloons, Pierre's Mum was there, his aunts, cousins from Montreal, one of his student's and his family.

Pierre's Mother was there, Noella, who had taken care of both my children when they were small. I handed her baby Jasmine. I knew she felt the same way I did when I first got a chance to hold her.

Through the crowd I found Tonda MacCharles. She inspired me to make this trip. Two years ago she came to my house, just after I'd gotten out of the hospital after another failed attempt to have a baby.

She had recently brought home baby Li who was about 18 months old from China. "You've got to do this," she said. "It means no more heartbreak, only success."

She was right, I am so thrilled to be baby Jasmine's Mother.

Then there was Hannah Boudreau, another great friend, who has seen me through the worst and the best of the last few years.

"I'd like to ask you to be Jasmine's Godmother," I said.

More tears, and then...."It feels like you just asked me to marry you." Hannah said.

"No, it's easier than that. You just have to spoil her."

And then Aunty Patsy, my own Godmother was there. She too has been with me through some very dark moments. She wrote a letter of recommendation when we applied to adopt baby Jasmine.

Big hugs again.

There was a huge crowd, lots of laughing, and cheering, and picking up baby Jasmine.

When we got home the house was filled with pink and white ballons. There were balloons hanging from the Canadian flag outside. There were sandwiches, and coffee and cake. We had a party that lasted until 2:30 in the morning.

Jasmine ate rice cereal, and some milk. Louis opened presents. Pierre was beaming. I was surprised everyone had gone to so much effort during our absence.

Almost a year ago, a Chinese friend of mine said what touched him the most about Canadian families who adopt Chinese kids is the reception at the airports.

"There is always such a celebration when I fly in from Beijing and there are some adoptees on board," he said.

Now we've had our celebration.

Flight of Joy

Beijing-Thursday August 23.

All of the girls born in 2006 who lived at the Yangxi Social Welfare Institute have the same middle name, Zi, it means purple. "It's a noble colour, that's why I chose it," the orphanage director told us.

At the Forbidden City Jenny told us that "in imperial China, purple was the colour of heaven."

It has been a heavenly month, and as I leave this place I'm feeling a little blue, mixed with purple.

At breakfast in the morning, we made the rounds to all the tables. 14 Canadian families were in our group. What joined us all is our love of children. There was the 47 year old dentist who just wanted one more crack at motherhood after raising several children, there were young couples who had struggled with infertility, there were families who wanted to grow, and add a little sister, there was us.

We'd all pinned our hopes on China, and China came through.

We loaded up our luggage and made our way to the airport. Baby Jasmine was sitting on my lap, as our bus pulled out of the parking lot.

"We'll be back, I promise," I told her.

We got to the airport, it was predictably chaotic. People bumping into each other, bags loaded to the rafters, and me trying to push a stroller through it all. "Baby, baby!!!" I kept saying, hoping people might give baby Jasmine some space.

"That's my husband and my son!!!" I said to one customs officer who wanted Louis and Pierre to move farther down the line.

We got through, got the baby ticket, cleared customs, immigration and security, then we got to the gate.

"They took away my bulkhead seats!" Dave Watts said. He and his wife Lorrie were in our group, and we were dreading the 10 hour flight to Toronto.

"We'll try to sweet-talk the flight attendants," I told him.

We boarded Air Canada flight 030 from Beijing-Vancouver. Pierre, Louis, and I had three bulkhead seats, and baby Jasmine was moving from one lap to another.

I could hear Dave Watts pleading with the flight attendant, there were two seats across the aisle on both sides of us.

A few minutes later Dave sat down, to our left. A Chinese Mother and her 12 year old son, who was carring a violin, said they would exchange seats.

"That's worked out well," I said.

"Yeah, we were worried because the woman on your right refused," Dave said.

The woman was well-dressed, looked Canadian, and was wearing a lot of silver jewellery.

"Not to worry Dave," I said. "If Jasmine decides on projectile vomiting this evening, we'll point her towards the right."

We were all laughing. Dave works in computers at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. I said we should get the engineers at RMC to figure out the best way to get Jasmine to precision bomb the woman in bulkhead.

"I'll put the cadets on it," Dave said.

There were several families with Chinese babies on our flight. We all had different strategies. I fed baby Jasmine a bottle, and some cereal, and Pierre succeeded in singing her to sleep. The most divine 3 year old who was adopted by a woman in Moose Jaw coped by walking the aisles and making frequest trips to the bathroom. Everytime she passed by she'd talk to baby Jasmine.

