THE RED COUCH

Today we got to see something new..................Claire's temper! She has finally gotten comfortable enough with us to show it when she doesn't get her way. I guess that's a good thing?!

We also took the famous "Red Couch" pictures. The Red Couch is....a red couch at the White Swan hotel that has been used for adoption photo shoots for years. The custom is for the parents to come to Guangzhou, buy a traditional Chinese dress or outfit, sit their newly bonding children on the couch and run away so the photographer can snap shots of the cherubs! I don't know who's idea this was, but this is our shot!

Then we got this shot!

There's our happy girl!

CRASH!

Daddy's girl!

This evening we went to our Farewell dinner. This was at a Cantonese restaurant across from our hotel. After last night's dinner, I was a little concerned that we would have to order pizza again....but, it turned out alright. This restaurant, like many here in China, served numerous dishes on a lazy Susan. The dishes were all new to us, except for the rice, and were very edible. Okay, most were! Anyway, we did not go hungry!

After dinner, Claire had her bath, which she has grown to enjoy....as long as Daddy is in the tub with her! She does not enjoy bedtime though. She has a hard time settling down. We give her a bath and put lotion on and Daddy reads books and sings softly. But, when we first turn down the lights and put her on the bed she screams. Then she will crawl around on her bed and try to get on ours. When that doesn't work, she will do all sorts of cute things to try to get our attention hoping we will let her out of her bed. I have been doing the "Super Nanny" on her! I put her down and walk away. When she crawls out I put her back and walk away. Of course we are still right there in the room, there isn't anyplace else we could go! After about the 20th time of crawling off the roll-away onto our bed she will give up and go to sleep! Once she is asleep she stays on the roll-away but she still cries out in her sleep off and on. This, I think, is part of the grieving process. She still misses her foster family and probably will for quite some time.

The good news of the day is that our CHI coordinator told all the families that their paperwork passed the review by the American Consulate! I had stayed in my room from 10am until 11am in case there were any questions that needed to be answered, while Elsie, the coordinator, was presenting our paperwork for Claire's visa. We have also confirmed our flights home so, barring some unforeseen catastrophe, tomorrow is our last day in Guangzhou! I'm a little sad, but mostly ready to get home to my other children and all the family waiting for us on the other side of the world. Oh, and my soft bed...................as much as I enjoy sleeping on a concrete slab, I'm ready for my mattress and pillows!