We’re back! The trip home was better than expected. Going through customs was a breeze, and all Dian’s paperwork was in perfect order. Hooray!
The kids did extremely well on the 12-hour flight from Hong Kong though no one slept much and of course there were a few cranky moments. Selam was the social butterfly as always, making friends with all the stewardesses and surrounding passengers. Dian spent hours carefully placing little stickers on the front cover of the United Airlines magazine then moving them to the back cover. The kids were wired during our layover in San Francisco and chased each other around the terminal. Both of them fell fast asleep on the San Francisco to Denver leg of the journey, and we had to wake them to deplane.
The kids fell asleep again in the car home, then slept for 14 hours last night. I am a bit jet lagged and couldn’t sleep between 1:30 and 5 a.m. but then fell asleep until 9 this morning. A small price to pay for being a part of this incredible journey to bring a new member to our family. I am so grateful and full of joy.
Ten things we know about Dian: 1. He was found abandoned at a provincial hospital when he was about 18 months old. We have no information about his birth family. The orphanage gave him his birth date of February 8, 2010 (a wild guess) and his name. 2. He loves stickers, especially small ones, and toy trucks. 3. He likes to put his toys carefully in plastic bags and carry them around. 4. He especially likes French fries (but not ketchup), rice, seaweed, bananas, hard-boiled eggs and dragon’s eyes (Chinese fruit). He’ll try most any food, but turns his head away if it’s not tempting. 5. He likes to play with Selam sometimes, but at other times he protests loudly if she as much as touches him. 6. He seems to be an evening person. That’s when he’s most playful. 7. Like Selam, he sings himself to sleep. 8. He speaks Chinese and has already learned a few words of English. Today Selam taught him to put his forefinger in front of his lips and say “Shh.” 9. Like most kids his age, he loves to push buttons – light switches, radios, cell phones. 10. He seems to like his new home and yard with their abundance of toys.
On the plane to the USA
Selam and Dian wave Chinese flags at the park in Guangzhou.
One last plane ride in Guangzhou before the real thing
Daddy and Dian catch a nap on the final leg of the journey.
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