Adoption Day

24 hours after our Gotcha Day was our actual Adoption Day (In China families have 24 hours after signing guardianship papers to make the final decision about whether they want to proceed with the adoption or not). This was a HUGE day...huge because of the significance of Kai actually becoming part of our family...huge because of the all of the appointments and travel that we needed to do on this day.

To begin our day, we started back at the Registration Office in Zhengzhou, which is the provincial capital of Henan province. There were we were presented with our actual adoption certificate, showing that we are the legal parents!

After being presented with our certificate, we also found out that the Registration Office also waived our registration fee, which was 1,450 RMB (or about $225). Apparently, they are planning on increasing the fee but have not yet decided how much. So, in the meantime, they have decided to not charge at all! What a nice surprise!

After there we headed to the Notary Office in Zhengzhou. Here we just turned in some documents and paid our notary fee of 3520 RMB...unfortunately, they did not waive that fee! It was very hot and smoky in the room that we were in, but Sam thought it was cool.

After a short lunch, we were headed out for the biggest, most exhausting part of our day. We needed to head to Jiyuan City, which was about 2.5 hours outside of Zhengzhou. This is the city where Kai was found and where the orphanage is located. Because this is where Kai is originally from, this is where we needed to apply for his passport. Ok, here is a disclaimer on the photo...we were all HOT and TIRED. I felt terrible (and ended up getting car sick on the ride back...very humbling experience!). Basically, we were all completely sick of it, so this is the best we could do!

Aside from the busy schedule, various appointments, almost 6 hours in a van, 85 and HUMID weather, and getting sick, we had a great day! Kai started really bonding with us. By now he was calling me Mama and calling Chris Baba. He calls Sam gege (older brother). He wanted absolutely nothing to do with the orphanage director (this is her in the photo), but only wanted mama. In fact, he only wanted to be held by me the entire day. I have to admit, my arms were a little sore! He did not want Chris out of his sight, but did not want to be held by him. He is loving his big brother and literally copies everything Sam does. This has been a good reminder for Sam about being a role model! And, he talks...and talks and talks and then talks some more! If he's not talking, he's singing. There is a song he sings about 2 tigers; it is to the tune of "Brother John". I was singing the English words and he kept repeating the same phrase to me. I asked our guide what he was telling me. Apparently, he was telling me that I was incorrect :) If he's not talking or singing we know he must be sleeping!

One of the things that we were starting to notice was that Kai wanted absolutely nothing to do with the items that we were given by the orphanage director. Absolutely nothing! Whenever he saw an article of clothing or the toy train that we were give he would scream. Loudly. He took them and hid them under the bed. We're going to hold to them (in hiding, of course) and take them home with us. I think he'll want to see these again at some point...or maybe it's just that  I'm just not ready to let go of that part of his life before joining our family. At the hotel, Kai enjoyed looking at his new clothing and wanted to put most of it on all at once. Although most of the clothing we brought is too big. He is in a 2T/3T shirt and 12 month pants. Seriously, this kid has the longest torso and shortest legs!

I will be posting more pictures soon!