We had an up and down day today. At 9:30 we headed into Guangzhou proper to the consulate. This was the final step in the adoption process. No electronics were allowed so we don't have any pictures of this. The building wasn't very impressive - just an office building. We took an oath that all the representations we made in the piles of paperwork were accurate to the best of our knowledge and submitted for Kristi's visa. Then it was over! We headed back to Shamian Island and talked for a while with Dawn - also adopting through MAA. She had worked in China for a couple of years and so spoke a lot of Chinese. We picked up a couple of basic phrases from her and discussed the transitioning process. It is nice to run into other people in the same situation here to talk about how things are going. Kristi enjoyed playing with the four year old boy Dawn was adopting.
After lunch we went to the park again for a while and then tried to go shopping. Kristi loves to go shopping - until it is time to leave and you tell her she can't have the stuff that she desperately thinks she needs. When I put the handful of bracelets and neclaces back, she started to scream. The shopkeeper was a little disgusted with her and told her she had a dress in the bag and she didn't need to fuss. But she proceded to scream all the way to the hotel. It didn't bother us - just made us realize how much retraining we have to do. Surprisingly, once we got back to the hotel room, she acted fine. I don't see many shopping trips in her near future once we return home! She was stubborn today. When someone asked her if her name was Kristi - she said Wei Anyue very emphatically! I am sure her strong will helped her to be a survivor to this point and will be very helpful to her in the future - but will certainly present some challenges for the present! Ha!
She continues to be very funny and entertaining - except when she doesn't get her way. But at least she is beginning to realize that we mean it when we say no - and tantrums won't change our mind. We have been using a few of the new Chinese phrases out on her - and I think she liked it better when we couldn't tell her 'wait and no' in Chinese so she could pretend to not understand us. She doesn't want to speak any English at this point, but we know she understands several phrases. We now completely understand what other adoptive parents called selective understanding! Everyone here tells Kristi how cute she is. We have been told she responds back, "I know." So please - when you meet her, don't tell her she is cute! She will spend a long time in front of the mirror redoing her hair and putting bows in. Lindsey - you will have to help us retrain her on this one.
After dinner, we went out for our evening walk. We went to the pool to check out the lights from the 9th floor. Kristi said she did not want to go swimming - but she certainly was interested in watching the people who were. We will have to work on this one!
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