5/25 - 5/30 - Another week down and much improved. This week there were very few screaming sessions and Kimberly has bonded more and more to Dan and I. We started the week by skipping the Memorial Day parade. I thought the loud band and firetrucks might scare her - especially since she is afraid of the vacuum cleaner! But, so am I - that's why I don't like to touch it. We did some shopping at Lowe's and Home Depot for more gardening stuff and finished the planting in the front yard. We still need some mulch, but that has nothing to do with Kimberly. The day ended at DQ where she shared Dan's chocolate ice cream cone and LOVED it. As we were leaving, Russell, Jodi and Emma showed up. She waved and reached out to Emma to say bye-bye, which made Emma the happiest girl in the world. We had a good quality weekend and bonded together as a big family. This week Dan had 3 loads per day so the Grandparents had to watch her for a few hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday while I worked in the afternoons. Each side got to watch her for a few hours and put her down for a nap. She woke up every morning (and nap time) as a happy little child ready to play the day away. She is very comfortable with the dogs and cats, so much so that she decided to lay on everybody this week. Silky, the black cat, didn't think that was such a great idea and took a little swat at her nose. Kimberly never cried, but stopped to rub her nose from the sting. Charlie, the dog, grumbled once or twice at her when she fell on him this week. So far, the animals have been very understanding, but are still supervised with her in the room. Silky and Mr. Kitty, aka Evil, have been wonderful with her, lettering her play and pet them all the time. The child is a non-stop eating machine! She went to Ruby Tuesday's last weekend with Dean and Michelle (and us) and the Brick last night by ourselves. She was wonderfully behaved and ate most of her food. Tonight she ate 9 shrimp with Dad; he was so proud. Yesterday, she ate half of Mom's cereal. Papa will be so happy; she can put away an entire plate of pancakes in one sitting, too! She has learned NO and even says it now. This past week she had a temper tantrum when I put up the wagon that she was playing with and made her come inside. That was truly a tantrum, which I ignored till she came to me. She also insisted on moving a candle many times one day. After the third time I told her NO and took it away, she started to cry. I put her in the corner of the living room and left her there for a minute. She didn't move, but still wimpered. After a minute I took her by the hand and brought her back to play and all was well. Kim is also picking up some more English. She knows "bye-bye" and has started to wave. Today she said "hi" - doesn't know when to say it, but she said it. She has also started to say "doggie" and "birdie". She has been playing very well with Mikayla and Emma this past week. She played well with Jillian and Jayden last weekend, too. There are some moments where she wants to be in charge and play by her rules, but they seem to have worked it out. Hugs and kisses come easy from her towards Mom and Dad and her new cousins. She has met some new people this past week and does well one on one with Mom or Dad on hand. Yesterday, she met Mary Lynn, Darby and Maddie Griff. Today, we drove to Ashland and she went to her first horse show, which may have been too much too soon. She had a screaming session when we first arrived when too many people came around to see her. She made it clear that that was not a good idea. People scattered and then Dan (security blanket) introduced her to some close friends one by one and she was able to play with friends. After about two hours they headed home and she napped in the car. Tomorrow should be a quiet day and Monday will be the big doctor's appointment. I'll post more after the doctor's appt and when we get some new pictures taken. We have been in contact with the four other families that traveled to China with us from our agency and all of the kids seem to be adjusting well.