"Ni de Ma, Ni de Ma!" the three year old kept repeating and smiling.

"Do you know what she's saying?" I asked her new Mum.

"Nope, we're still trying to figure it out."

And then there was Dave Watts and his wife Lorrie. Realizing that Chinese orphans like to sleep on hard surfaces, Dave unfolded his tray table. Place a pillow on it, and lay his infant daughter on top of the table.

"It works," he said. And he was right. His little girl hardly cried, neither did the others, on our long flight home to Canada.

"Chairman Mao was a very nice man."

Beijing-Tuesday August 21, 2007.

Part of the fun of adopting internationally, is getting to know your daughter's country. Jenny was our guide in Beijing. She is a wonderful woman. Not only did she run all the tours, she also took care of all of the children who were ill. For the first time parents she was a godsend, running up to rooms to teach parents how to change diapers, figure out the right mix for formula, or how to take a baby's temperature.

She also told us many stories about China. She took us one day to Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City, on another day we went to the Great Wall. On the bus rides on the way over, she gave us a brief description of recent Chinese political history.

"Chairman Mao made his famous speech about the People's Republic of China in 1949 from the balcony of the Forbidden City," Jenny said. "Chairman Mao was a very nice man. Although he made a few mistakes later on in life."

There was Chairman Mao's portrait hanging from that grand building. She told us they change the painting once a year to make sure it looks fresh. There's a lot of pollution in China. I told her we change the Canadian Flag once a day on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill because we don't want it ever to appear worn or ripped.

But that was it, no discussion of the cultural revolution, or Tiannamen Square, or anything else.

"Deng Xiao-Ping was a very short man," Jenny said. "But a very nice man. He started economic reforms in China."

She added, "Hu Jintao is a very nice man." He's the current President of China.

Jenny may have been brief on Chinese political history, but she had lots to say about Chinese culture. Her family got their first telephone in 1995.

"In the 1970s you were considered rich in China if you had a sewing machine, a bicycle, and a watch." Jenny said. "In the 1980s you were rich if you had a fridge, a television set, and a telephone. Now people are considered rich if they have an apartment, a car, and have one child."

Jenny has a child, an 18 month old boy, who she adores. She works very hard, but said in China they believe it takes six people to raise a child. She counted off the six people, "The Mother and Father, and grandparents on both sides of the family-SIX!" I thought to myself, what a wonderful tradition.

Then she explained why she never takes her jade bracelet off her left wrist. "My husband gave me this bracelet when my son was born," she said. "It means I am a Mother. I never take it off, even when I wash the dishes. It will become deeper in colour, as it gets older. I wear it on my left wrist, because it is closer to my heart. And our tradition is that you only take it off when your daughter marries, then you give it to her."

"Life is getting better, and happier in China." Jenny said. And the evidence of the prosperity she described was all around us. After a month in China, I have to say I love this country. The beauty of the countryside, the generosity of the grannies, the hope for a better life in the cities, and of course the best of all---Jasmine Yang Xi Zi Wan Boulet, a dream baby. She is hope, she is healing, she is pure joy.

"You haven't done this for awhile."

Beijing-Monday August 20th.

We flew from Guangzhou to Beijing because baby Jasmine had to jump a few hurdles before the Canadian Government would give her a visa to enter our country. Her biggest hurdle was a medical exam at the SOS clinic in Beijing. We had to get her ready for 8:00 am on Monday morning. So I dressed her in her best outfit, a little red sailor suit, that matches her Canadian visa photo. We went down for breakfast, and at 7:55 am she promptly spat up on herself, and on her adoring Mother. I took her upstairs to get her dressed...AGAIN...held up the bus, and finally made it to the clinic.

At the SOS clinic we met Dr. Lucy Chen, a lovely woman who had a medical degree from McGill University framed on her office wall. It was a comfort to meet a Doctor from Canada, who had grown up in our hometown. Dr. Chen was married to a fellow Chinese-Canadian, and after graduating from McGill they decided to try to make a go of it in China. Her husband is a lawyer and they have two children, a son who is a bit younger than Louis, and a daughter.

Dr. Chen showed me photos of her family. "What beautiful children," I said. "They are 10 years apart," said Dr. Chen," we adopted our little girl."

With that I squeezed her hand.

She started to look at Jasmine. "She's a very robust little girl," she said. "The strongest child I've seen from the orphanage this morning."

