Starbucks
What can I say? I’m writing this on Wednesday because a lot of web pages are blocked here including Facebook and more importantly our blog. I should’ve took notes, didn’t. I guess because of the excitement on Monday afternoon, Monday morning has become a total blank. Did get Tracy a birthday card though. She didn’t care for the sausage and egg McMuffin as a present (Mcdonalds is closer than Starbucks).
We had to wait until 2:30 for the big moment
Jack, our guide and baby expert, picked us up at 2 and we made our way to the adoption centre where we would meet our babies for the first time.
We were the first families there and could glimpse the children in the next room through the curtain over the door.
There was a lot of paperwork that had to be checked. Our temperatures were taken as an H1N1 precaution.
Tracy spotted a woman walking from the room where the children were towards the entrance she said “that’s him, that’s Tanner!”. I turned to look and she was right. When the woman walked back we knew for sure.
It’s funny how I’ve seen lots of photos of Mike and Cheryl before we met them at the airport, had conversations, but still wasn’t sure if it was them at the airport on Saturday. We only had to see the slightest profile of our son and knew immediately it was him.
Then the moment came with no warning, I kind of hollered at Mike to take my video camera (sorry pal) and they placed him in my arms, why me and not Tracy, who knows. He looked confused, but calm. We got a couple of snaps and I passed him to Tracy, where for a few short minutes he was fine.
A voice, somewhere deep down inside him told him something was up, so you’d better start screaming, which he did. Unfortunately for Trace, I was returning the videoing favour for Mike and Cheryl so she was on her own.
I eventually rescued Trace and tried to calm the little fella down.
I succeeded, I think the whole day had been traumatic for him. He’d never been out of the orphanage let alone on a 4 hour car ride. He went to sleep in my arms.
Now have I mentioned how hot it is here? It is hot, it is humid, it hot and humid like nothing I have experienced before. How my old man survived 2 years in Hong Kong, astounds me. If I had to do National service here I’d be a conscientious objector ( can you do that if you’re not at war?).
After 10 minutes of holding a 24lb sleeping child with one arm, I was starting to perspire. After 10 minutes and 2 seconds, I looked like I had just got out of the shower. Yes, there were tears, lots of them, but they didn’t last for half an hour, that was sweat pouring from my brow and running passed my eyes (which, by the way, hurts).
The sweat was one thing, after 20 minutes my arm started to quiver. I couldn’t help it, it was just shaking bent at 90 degrees holding Tanner in that heat was just too much for my old muscles to take.
There were a bunch of religious people (you know, middle America christian types) who were looking at the 300lb beer bellied lout in strange kind of way. It was almost as if they had already decided that I wasn’t the right type of dad. But here I was apparently crying and shaking uncontrollably, I couldn‘t be all bad, I‘d seen the light……. If only they knew.
We got back to the hotel by about 4:30 and then considered our next move.
The father in me, that has lain dormant for all these years, leapt into action. I’ll go for a beer and Tracy can deal with him. Just Kidding.
We knew that there was a formula/rice cereal mixture and Jack, our guide, told us 4 and 4. Got it.
Okaaaaay, looks like porridge, an elephant couldn’t suck that out of a bucket, let alone a baby from a bottle.
More water. The attempts at mixing went on and on. We came to the conclusion (turned out correctly) that we had the wrong formula.
Tanners caregivers had left us with nothing, no formula, no pictures, nothing.
The poor little sod went to sleep hungry. We called Jack. He told us to give him Congee.
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