Day 4: Gotcha Day!

This day was special because it was Mackenzie’s birthday and Gotcha Day!! We enjoyed our last dining together as a non parenting couple at the extensive breakfast buffet at our hotel. As the other buffet did it had a mix of Chinese fare and Western fare. One item we found interesting is that all the buffets had baked beans. 

I know, I know, no one cares about the baked beans- on to Bailor! 

We met with the other couple the Miller’s who were also getting a child from Nanjing. We all loaded up in the van and drove to an indescript government building where you go if you are 1. Adopting or 2. Getting married if you are a Chinese citizen marrying a non- Chinese citizen. (Fun pictures to follow)

We were early, but the government officials who would help us with paperwork showed up soon. First things first they turned on the air conditioner unit so we wouldn’t melt. :-) Then we started to prepare as our guide told us the paperwork we would do and how we could ask the Nanny’s questions about our child’s day. In the midst of this I saw some folks outside the window and thought, is that them, no couldn’t be, we’re still getting ready. But sure enough a few moments later in they came. No one was ready and split between trying to grab their camera or go to these children that we had all waited so long for. But there he was, this child we had seen pictures of and heard of his routine and the one where every time we asked what foods he likes they said “he likes snacks!” Sure enough there he was dressed in oversized overalls and a bun in one hand, spirit biscuits in the other (think oyster crackers, but sweet and cookie like with the power to disintegrate into dust with a single squeeze of the fingers) and a sucker and a napkin in his overall pocket. Luckily our guide grabbed my phone and took video while we became even more enamored with Bailor. We did an initial try of seeing if he would come to us, but he clung to his Nanny. We tried again and they handed him to Mackenzie and he cried, but I was ready with a sucker in my pocket and once Mackenzie gave that to him his allegiance changed. :-) He came to me fairly easy after that too. Because he had been prepped with a photo album with our pictures I think that made it easier and we managed to get a pride swelling Baba and Mama out of him that day as well. Happy Birthday Mackenzie! :-) The rest was entertaining him while doing our official paperwork, then back to the hotel.

After paperwork we went to the store to get some essentials like food and a stroller and of course snacks! We tried to get clothes and shoes as he was much smaller than expected, but were less successful there. Back at the hotel we found he likes remote controls and iPhones. We had preloaded a Chinese lullaby app which he likes to this day. (Only now he has one of our old phones to listen to them). We tried to take a nap, which at first he resisted, but some Chinese lullabies later and he crawled up on top of one of the pillows and stuck his fingers in his mouth and he was out like a light.

That evening we tested our travel pouch and braved the mall attached to our hotel in search of smaller pants. We had brought all 2T pants, but those were a falling off of him. 3 new pairs of pants and 1 pair of shoes and 3 smiling sales clerks later we had him at least temporarily outfitted with pants that actually fit.

We ended the night at a noodle restaurant that served big bowls of noodles. That was a little more Chinese than Mr. Pizza. We watched Bailor as he confirmed what he wanted with visual queues and “NaNa” repeated and pointing. We found it was not good to take his chopsticks or forks. :-)