Baby Jasmine likes to eat, we've known that from the moment we got her. We are very lucky, because her height matches her weight, she shows no signs of malnutrition. But the best news came next.

Dr. Chen rang a bell on the left side of Jasmine's head, then used a squeeky toy on the right. Jasmine followed the sounds from left to right. She sat up straight. She smiled. She gurgled.

"Does she crawl?" Dr. Chen asked. "Louis taught her this week," I said. Louis had put her on the hotel floor, and put her favourite toys across the room. She loves her pacifier, and she sped across the carpet to get it.

"She's developmentally on target," Dr. Chen declared. "All the kids are strong, this orphanage may not have been able to spend enough time with the fussy eaters," she said. "But all of the kids are physically strong, that's a good sign from any child that is institutionalized."

Then Dr. Chen began to undress Jasmine, and she started to laugh. "Her diaper is on backwards," she said. " I guess you haven't done this for awhile."

The Orphanage

Yesterday we were invited to visit the orphanage where baby Jasmine lived for the first nine months of her life. It's called the Yangxi Social Welfare Institute, and it is about three hours west of Guangzhou in the countryside.

It was a very emotional trip.

Jasmine comes from the town of Yangxi. It's pretty small by Chinese standards, there are about 50,000 people who live there. But our translator, Connie, told us there are about half a million people who live in the county.

Yangxi county is very beautiful. And very different from the big city of Guangzhou. Yangxi is filled with mountains, and rivers, and rice patties, and rural living. It's very close to the South China Sea, so the main occupations are fishing, and farming.

Jasmine stayed back at the hotel with Pierre because it would have been a very long bus ride for her, and we want her to be strong for all the travel coming up to Beijing and then Canada.

So Louis and I went, along with several other families in our group.

We got to the orphanage at about lunch time. I was surprised to see a very modern building, with a nice garden in front. We met Mrs. Qin who is the director of the facility. We knew we were lucky to visit, because it's rare to get a glimpse inside any orphanage, anywhere.

Upstairs was the "baby room", there were about 30 children there, all under the age of 12 months. Nap time had just begun, and there were three nannies there to care for all the children. They showed us what was Jasmine's crib. It was clean, but very sparse. There was no mattress, just a wooden board to sleep on. The bars on the crib were made of steel. Each child had a receiving blanket to hold onto, which explains why she always needs one now, it really is her security blanket.

The babies were in good shape, well fed. But what struck me was how colorless the room was. It was white, with a beige floor. There was no artwork, no toys in sight, no music, and the nannies obviously were running non-stop to care for them. It appeared that the kids spent most of their time in their cribs. There were several allowed down on the floor to crawl. The orphanage director said the kids favourite time of day was when they were put outside on the veranda in baby chairs, and they could all get some fresh air.

Some of the kids were adorable. One little girl with a very runny nose, just couldn't stop smiling. But Connie pointed out one little girl who was very tiny, but was walking. The little girl had been rejected by an adoptive family a couple of months before because they felt she was too small. Now she was walking, and Connie said the chances of her finding a home were slim because she was over 12 months old.

The room answered many questions for me. It explained why Jasmine needs a blanket. It explains why she is very social, because each crib is right up against the next one, so the kids biggest entertainment is each other. It explained why she needs to be held all the time. She's making up for lost time.

It also explains why the past week has been a big transition for her. Suddenly she has people doting on her all the time. Now there are colours in her life, a stroller, walks outside in streets packed with people. She's had Pierre singing to her, she's had her first real bath. Talk about stimulation!

The other message that came through loud and clear is that it will become increasingly difficult to adopt children from China.

The orphanage director said the Chinese Government wants to look after it's own kids. They are now encouraging Chinese families to adopt domestically. Chinese couples can adopt a child within two to three months, they are allowed to visit the orphanages and choose their child. Canadians are now waiting two to three years, and are matched with a child by the Chinese Centre of Adoption Affairs.

And the "one child policy" is becoming much more flexible. In the countryside, people can have two children. In the city an emerging middle-class is having more than one child, because they are wealthy enough to pay a "penalty" to the Chinese Government. And this year the Government passed a new law to pay pensions to families who have two girls. The pension plan is to encourage families to hold onto their girls. Historically boys have carried on the family name, and taken care of their parent's when they reach retirement. The pension plan has had a dramatic affect, the orphanage director says this year far fewer girls were abandoned.

