Monday, February 24, 2014

Our Consulate Appointment at the beautiful new and streamlined US Consulate was this morning. Grace did well without any incident! She wanted to hold the green folder John had given us to hand over to the person at window 7, and she even held up her right hand and imitated Sophia and me while we repeated the oath! Too funny.

We visited Shamian Island later in the day and, of course, had dinner at Lucy’s. Being there brought back so many memories as that was the hotel where we stayed for the second half of each of our previous adoption journeys. The White Swan Hotel is still under construction from two and a half years ago! Long construction project. We saw some of our favorite store owners – Michael and Jenny, but Jordan is gone now, and that is sad.

While at dinner, Grace began to get agitated and wouldn’t settle down. Our guide told her she would have a time out if she didn’t calm down. She didn’t, and John helped me swiftly remove her to a time out place. He explained why he was doing it. Grace got so mad that she tried to bite me, but I quickly removed my hand and she hit her mouth on the chair instead. It caused her to bleed a bit. I am hoping this will be a deterrent to biting. She seemed to have some remorse over her actions and was fairly well behaved the rest of the dinner.

I have to tell you all that we are so ready to come home. I know that often the real job begins when you bring your child home, but I am ready for that to begin. We just want to be in a place where we can have a level of comfort that will help make the rest of this journey more bearable. We are bone weary and anxious to have those flights and airport layovers behind us. One more day!