5/14 - 5/24 - We've been home a little over a week and have come a long way, at least the little one has. I will continue to update the blog weekly and post pictures when I can. We seem to be on a pretty good sleep schedule now; Kimberly goes to bed around 9:00 PM and wakes up about 8:00 AM with a two hour nap in the afternoon and a bath every evening. The potty schedule is back on track, too, every morning like clockwork. She has tried all sorts of new foods. Her favorites are hotdogs, french fries and spaghetti. She also tried some ice cream yesterday and decided that was pretty good. Mashed potatoes, toast, scrambled eggs, noodles, rice, pizza, bratwurst, pudding, jello, breaded chicken patties and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are all on the edible list. She does not like oatmeal, milk, yogurt, toasted cheese sandwich or cereal with milk. Silky (cat) and Kimberly play pretty good and Reba (cat) still runs from her. The dogs are very tolerant of her. She hand feeds them teddy grahms and gives them her toys to play with. Neeko has figured out that food time in the kitchen is a good time for him. She has also petted all of the minis and ponies at Papa's house. Kim Kim has definately learned who Grandpa is and likes him best. Mikayla and Emma have learned to play with her, too. She has been to the store many times and out for a walk on Headwaters Trail. Yesterday, she even went to Emma's pre-school to pick her up. She has spent a couple hours alone with Grandma and Grandpa Thornton and with Grandma Bowers. Dan and I both went back to work this past week and our schedules were compatible. He worked in the mornings while I watched her and I worked in the afternoons while he watched her. He thinks I had it easy and I think he had it easy. I had to feed breakfast and lunch and he got to nap for 2 hours. I think she has tried out every toy that is in this house. Nothing is untouched. She likes anything that makes noise and lights up when she touches it. She also likes some of the pots and pans in the kitchen cupboards. Kimberly has had a few crying sessions at the end of this week. I swear she was thinking, "I hate you and I want to be back with my old family." Usually they last a few minutes, but one session lasted fifteen and I was afraid the neighbors were going to call the cops on me. They've done it before, you know. Her vocabulary is up to a few more words. She can say Mama, Dada, Bye-Bye, Kitty and is working on Doggy. I also heard something that sounded like E-I-E-I-O. She hums along to music and sings her own version of songs. Last Friday I started with a sore throat and cough which had me down for a couple of days this week. I'm feeling a little better today. I just hope Kimberly and Daddy don't catch it. Kimmy's first doctor's appointment is coming up on June 1st and she'll have a complete workup with the international adoption specialists at University Hospital. We'll know more about her heart condition at that time. Our plans for the big Memorial Day Weekend include gardening and grilling and maybe a parade. The adoption agency we used has a big party this weekend at the Cleveland Zoo. We opted not to go this year, but will probably attend in the future so she can see and make new Chinese friends. All in all, she is adjusting and getting used to life in America. She still barks and will throw a minor tantrum when she is unhappy. But for the most part, she is all smiles and laughs and is a happy little girl.

"SLEEP", It's kind of like air. You don't miss it to much till your not getting any!!! So where did the child that was sleeping well threw the night go??? We are making progress,she's getting more comfortable around the pets. And has even started to try and pet Silky. And we found out today that Wendy's fries and chicken nugget's and a Hi-C. Are great little finger foods for the car ride. All in all, Kim Kim has is doing good. Friday night we all had pizza at Julie's parents house with the family. All the girls played well as we all looked over the pictures we took in China. We have taken some new pic's. But I'm just to tired to down load them and post them. The 4 hours of sleep in the last 3 nights has me on the ropes. So this is going to be a short post. So I'll post pic's in the next update, I promise.

Dan..

5/14 - Our first full day in Mantua, OH USA started at 4:30 am when Kimberly woke up like a happy little kid. Today's breakfast was toast, rice and a few dry frosted mini wheats. We need to hit the store today for some kid food. She played around some and started to get familiar with the house, staying close to Dan. There were tears off and on a few times today for different reasons or no reasons. The morning started with tears every time I held her and Dan was out of site. She hadn't gone #2 on the plane, so we figured she was a little uncomfortable today (3 days worth). She was afraid of the little potty chair when we first put her on it, so back to the tub. After breakfast she went in the bathtub and we got results. In between entertaining Kim, we tried to unpack and get some things done around the house. I opened up a bunch of her toys and she started playing with anything that made noise or lit up. That worked for an hour or two, while Dan got caught up on the computer. Sometime mid-morning she took a three hour nap with me. Dan woke us up a little after 12 and we explored the house some more. I'm hoping this will put her close to the daily EST time schedule. She had a fruit cup, jello and tried tators tots for lunch. Dan took her for a short trip outside to look at all the greenery. In the two weeks that we were gone weeds took over the garden, the lilacs and irises have bloomed and the leaves have popped open on all the trees. The outdoors looks beautiful. Kim-Kim seemed to be interested in the chickens when they collected eggs. The tricycle was pretty cool, too, even though she isn't sure how to use it. I have found that nothing gets done quickly with a two year old. Around 2:00 we headed out for the day's errands: post office, vet clinic, Carol's, my parents and the grocery store. The post office was easy since she stayed in the car; the car seat was OK by her. She went in to the vet clinic with us to get some medicine for Silky's eye. She was shy at first and hid behind Dan, but before long was smiling at the girls and gave "five" to everybody there. Next she got to visit with Grandma Carol and Cousin Carrie. They were happy to see her. Next stop was my parent's where she played with Emma and Mikayla when she came home from school. She started out unsure but warmed up to them when they were playing with the kid's kitchen stuff. She even thought the baby toad was pretty cool and dropped the container, giving him a headache. Emma was the first to smell the messy diaper, which she volunteered to change and Mikayla wanted nothing to do with it. On our way to the grocery store Kimberly fell asleep, messing up my whole time schedule plan. Dan put her in the stroller and pushed around; she never woke up till we got home. For dinner tonight Dan made hamburgers on the grill. She ate a whole hamburger dipped in ketchup and some jello. Everything tastes better with ketchup according to Kimberly. She played with her toys some more and then had her nighttime bath which ended in a ten minute screaming, crying episode. Neither one of us could console her. Eventually she stopped the crying and sat in Daddy's lap, watching Deadliest Catch and munching on pretzels, while I did some laundry. Neeko was downstairs and beside himself the whole time the crying was going on. By the end of the night the dogs and cats were allowed to be in the same room with her, as long as one of us was there to protect her. I was able to bounce her upside down and she could touch Neeko's back with her hand and his tail would touch her face. She thought thwas pretty funny since she didn't have to look at his face. Charlie is fine so far, since he just lays around and doesn't move much. She doesn't even realize he is there half the time. At 10:00 she went to bed for me with a light up glo bear that she thought was pretty cool. She used it as a pillow and was out for the night. I wase able to go through some clothes and put things away and Dan did some of his work until we were tired and joined her. Sorry, we didn't have the camera out yesterday, but should have it out today for some more pictures.