The orphanage director said the main reason why children are still being abandoned is poverty, and the social stigma that surrounds being a "single mother" in rural China.

Most babies are given up within days of their birth. After lunch they showed us where our kids had been left. They really are sisters. All were found within a 10 block radius of the orphanage. Some were found outside the gate of the orphanage, one was outside a nightclub, there were twins in our group found under a tree in a public market, one was outside a restaurant, one was found outside the main entrance of a modern housing complex. Jasmine was found at the east entrance of the most beautiful public park in the middle of the city.

In most cases, the orphanage director says the kids are wrapped in a blanket, and left in a very public place. Because she says the Mother's want the kids to be found within minutes. We asked her if one day the children might be able to find their biological Mothers. She said at the moment it would be impossible, because unlike Canada, the Chinese Government still enforces strict confidentiality around adoptions.

But she also said, one can never know the future. I know it would be possible, because the documentation that both Canada and China holds on baby Jasmine would make it very easy to re-connect. I hope one day it will happen.

Bananas

When baby Jasmine was handed to us by her nanny from the Yangxi Social Welfare Institute last week they told us, "Chinese babies like formula mixed with rice cereal. And Chinese babies like their food quite hot. No cold food for Chinese babies."

All of the parents dutifully marked this down. We were also told that, "Chinese babies like to have their tummies covered with blankets when the sleep."

Got it.

So for the past week, I've been following the instructions. Three scoops of rice cereal, three scoops of formula, mixed with warm water, and voila, a dinner fit for baby Jasmine. It's quite a thick mix, but she really does like it.

This morning I thought she might like something a little different. So we gave her mashed bananas with congee. Congee is Chinese porridge, it's warm, with a bit of oatmeal mixed in. Baby Jasmine thought this stuff was amazing, especially when I mixed some bananas in with it.

We've been living in a very fancy hotel for a week, and I thought today I would try to bring some routine back into her life. Up for breakfast, a bit of banana congee, dressed, and out for a walk around Guangzhou.

We had a really good walk. She is a very cute baby, so she inspires lots of attention. She was in the stroller as I pushed her near the Pearl River today, when a Chinese Granny wanted a peek.

She stroked her face, then picked her up. And began showing her to all of her friends. She asked how old she was. I explained she was 8 months old. She gave her a hug. She wanted to know more, so I pulled out my handy, dandy, English/Chinese explanation card.

The cards say in Chinese Characters and English that baby Jasmine is a Chinese orphan from Yangxi, that she is an 8 month old baby girl. That I am from Canada. That I adopted her, and that now we are her parents. And that we are very happy.

The woman read this, closely, she looked at me, and held my hand squeezed it and smiled.

Then she explained this to all of her friends. They had quite a discussion about this. They were all chatting around the baby. They held her, and hugged her. Then the older woman helped me push the stroller.

After a few minutes, I motioned that I was going up another street. She waved good-bye. I walked about half a block, when the Chinese Granny was back. She handed me a small bunch of bananas for baby Jasmine.

We'll have to have some bananas for dinner tonight.

Runny Noses

With all the euphoria, baby Jasmine has come down with a runny nose. Several kids in our group have been sick in the past couple of days. So it has been off to the hospital to see doctors, getting prescriptions filled, apparently children often get upper respiratory tract infections in the summer months in China's orphanages.

So we've been taking it easy. Not straying too far away from the hotel. But we did get baby Jasmine's passport application in today. We visited a very modern police office to have her photograph registered in a national databank.

We are hoping to make it out on one of the many excursions that Children's Bridge, the adoption agency has organized for our group. Tomorrow it's the zoo in Guangzhou. If baby Jasmine is feeling better, we are hoping to take part in the outing.

She is a very sweet little girl, even when she's feeling a little under the weather. More on the zoo tomorrow.

Got a smile today!!!

A short note to everyone to say we are doing really well. We were back at the Chinese Office of Social Affairs today, to complete the final paperwork to legally adopt baby Jasmine Zi Wan. All of the families gathered once again with their children for an interview with an official from the department about why we want to adopt the children, and then a second interview with a notary to formalize the adoption.

When we passed the exam, I handed a pin to the notary-public, with a little China and Canada flag intertwined. We shook hands, and got a photograph with him. His country, his government, and his signature have brought so much joy to our lives.

All of this took place in a beautiful office, with lovely children's toys and posters around the room. One of the nannies from the orphanage had stayed overnight to check on the children this morning at the government office.

