At the first office, we officially signed the adoption paperwork and certificates. Both boys handprints were taken and stamped on the paperwork as well.
We had some moments of waiting so we took that opportunity to play a bit.
Rees is pretty easy-going and compliant and just went along with whatever we were doing.
He takes pretty good photos of me too!!
Jonah wanted Rees to take his photo with me which put me over the moon because it meant he had to sit on my lap (so I snuck in a smooch)!! He immediately got down afterwards but did want to view the photo first.
The boys really enjoy playing with Molly. It's so great... because of them she is using the Chinese that she knows and also asks how to say other things that she wants to say to her little brothers.
Our four Chinese dumplings ...
We had to go to several offices and drive a long way to the city where the boys came from to file necessary paperwork. Each office required photos, documents from us or paperwork to be filled out. We went from one place to the next and each time Jonah seemed to become a bit more anxious. His caretakers arrived during the day to assist with the completion of the paperwork. When they arrived, I believe that Jonah felt that he would be departing us soon and so at each place, he would look at me and say "bye-bye".
Our intent was to visit the orphanage where the boys came from. I really did want to go there but our guide and the caretakers highly discouraged it, ... even though we said that we would not take them in. Molly said that she would go with me but the caretakers said that the boys would know when we were close to the location of the orphanage and they would surely recognize the building. They did not feel that it would be good for them.
At first, I was upset about this as I REALLY wanted to make the visit to the orphanage. However, when it came time for us to depart from the caretakers and they tried to say 'good-bye' to the boys, Rees DID wave to them but then for the entire ride back to our hotel (3 hours) he was very despondent and it actually became sort of scary because he would not move or make a sound. He barely even blinked and then he went to sleep. When he woke, he just put his head down in his hands and stayed that way until we got to the hotel.
Jonah started breathing very hard when the caretakers parted and tried to follow them. He began to cry and I had to pick him up quickly and rush to the vehicle. He was very upset and I had to hold him in his seat to keep him from trying to get out. He cried for quite a long time until he fell asleep. When he woke up he seemed to be better. He is more cautious and seems to be processing everything in slow motion and taking everything in stride.
When we got back to the hotel, we had a surprise waiting for us. We're not sure where this cake came from but it was so pretty!!!
I had also ordered a cake and went to pick it up when we got back because yesterday, Adoption Day, was also Baba's birthday!!!
So we sang Happy Birthday in Chinese and had cake for dinner!!
It's always good to eat dessert first anyway, right??
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