5/13 - Thirty hours later we made it home. We were up at 5:00 am Wednesday morning Chinese time and arrived at our doorstep at 11:00 pm Wednesday night and went to bed an hour later. It was a long trip, but we are happy to be home. It was nice coming home to happy dogs and cats. Thank you Carol and John for taking care of everything at the house! We left China on time and arrived in Tokyo after an easy ride. Our next plane was late coming into Tokyo so our departure was 1-1/2 hours late, which turned into two hours after we sat on the runway for an extra thirty minutes. Some of the other couples rebooked their final flights out of Chicago. We kept our same Chicago-Cleveland flight, thinking we had enough time. That was another good flight for Kim since she slept the first seven hours of the eleven hour flight. Daddy got about 1 hour of sleep; I got a little more myself. After circling O'Hare for another 30 minutes we landed with 45 minutes to go through immigration, pick up our checked luggage, renavigate through customs and security and find the right terminal. Of course, the 4:56 flight out of Chicago was on time and we didn't make it. We hopped the next plane out at 6:38, which was delayed by an hour and finally landed in Cleveland around 10. At that point, Kim was fussy and we were doing our best to prevent tears. My father was there to pick us up and the luggage and away we went. At home, Kim was wide-eyed and clingy, not sure about another place to stay. She did go to my father with a smile and gave him "five". The cats and dogs were happy to see us and it was hard to put them back in the basement once we got home. I'll have to spend some special time with them in the next few days. While Kim-Kim was having her nighttime bath, Silky (cat) came to join us in the bathroom and jumped on the toilet seat. Kim shrieked terrifying tears and was sure that the little black cat was really a tiger. About midnight the three of us squeezed into a queen sized bed and went to sleep for the night along with Reba (another cat who insists on sleeping with me). We had been sleeping in an extra wide King sized bed in China. We thought it would be best to keep her with us till she gets used to her own room and crib. Needless to say, neither I nor Dan got much sleep with a little one kicking us and trying to turn sideways all night long. I'm sure there will be a few naps today and tomorrow till we can get caught up on Ohio time. Thank you again for everybody's well wishes for a good trip and safe travel.