As she walked through the room, she touched each child, and spoke to them. Without exception all of the children smiled, they obviously adore this woman. She felt their foreheads to make sure they weren't running a fever. For the few who had a runny nose she spent time with the parents to re-assure them, and made sure the translators had her best advice and instructions.

I feel very fortunate to be picking up the torch from these dedicated women. The kids are in very good health, some are crawling, all are grabbing toys, they've been very well cared for. It was really wonderful to see how much the kids loved this nanny.

After all the paperwork was done, it was back to the hotel for some down-time. We took it pretty easy. It's been an action packed couple of days, and it was time for little Jasmine to settle in.

Yesterday she was poised, wide-eyed, and pretty much speechless. Today she gurgled, and blew bubbles, cooed, giggled, and laughed.

Wow...what a baby.

She's a miracle

It's 10:00 pm and baby Yang Xi Zi Wan is asleep. Pierre hasn't lost his touch. She just finished her second bottle when Pierre wrapped her in a blanket and sang french lullabies. He has a beautiful voice, it's always worked wonders in the past, it worked tonight too.

After a few quiet kisses she fell right to sleep.

Jasmine Zi Wan is perfect. She's a miracle. She's very beautiful, and I can hardly believe she's really here.

She's right beside me now in her crib and I can't take my eyes off of her.

It's been a truly wonderful day. At 2:00 this afternoon we went to the lobby of the hotel, all of the Canadian families were gathered there. All of us excited, all of us armed with diaper bags, and bottles, and passports, and important paper work for the Chinese office of Civil Affairs.

Louis, Pierre and I hopped on the bus, with all the other Canadian families. One mum from Toronto had made the most adorable bibs, with "Gotcha Day, August 9, 2007" embroidered on each one. Her husband handed one to each of us, what a wonderful gesture!

These 15 girls will always be known as the Yangxi girls, because they all came from the Yangxi Social Welfare Institute, an orphanage that is about 3 hours west of Guangzhou.

We got off the bus, went up to the ninth floor. Our guides explained that the babies would be brought out to meet us one by one. We were all in a big room together. And then they said that Yang Xi Zi Wan would come first.

They called her name..."Yang Xi Zi Wan."

"That's us," I said to Pierre.

A nanny was holding her. We approached her, her eyes were so wide, she looked very content.

"She's a baby buddha," said one Dad. She was wearing a short sleeved outfit with orange trim, with pink and orange flowers on it, and the words, "Smart Baby" written on the fabric.

"Of course she's a smart baby, she's ours!" said Pierre.

On her back was a sticker, with her name in English and Chinese Characters. But there was no way to mistake her.

She looks just like her photo, bright eyes, a rosebud mouth, and a spray of dark hair. She has lovely round cheeks, and has obviously received excellent care from her nannies at the orphanage.

We handed her to Louis. A big brother again, what an incredible feeling.

I kept saying,"Hello Zi Wan, Ni hao Zi Wan, what a beautiful girl."

She held my finger, she grabbed her rattle, she looked peaceful.

Louis held her for a while, then I took her in my arms, and felt pure joy. There is nothing like feeling the weight of a baby.

Everyone was laughing and crying and taking pictures. It was absolutely fantastic. I held her while Pierre went in to finish up the paperwork. The nannies hovered around, with good advice for all the parents in the room.

One nanny in the room said Zi Wan was a little warm, and she pointed to the air conditioner on the ceiling and gestured to me stand underneath it for awhile. The baby perked up a little more, she's very alert, and really likes grabbing onto everything.

About an hour and a half later we were all whisked back to the hotel, for a little more paperwork. But this time the paperwork was tonnes of fun, because I had a nine month old baby sitting on my lap, grabbing my bracelet, and discovering the wonders of a pacifier.

She's had her first bath, her first bed time story, and her first lullaby tonight.

Oh goody, she just woke up. I get to rock her for awhile. She can get up anytime she likes, because there's nothing more beautiful than helping a child feel safe, and loved, and secure in this world.

There is nothing like holding a baby.

The Crib has arrived

It's 8:30 am Guangzhou time, and the boys are still asleep. But I am awake because today is the day we meet baby Yang Xi Zi Wan, our nine month old baby girl. It's a very exciting day.

I love days like this, they are the big ones. Like the day we got married, and the days when we had Louis and Max.

It's a day to hold on tight, and go for the ride because it's going to be filled with joy and tears and a lot of love.

