Hurray!!!! New I-171H Approval!!!

After months of frustration, the US-CIS came through late in the day today. We have our new approval from the U.S. federal government. Our visas from the Chinese consulate came through at the start of this week, and yesterday our agency (Barker) received our travel approvals from CCAA in Beijing. That's it. We have all our approvals now in hand, and are authorized to travel. Hurray!!!!

Barker has put in requests for appointments with the American Embassy/Consulate at Guangzhou, People's Republic of China requesting either a late February or early March visit. We should hear very soon the exact dates of our trip!!!!

New Picture!!!

We have a new picture of our daughter! A connection was made, and through an act of grace we have more information on how well she is doing.





From the picture, you can tell she is not doing bad at all in the SWI! She has real baby toys to play with and a real nanny giving her special attention in the "First Hugs" program. Fu Xuan is clearly drawn to music! If music comes on as she is playing with toys, she’ll put down the toys and swing to the beat!

As of November, she heavily into tasting everything, tasting the world: she bites everything she grabs, no matter if it’s the pacifier or her nanny's hand. When her nanny says “ouch” in response to her bite, she feels triumphant!

Fu Xuan also knows about cause and effect. She can communicate with her nanny to take her to the light switch, and once there, she loves to turn the lights on and off over and over again.

It is also wonderful to hear that she knows her caretakers and is wary of strangers. It is a sign of healthy attachment that she’ll cry when she sees strangers.

Tea with our Travel Companions!

Yesterday, Sunday, we hosted a tea and get-together with our travel companions, who are going to China with us. We really like them; we are so psyched to get over there! We talked and reviewed our packing lists and planned and brainstormed.

Among other things, we came up with a list of things we would especially like to do while in China. Janelle typed them up:

* Beijing - Tieneman Square, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven, Great Wall of China, and the Terra Cotta Soldiers (we realize this is outside of Beijing, but would like to make the trip to see it if possible).

* We'd like to see a Chinese Acrobatic show and would also like to have a Peking Duck dinner at some point during the trip.

* Chongqing City and Sichuan Province- Yangtze River Cruise, 3 Gorges Area + Dam Project, Panda Sanctuary, ancient town of Ci Qi Kou

* Fuling - We would also like to visit the Fuling Social Welfare Institute if possible, and to learn something about the city of Fuling.

* Guangzhou - Is there a river cruise that we could take? Are there other sights we should see?