Update

Good Morning ya'll!  It is 7 am here in Hong Kong and we have been up since 3 am!  Yep!  You guessed it our sleeping boy has been wide awake and happy as a clam since 3 in the morning....uggg... we finally got up and put in a movie for him and Jason and I slept for a few more hours.  But alas, we gave up.  Oh this time change and jet lag is awful for the little ones.

We woke up to the best surprise in our email (besides all the fun notes and messages from you all)!  We got  our long awaited updated on Alice.  Yes, the one we requested 8 weeks ago:)  Unfortunately, no pics but that is OK b/c we get the real deal in just 2 more sleeps!!!!!  We got some new measurements and she is about 23 pounds and 80 cm tall.  We think that will put her in 12 months clothes and probably some 12-18 too.  She has been healthy and never hospitalized (since her initial surgery as a newborn) other than colds.  They describe her as smart.  Says she likes to watch TV, play with balls and cars, and dance to music!  She has 2 brothers, one is the foster families biological brother and the other is from the orphanage.  She sleeps in bed with foster mother.  She really likes her foster dad and gets very excited when he comes home from work.  She knows the color red. She names body parts and says simple words like mom, dad, uncle, brother, etc.  She likes to pretend to drive the car.  She drinks from a bottle and prefers someone else to feed her.... hmmm...think she may be a bit spoiled:)  Which is just fine with us!!!  The best news is that she is NOT a picky eater and will eat anything!! Yipee, we are hoping she can teach her brother how to eat! We are delighted and so happy to hear some little bit of info on her.

We have a feeling that the only reason we got the update is b/c she was brought back to the orphanage to stay a few days before Gotcha Day.  This is very common for the orphanages to do this.  I really don't like this and not sure why they do it.  It must be so confusing for her.  She was taken from the only family she knows to the orphanage for a few days and then to us.  This is a lot of transition and confusion for a 2 year old.  And it makes me sad for her.  But oh well, only 2 more days and she will stay with us FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

Some of you have asked about Tai.  He doesn't seem to have any reaction to China so far.  He is too young and has no idea that he looks different at home, so has no clue that we look different now.  They also speak Cantonese here.  He is taking Mandarin classes.  The province he was from spoke, according to our guide, the "nanchang dialect" and she had a hard time understanding what they said at times.  We have tried to have Tai say some simple things to people here and they don't seem to notice.  We did however meet a lady that was Chinese and her American husband yesterday and she was very impressed that Tai introduced himself and said his age in Chinese.  We have Dana to thank for that!!!!!  She said he said it very well:)  So, long story short, it is a good thing our agency is providing us a guide...LOL!   The funny thing is that on the airplane they would announce in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.  Tai would say " I know what they are saying" & when we asked what did they say he would just repeat the english or make up something completely sillly.  good grief!
We have also had a bit of trouble with Tai running off.  We suspected this would happen.  So we had a very firm talking too yesterday(AGAIN) and threatened to take away Disney.  That seemed to work and he did much better.  But we did bring the harness and we may have to pull it out.  That kid just has so much energy and he wants to go go go.  But then he wears himself out and we have to lug him around, sleeping, for hours.

The other fun thing is that we met a couple on the tour yesterday from Florida who is adopting too and they are with GWCA!!!  We are at different hotels now, for some weird reason, but we will be together in Guangzhou.  They have an adorable 7 yo daughter and get this they are getting a 17 mo son from the same province as Tai!!!!!  They said their guide is named Jenny!!!!!!  Oh, I so hope they meet our Jenny as we just adore her!!!!  The fun thing is that they waited 6 years... yes folks 6 years for their referral as they stuck out the wait for the non- special needs child.  And they are getting a healthy boy!  Imagine their surprise as they waited 6 years expecting ( as most do) a little girl!  We can not wait to meet little Jack in GZ! They are going to Disney today too, so we are thrilled to meet up with them again!

Off to shower. Our next post will be after Disney with lots of pics!