When the hotel staff rolled the crib into the room yesterday afternoon I lost it. But now it's filled with toys from my parents and friends. A hand-made blanket from Deb. A huge group of people are very excited about her arrival.

Pierre and Louis are up now, we have had our morning hugs. Pierre is making Jasmine tea, and Louis is getting ready to be the best big brother any little girl could wish for.

Keep you posted...2:30 pm Guangzhou time is our appointment at the Department of Civil Affairs. That's 2:30 am Eastern.

Playing Charades

Every Christmas my family plays charades after the holiday feast. This skill has come in very handy in China, because our Mandarin is very rudimentary. And while we find the Chinese people fascinating, it appears they are equally intrigued by us.

When we stepped off the boat in Yangshuo a couple of days ago, we were greeted by a chorus of, "Hallo, Hallo, Hallo, Hallo!!!"

The pier in this river village leads directly into a colourful outdoor market.

"Do you want a fan?" one woman asked. "A scarf? A flute? A hat?" said another.
"Do you need a room?" asked one man. "Do you need a guide?" asked a young woman.
"Do you want to rent a bike?" a young man said as he motioned to a rack filled with bicycles.

"Beautiful boy," smiled one older woman, pointing at Louis.

"Successful man," one man said to Pierre. "A wife, a son. Do you want postcards?"

We smiled, we laughed. We said,"no thanks", over and over and over again.

This is China too. A country making up for lost time. A country that's kicked into capitalism. Everyone is out to make a living, a free market economy has arrived, big time.

It's funny, it's joyful, sometimes it's a bit annoying. Especially when you are just trying to have a quiet dinner, and people keep arriving at your table.

At dinner I said to Pierre, "we've got to realize that we look like walking ATM's to everyone here, with cameras slung around our necks, trying to figure out where we are going, and what a dollar is worth."

No wonder the Chinese want to talk to us, we've got Canadian flags stitched on our backpacks, they must know the loonie is soaring these days.

After dinner we decided to take a quiet walk along the river. All the locals were going for a swim. It was a beautiful evening, a small waterfall was splashing into the river, a pretty pagoda looked like a good perch to soak it all in.

"Do you want to see the Cormorant fisherman?" a woman asked.

"No," said Pierre,"we've seen the cormorant fisherman. They are fantastic. The greatest show we've ever seen! WE LOVED THEM." Then he grabbed his neck, started to gag, opened his mouth, and pretended he was pulling a huge fish out.

The woman collapsed in laughter. So did we. Chinese Charades in Yangshuo. It's a great game, especially when Pierre is playing.

Huckleberry Finn on the Li River

Huck Finn loved to explore the Mississippi river by raft. We decided to try our luck at adventure by booking three spots on a riverboat that floated down the Li River between Guilin and Yangshuo in Guangxi Province, just north-west of Guangzhou.

This is one of the most beautiful corners of China. The Li River has inspired poets, and romantics for generations. It runs through a chain of limestone mountains, and it is still pretty wild out here. We saw water buffalo swimming to escape the summer heat. And we saw something that Huck Finn never saw, the famous Cormorant Fishermen.

For those of you who love Venice, because of the gondoliers, China has something better. The fishermen here have built bamboo rafts. They are sturdy, no doubt rather tippy, but I never saw anyone fall off of one.

They've also invented a rather ingenious way to fish. Rather than cast their lines into the water, they've usually got a team of cormorants lined up on their bamboo rafts.

The birds are tied to the raft by a string that is knotted around their legs. They've also got a collar around their necks so they can't swallow the fish. When the birds fly into the water to catch a fish their masters pull them back to the raft, open their beaks, and voila...DINNER.
Chinese fishermen have caught their fish this way for generations, and they still do.

And that's what is so remarkable about rural China. This country may be rising in the cities, but life in the countryside appears largely unchanged. It's not an easy life.

The Li River mountains are covered with cedar trees, the riverbanks are lined by bamboo, but every inch of the river valley is cultivated. The rice harvest is on right now, and what is surprising is that much of this work still happens by hand.

We saw many groups of men and women wearing their traditional straw hats working the land themselves, hunched over in the fields picking the rice. Men pull their own carts. Women carried large straw baskets filled with melons, or vegetables, hanging from poles balanced across their shoulders. They walked into the market. We didn't see a single air-conditioned tractor.

It was a real eye-opener for all of us, especially for Louis. Because it showed us all what life is like for millions of people living in rural China.

