Back in the saddle

OK, we are home and feeling nearly fully functional. The last couple of days in China were hellacious. We were antsy to get out of there, the mold at the white swan hotel was ever-present and we were tired (yes, even C) of shopping. The area around the White Swan hotel is the biggest tourist trap of over-priced goods. It is like a Chinese Branson (Well, I have never been to Branson but a Chinese Branson sounded funny; especially that Asian guy that plays the fiddle--er violin)

(This picture is from the traditional 'red couch' at the White Swan. These were all the babies in our group)

We picked up some squeaky shoes, a Mao watch, a Mao lighter that plays the Chinese national anthem when opened and various other items for friends and family. We decided to follow the adoption community route of buying Maya 18 gifts from China to celebrate the day we met every year. I will detail these in another post some time, but they include everything from engraved chopsticks to pearl earrings to a Buddha statue with incense for when she is exploring her enlightenment when she is 16. Even though I belive most people this age already feel enlightened.

(We did not see one car seat and it was common for the kids to ride Britney Spears' style in most of the cars. This scooter was going about 30 MPH)

So we packed all of our stuff up in one full suitcase and had another one full of stinky clothes and pukey bibs and headed to the airport. The first flight was from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. Maya was awesome the whole way and the flight was uneventful. HK was absolutely beautiful. It looked somewhat like Hawaii, but from the airport you could see this huge metorpolis area. We said good bye to some people in our group and boarded the flight to Chicago.

This was a 14-hour flight flying back over the Arctic. Maya does not like to fly over the arctic. Leading up to this trip we were worried about this flight home. There were about 6 couples that had adopted that were boarding this flight. At the gate, as we all converged, you could see the thought process washing over the business travelers and the tourists returning home:

1. Wow look at all of those whiteys with the Asian babies
2. Hey, they are entering our gate
3. The flight is 14 hours
4. Babies don't like to fly 14 hours
5. NIMBY

There is a new movie coming out called 'Snakes on a Plane', I am sure that 'Babies on a Plane' could be a good sequel.

Maya did well at first. She was a little fussy, but hung in there. We were able to get her to sleep for about 4-5 hours, but she woke us as evil Maya. I have coined a special phrase for her when this happens based on the province in which she was born. When Happy Maya is deprived sleep, hasn't eaten and is sick of sitting she turns into: Hunanimal, the beast from the East.

She was inconsolable. We tried placating her with every tool in our limited parenting tool box. We really tried to be respectful of the people around us watching the movies or trying to sleep. Every time she cried for a couple of minutes we would stand up and walk to the back of the plane. I would bump people's arms and step on their feet as I went.

For the final four hours of the flight I was strapped into the Snugli (male-humilitation pouch) with a restless, groggy baby going in and out of slumber. The idea was that C and I were going to take shifts, but right when we were supposed to switch Maya dozed off. So I stood by the lavatories that about 45 people had been using for 10 hours in the back of the plane. Luckily, there were scores of people that had hundreds of questions about adoption even though my eyes were closed and I was methodically rocking my pissy child standing in such a position that the fourth and fifth quadrants of my back had become fused -- knowing that if I moved I would wake the baby.

Normally, I have no problem being a patient representative of the International Adoption community but after the 10th look of confusion and wonderment I jsut wanted to say:

"No, she is biological, Asian features skip a generation in my family lineage."

We landed at O'Hare and sleepwalked through customs. The three of us were directed over to immigration with our paperwork so that Maya could officially become an American citizen. With great pomp and circumstance the Immigration official welcomed us with open arms beaming with purple mountain majesty and waves of grain. Hundreds of years of American history were represented in his government issues uniform and the process of our daughter becoming one with the melting pot of the greatest civilization on earth went like this:

Agent: (Chicago accent) "Youse the Hoffmann's?"
K: "Yes."
Agent: "Here's ya stamp. Next."

Can't you just smell the majesty? With that one red-ink stamp our daughter became a US citizen. Now, we still have to apply for her passport and social security card, but based on her immigtation Visa she is now a US citizen. We are traveling to PA for a wedding next month so it will be interesting to see what happens when we try to use her Chinese passport.

After getting our luggage we pushed through the International terminal doors to be greeted by the beaming faces of my Mom, Ken and Rob. They were not interested in us at all, they obviously wanted meet the star of the show. By this point Maya was pretty slaphappy and gnerally in a good mood. Courtney and I had been up for about 32 hours straight and we were in total preservation mode.

They helped us with bags and we fought through traffic home.

Being gone for even two weeks yo notice a lot of the gradual changes that take place in the Spring. A lot of the plants had grown uncontrollably, construction had continued and there was a stack of junk mail the size of the Enron briefs. M,K & R really helped out picking up the house and being generally supportive. We can not thank them enough.

The first night was hell, after being up for so long Maya slept for a couple of hours. She woke up and freaked out. Totally understandable given the new crib, location and life. The first couple of days we zombied around the house. We both felt bad about not giving more attention to the family, but thankfully they understood. Being jet-lagged Maya was having a hard time adjusting, but when awaked she was what has become her normal happy self.

This is the second day in a row that she has slept through the night, meaning we have slept through the night. As I type this I can hear her cooing over the baby monitor and it is an amazing and fulfulling sound. Every day she sows us a new facet of her personality and she really is growing more and more into her own little person.