Not the easiest 2 days....

Okay, so the last 2 days have not been the best. It started out the night of the health exam. Michael refused to go to sleep (maybe the 3 hour nap had something to do with it). Anyway, he drank his bottle and instead of falling asleep, he seemed to get a 2nd wind. He played in bed but would not settle down. Finally, I took away the things that he was playing with and tried to force the issue. He was mad, but he finally did go to sleep - at 10:15. Well, he woke up at 3:30 am with either a nightmare or a night terror. After that he had some mini-fits and tried out various sleeping positions on the floor until 5 am. Nice. So, when he woke up at about 8, he was fine. He ate a good breakfast and seemed quite happy, Mommy - not so much. I was quite tired and the coffee didn't quite give me the extra energy that I wanted/needed.

We met our group in the lobby at 10 & spent the day completing all of our Chinese paperwork - praise God!!! First we went to the Civil Affairs office to get our finalized documents. We bumped into Tammy and Tony (also from Atlanta) again, only this time we got to chat. Their daughter just turned 3 and also gets overwhelmed at times. It must be so hard for these little ones - they really don't know what is happening. After we got our documents, we went to lunch. Michael continues to have no trouble eating - still hasn't refused a single thing!! He eats any kind of veggie (eggplant, beans, cabbage, celery, etc) and he even stole some tofu off of my plate!! Then we headed to the notary office. When we entered the conference room, Tony and Tammy were there again - and had been for over 2 hours!! That's when I knew it was going to be "oh so much fun" to wait. We were there for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Surprise - the kids did great!! There really weren't alot of things for us to do except check over our paperwork and look for errors before they printed and put together our "white books". These are the books that state our adoption is legal and binding. Now, here is the thing. Beijing is the capital of China, so one would think that things would be done most efficiently here - not so. This is the most inefficient process that I have seen!! When we adopted Danielle, we did not have to wait in some room for these books to be made. We also didn't have to wait 2 days to get them!! Many things in China are inefficient, this just happens to be one of them. Well, remember how I told you that Michael slept terribly the night before? Well, you would have never guessed!! He was a happy little angel!! Praise the Lord! I was annoyed a bit, but he did great. After they finally finished our books, we then went to the Chinese post office to apply for his passport (he is still considered a Chinese citizen). Again, no paperwork for me to do, we just waited. This day really was long. We left the hotel at 10 am and did not get back until 4:30!! I didn't feel like venturing out of the hotel for dinner, so we ate in the hotel restaurant. It was quite pricey but good. I decided that a good ole cheeseburger sounded good - and it was!!! Michael was introduced to french fries and ketchup - he ate them all! When I showed him my plate to let him know that the fries were all gone, he took the lettuce from my salad (that had some thousand island dressing on it), and began dipping THAT in the ketchup. Nice. So after that you would have thought that it would be easy to get him to sleep. Oh no, he had to have more temper tantrums. Not as long, but he fought me tooth and nail. When he did go to sleep, he did sleep all night though, thank God!!

Today we went to Tianamen Square. Since our paperwork is now complete (hallelujah), we will start seeing some sights. So we went to the Square. It was interesting to see but quite crowded. We were also suppose to go to the Forbidden City, but there were some dignitaries there and the wait was too long to get in (in a way, still Forbidden). Instead, we went for more Peking duck. The two 7 year olds told our guide that they have wanted to try it, so we did. It's good, but I think that I have had enough of it - especially since it is not cheap!! Now, the worst part of this day was Michael. He was a complete pill all day. He must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something because the littlest things would just tick him off. Now, when he has a temper tantrum, he will either plop his bottom on the floor and just sit there pouting, or he will lay on the ground and kick his feet, or he will throw whatever is in his hands onto the ground, even if it his favorite thing. When he has nothing else in his hands, he will take his shoes off and throw them as well. He has thrown his shoes 3 times today (before 2 pm). Now, in a way it is really sad when he throws a fit....I am able to feel how weak he is. It takes very little strength from me to hold him close when he is thrashing about. Also his voice is quite quiet. It is hard to describe the sound that he makes, but it really is kind of pitiful. We got back to the hotel about 1:30 and I tried to put Michael down for a nap. Same thing as last night - fought me as hard as he could!! He wouldn't take a bottle and just wouldn't quit having a fit. I am open to suggestions for those of you who have BTDT. Danielle grieved at sleep time, Michael just seems mad!! I am hoping that my sweet little boy will return after his nap - he has sure been a pickle today!! I am holding up well, considering. I am more than ready to come home. I miss my family terribly. Everyone else in the group is great, but they all also have each other. When we aren't together, I miss adult company. I do appreciate all of the comments and emails though - I read them often!! Please pray for Michael - I feel so sad for him, he is having a hard time.