5/12 - Today was our last day in China and we took it pretty easy. There was no more shopping to do or sights to see. This morning we had breakfast and a morning stroll outside before things got too hot. We ran into some last minute shoppers from our group and headed back to the hotel for lunch in the room and a short nap. All five families met in the lobby this afternoon and boarded the bus to the US Consolate. Our paperwork was all in order and Kimberly has her Visa to travel to the US. We went to a large room with 25-30 other families and showed our passports and waited for the oath taking. All parents had to stand up, raise their right hand and swear that their paperwork was complete and true to the best of our knowledge. We were joking that Kimberly was going to have to take an oath to always listen to us, go to bed on time and eat her dinner. It was a rather simple ceremony and we got our immigration paperwork for her. When we get home, they told us we will have to apply for a US Birth Certificate and US Passport. No hurry, because I don't think we are going anywhere any time soon. On the bus ride back we decided to have a nice Chinese dinner together. Zhou ordered food at the Victory hotel and made reservations for five families with five high chairs. Halfway back to the hotel, Kim decided she was done and had a little fit. When she gets mad she chirps, barks or yips. I'm not really sure what it is, but it means she is mad. She hasn't pooped in two days, so my best guess is that she was uncomfortable. Soon enough, she'll learn our language and we'll be able to communicate. At the hotel we grabbed the stroller and headed off to dinner. We were the only ones in the restaurant at the beginning and then a few families came in throughout our meal. The food was good and we had time to visit with friends before the crazy plane ride tomorrow. Kim-Kim had her bath and went to bed about 9:00 so we could finish packing. I packed a suitcase for Kim inside one of our bigger suitcases on the way here and everything fits in three suitcases going home. Tomorrow is a big day for us - three plane rides. We leave the hotel at 6 and Guangzhou Airport at 9:15 to head to Tokyo. There is some discussion about the swine flu and possible quarantines. Hopefully, we don't get caught up in that. Everybody is healthy and has been warned: don't cough, sneeze or hiccup in public. We even have masks if needed. We layover in Tokyo for four hours and then fly into Chicago at 2:20 pm. At that point we have to go through Customs and Kimberly is officially-officially adopted. After a 2-1/2 hour layover there, we head home to Cleveland to arrive at 7:12 pm. It will be a long day and I hope the little one can sleep along the way and doesn't fall apart too bad. The good news is that all five families will be traveling together to Chicago and then we split. The bad news is that Zhou is on a different flight. We are armed with the stroller, food and toys and will do the best that we can. We'll be happy to be home soon. When we get home it'll take us a few days to get caught up with the time change and new feeding schedule. At some point I hope to get a link set up so everybody can view the pictures. Thank you to everyone for all of your support, well wishes and prayers for safe travel.

5/11 - We're one day closer to coming home. Kim-Kim woke up early today (6:30) and helped me type yesterday's blog. If there are any misspellings, please blame her. We let Daddy sleep in till 8:00 and headed down for breakfast and then some play time in the room. There is an adoptive family tradition to have pictures taken in Chinese dress on the red couches at the White Swan hotel. All five families met in the lobby and trekked to the hotel. It was beautiful and very picturesque. We snapped a ton of pictures of Kimberly on the couch, in front of flowers, the ship and the waterfall. Then we took pictures of all the kids together on a couch. After an hour we were getting hot and she was getting cranky so we headed back to the hotel, stopping at one more store along the way. She had some lunch, a nap and a little more lunch after she woke up. Zhou went to the Embassy this morning to turn in paperwork and apply for Visas for all of the children. When he came back we headed on the afternoon adventure on foot to a traditional Chinese cooking and pet market and the jade market. The food market was filled with herbs, roots, nuts and all kinds of dried things that the Chinese use. Next was the pet market where they sold lots of fish, turtles, birds, kittens and puppies. Vendors filled both sides of the streets for blocks. We looked, but didn't dare buy anything. A few blocks later was the jade market and a Buddha Temple. Inside the temple there were over 500 Buddha statues. The Chinese people came in at all times during the day and night to pray. We wandered the jade market and headed for home. The market seemed to be just as crowded on Monday as it was on Sunday. Zhou had a stop to make so Dan said he could lead the group back - until he saw a knockoff military surplus store and we lost him. We made it back with all of the kids and strollers and Dan was about five minutes behind us. We were hot and Kim-Kim was ready for some play time. She had been cooped up, but happy, in the stroller for a few hours. We hung out to get our second wind and then headed to La Dolce Vita, an Italian restaurant, with the Harp family. Dan shared his spaghetti with the little one and she loved it! She was not that happy with my spinach and cheese filled ravioli. She also had a piece of pizza that was left over from the Harps. I think she will fit right in with our eating habbits. She also loves crackers, cookies and potato chips. Her little arm fits right in the Pringles can and she knows what to do. Back at the hotel she had a late bath and down to bed. She has gotten fussy these past few nights about going to bed. She thinks 9:00 bedtime is really 9:00 playtime. We had a few tears as we tried to quiet her down; eventually she fell asleep. Tonight it was on top of me. All in all she had a good day today and the other families have said they have seen changes in her (for the better) in the past two days. In general, she is a happy child who is willing to try anything. She eats and naps well and we have been trying to keep her on a set routine. Dan is still worried about the three airplane rides to come on Wednesday. We are armed with the stroller, more toys and she has already been through it once. I think we'll be ok, unless she misses her sleep.