But what's amazing is what was happening just a few kilometres down river in Yangshuo.

Yangshuo is an absolutely gorgeous river village. There are stone streets here, and people in straw hats, and little canals, with old stone bridges, and pretty pagodas. There are mountains all around, clean air, not too many people, fish in the river, places to escape.

In the afternoon, when it gets really hot, the people of Yangshuo head to the park. It is heavenly here. There's a lake filled with pink lotus flowers, and weeping willows all around it. Men were sitting on the edge of the lake fishing.

We walked along the paths which were as beautiful as the prettiest country roads in France. Every road lined on both sides with trees, everyone on bikes, it was breath-taking.

There were couples sitting on park benches, grannies walking their grand-children in strollers, and just about everyone else was sitting around tables playing games. Some were playing Chinese Chess, or Dominoes or Cards.

It was so beautiful, it made me very proud to be adopting a child from China.

But how to keep this incredible culture alive in Jasmine? Pierre and I have straddled two languages and cultures while raising Louis. Now we are about to embrace a third. And what a culture!!!

We are China newbies, we took Mandarin classes to prepare for this adoption. But we've found sign language works best here.

Lorna's Kitchen

It's Thursday, which means we have seven days to go before Baby Zi Wan officially lands in our collective lap. So what's a Mum going to do to prepare? We've been shopping. She's got everything an 8 month old baby could ever need.

But I thought what she really needs are the smells and tastes of home cooking. We know she won't be eating table food for several months, but we want her to feel at home when she lands in Canada.

So I'm taking cooking lessons.

Those of you who know me are probably going to have to lift yourselves off the floor right now. After 20 years as a journalist, 17 years as a wife, and 12 years as a mother, Pierre would say that cooking hasn't been one of my forte's. His favourite stories include the one about the concrete flan, and the volcanic chile con carne.

But anything's possible, and so with nine months of maternity leave staring me in the face, I'm getting busy in Lorna's kitchen.

Lorna works for our friends Martin and Jill in Hong Kong. She's from the Phillipinnes and she's cooked for the legal set, the embassy set, and for the Chinese movie set. Lorna tells me she's cooked for Chow Yun-Fat, the gorgeous film star in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and most recently in "Pirates of the Carribean."

So here's what I learned yesterday: Lorna's Sweet and Sour Pork.

1. Cut up pork in small strips. Marinate for one hour in soy sauce, pepper, red wine and half a scrambled egg. (add cornstarch just before cooking)

2. Cut up veggies: red pepper, greeen pepper, pineapple, white onion, sliced ginger, and garlic.

3. Make sauce in separate bowl: 1/4 cup of sugar (one part), one part water, one part white vinegar, a little less soy sauce, one part or less of ketchup. Add cornstarch (less than a tablespoon)

4. Heat corn oil in wok. Mix cornstarch with the pork. And stir fry pork until well done. Put cooked pork in a strainer over a bowl.

5. Wipe out wok, add a bit more oil, and stir fry onions, garlic, and ginger first. then add green and red peppers and pineapple with the rest.

6. Add sauce to the veggies and cook.

7. Pour into a serving bowl, stir in strained pork. Add spring onions on top as a garnish. It's ready to serve.

Yum Yum Yum. Very good. I've got more recipes, but they will remain a Rosemary/Lorna secret until you come over to my house for dinner some night.

Pirates of the South China Sea

So while everyone knows this trip is about "bringing home baby", we also have a few days of diaper-free travel while we wait to meet Jasmine on August 9th. So yesterday we decided to hop a ferry to Lantau Island.

Ferry's are like buses in Hong Kong. And when they hit the harbour they compete with massive container ships, military destroyers, water taxis, hovercrafts, sailboats, tug boats, chinese junks, and my personal favourite, the garbage boats. Yesterday as we were pulling out of Pier 2, there was a man bobbing from the forward deck of his wooden boat, holding a long pole, equipped with a fishing net, scooping garbage out of the harbour.

It's Hong Kong's version of the 401.

Lantau Island is about 40 minutes away from the city. The island is larger than Hong Kong, but comparatively few people live there. There's still real jungle out here, and big mountains, and clean air, you can imagine what Hong Kong was like when the British set up shop here over a 100 years ago.

So we did what Canadians love to do, we went for a walk in the woods. It was quiet, and gorgeous, and lush. There were lots of birds, and tonnes of butterflies, and the biggest Buddha in the world, if you feel like hanging out with the rest of the tourist population. But what was really fun, was walking through the jungle paths, that were really well marked. It was like a walk in the Gatineau's, except the scenery was way more spectacular.

