This morning, we completed all of our registration and interviews for Alexander’s adoption into our family through the Shanxi provincial government in downtown Taiyuan. It’s a little comical that we’re here, because although he was found in Shanxi province, he was transferred to a foster home in Beijing and was there up until early yesterday morning. His caregiver and nurse both traveled from Beijing (where we just came from!) to Taiyuan to assist with the placement.
Because Alexander has a pretty severe cleft, eating is a major challenge for him. Up until about a month ago, the foster home used a naso-gastric tube for his feedings, but they were successful in transitioning him to a bottle before placement. Yesterday was a challenge, to say the least, in learning how to feed him and understanding our little man. Thanks to our agency representative and the Beijing nurse, we were all sitting around in our hotel room while we watched Alexander demonstrate how he likes to eat. Through trial and error, this morning, we came to the conclusion that he uses his pacifier as a tool to close his cleft lip in order to swallow. What initially seemed like a really stubborn boy who kept putting his pacifier in while we were trying to feed him was actually him trying to swallow after each sip. Once we learned his technique, we were in business. The foster home, nurses, and doctor all said that he was a fussy eater– but we’ve found out that he just has a very specific method. By the time we got back to Civil Affairs this morning, we had our routine down, and all the officials and staff seemed really relieved that we are starting to unravel the logic of this tiny boy.
Registration and interviews were uneventful. I fed Alexander (he needs to eat every 3 hours) while answering pretty hefty questions asked by the government official — why do you want to be this boy’s parent? Do you understand what you’re doing? Our answers were sufficient, and soon we were signing papers and sealing with our fingerprints. Little Alexander had to provide a footprint– which he was NOT thrilled about.
Now, we’re free to relax until our trip tomorrow to Pingyao. Unfortunately, Taiyuan isn’t the most tourist-friendly city, and the environmental conditions are very unpleasant. I’m sure you’ve read about pollution levels in Beijing, and Taiyuan makes Beijing look fantastic. Shanxi is known as the country’s supplier of coal– and Taiyuan’s appearance looks like Pittsburgh circa 1920. Yesterday after a big rain storm, on our way to meet Alexander, the sky was blue– everyone was standing around and pointing up; apparently they get about 2 weeks of blue sky a year! Today, sadly it was back to a cloudy grey– with the smog making most buildings hard to see from our hotel room window. We ventured out yesterday but realized pretty quickly that there’s very little way to tell what buildings are restaurants, which are pharmacies, and which are office buildings. The only buildings we can decipher are governmental ones, because they are massive and usually well-guarded. We see room service and talking quietly while our little man naps in our future!
Brian showing Alexander a family album
It wasn’t quite as much paperwork as a mortgage, but we understood it even less.
Alexander makes his mark, with his foot.
Our family with two officials from the Social Welfare Institute
The kid zonked once we got back in the car.