When we got home we settled in for another Canadian tradition, movie night, with a Hong Kong DVD. Beware of the bargains in this department. What looked like an early release of Mr. Bean, turned into a pirated Russian version of the movie with really bad English sub-titles. Mr. Bean was Mr. Boon.

You get the picture. Louis said, "Mum don't worry, Mr. Bean hardly talks anyhow. We'll figure it out."

Ay Matey...we're the dvd pirates of the South China Sea.

Tea in Hong Kong. July 28, 2007

We arrived in Hong Kong nearly a week ago, to visit our dear friends Jill Oviatt and Martin Tremblay. They live perched high above the city, in a condo that stretches 30 stories towards the sky. The buildings here are as big as China's ambition, the booming economy is evident in the landscape, in the fashion, in the youth and relentless pace of the people.

But you can escape the hustle and bustle. We tried to do it a couple of days ago when we visited two buddhist temples. One was hilarious, it's in the suburb of Sha Tin, and houses 10,000 Buddhas (well it is more like 12,000 as they keep adding them). When you arrive at the base of the mountain, where a small yellow sign marks the entrance, you know you are in for a show. Life-sized golden monks line the mountain path to the temple. Some are sitting on frogs, others reading books, many had wild expressions. Then on top of the mountain there was a temple that housed 10,000 small buddhist figurines, and the remains of the monk who founded the temple, covered in gold leaf!!! Wild.

We said a little prayer for Jasmine, and thought about how much she'd get a kick out of this place.

Then we found our friends back in Hong Kong and visited the oldest buddhist/Tao temple in the city, called the Man Mo temple. It was dark inside, with large coils of incense suspended from the ceiling. The smell was intoxicating, many people were praying for their ancestors.

Here we said a prayer for Max.

Louis went into the gift shop beside the temple, while Pierre and I sat outside in the sunshine. He arrived with two red envelopes, covered in Chinese characters. Inside were small necklaces shaped like jade tablets, hanging from red pieces of string. The characters read,"A great Father", for Pierre, and "A great Mother" for me. What a great kid.

We needed some tea. And walked across Hollywood Road to a small tea house, the Cha Yuen Fong Tea Room. It was beautiful inside, small, with dark wood furniture. An older woman sat at the back of the shop and beckoned us to sit down. She began heating the water, cleaning the tiny ceramic cups, steeping the small pot of tea. She poured it, just a few sips for each of us.

"It's Jasmine," I said to her. She nodded yes. We had a tiny sip and asked if we could try something else.

She rinsed out our cups, swirling hot water in each, and then began steeping more tea in another pot. It smelled fragrant. She poured a little into each of our cups.

"Mmm, what is this? It's lovely," I asked. The old woman said, "It's rose tea."

Jasmine and Rose. I looked at the boys, we were all surprised. To me it was a sign, that Jasmine was meant to be with our family.

Jasmine Zi Wan (Zee One for the Boulet family)

June 25, 2007

It's Monday morning, sitting in my office overlooking Parliament Hill, it's a cloudy day, and as always my thoughts keep drifting far, far away. What is she doing today? Is she happy, is it hot, did she go outside, did her nanny pick her up? Does she like her crib-mate, did she get to go outside and play?

Two weeks ago our family was matched with a little girl from China. Her name is Yang Xi Zi Wan. We're going to name her Jasmine Zi Wan. From the moment my husband opened the envelope containing her photographs it was love at first sight.

She's seven months old and she's very beautiful. She has very bright eyes, and a rosebud mouth. She doesn't have much hair, the match-maker at the China Centre for Adoption Affairs couldn't have known I adore bald babies. Her medical report says she loves "merry music" that she's "restless and active." She was born on October 26, 2006, and is currently living at the Yang Xi Social Welfare Institute in Guangdong Province.

We've poured over the characters in her name. My eldest son Louis-Alexandre pulled out the Mandarin-English dictionary. Her name Zi definately means purple. At first we thought her second name, Wan, meant aster, but upon closer inspection have discovered it means Grace.

We'll just have to make sure she grows up in a graceful garden, filled with purple asters and jasmine.

Oh and by the way, one of her photographs pictures her sitting in a red chair in front of a background of butterflies. That photograph really meant a great deal to me, because butterflies have long been my personal symbol of hope.