Consulate Appointment Day

This morning we woke up early to meet two other families at 7:50 in the lobby to go to our Consulate appointment.  This appointment is the final step in obtaining Chloe's visa.  Since it was one of the tomb sweeping holiday days, traffic was light, so we arrived extra early.  People were lined up outside to go in.

The queue included other adoption families and a school group traveling to America.

When we entered the Consulate building, we waited in the lobby for the Consulate to open.  (It's located on the fifth floor.)  We snuck in some picture taking since electronics are really not allowed in the building.  Jason, our guide, warned us that we might get yelled at, but we did not.

Jenna, Zoey, and Karen in front of the US Consulate sign

Juliet, Maggie, Amy, and John traveled with us too.

We finished our picture taking without being told to put our cameras up....sneaky!

After going through security on the fifth floor where they compensated any electronics, we were ushered into a room with other adoption families.  All of the parents were asked to stand up, raise their right hands, and swear that the paperwork we were about to present was a truthful representation of the facts.  The Consulate representative said all immigrants coming to America were required to say the oath.  (We were saying it on behalf of our children.)  Then, each family was called on individually to present prepared paperwork to the clerk at the window.  The entire process took about 45 minutes, but we were comfortable because there was air conditioning on the fifth floor (the only place in the building) and a play area for the kids.

When we returned, it was picture time for all the families.  We met in the lobby of the hotel and recreated the famous White Swan couch scene.  The White Swan is the hotel that most adoptive families used to stay and has a red couch where pictures of newly adopted children would be taken.  However, the hotel is now closed for renovations.

The girls fooling around before the formal pictures were made

Chloe and Juliet

The happy family - I seriously need to have my dress altered.

Our entire adoption group

All of the adopted children from our group - They stayed still for maybe 5 seconds before they started moving everywhere.

The China Hotel has a lovely outdoor heated pool, and we checked it out this afternoon.  Chloe was very brave and loved being dunked...up to her neck...in the water.  Her Baba took her out to the middle of the pool once, but she was scared.  Regardless, by the end of our pool time, she was floating on her back...a true water rat in the making.

She LOVED the water.

Tonight we had a delicious dinner at the hotel.  Their buffet included all types of food, both Asian and Western.  Chloe particularly enjoyed dessert.  She loved her ice cream and chocolate covered strawberries.  Other than Kaleb, she is the only kid I know who gets the wait staff to serve her at a buffet.

Below are things I've noticed about Chloe's growing personality.

1. She is definitely an extrovert.  I'm not sure where the shyness that was listed on her report went.
2. She talks incessantly, from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep.  The only exception is when she has food in her mouth.
3. She still eats A LOT, but she now can wait to have food if I tell her that we'll eat soon.
4. She understands much of what we say to her already.  However, some times she chooses to listen to it and some times she doesn't. :)
5. She loves being around other children, especially girls who are a little older than she is.  I think she will LOVE having a big sister.
6. She has a great sense of humor and loves to joke and play games with her Baba...when she's not being mean to him.
7. She is feeling more and more comfortable with us every day.  She feels secure enough to leave our side and play with other children in our group.
8. She is a lot of fun and has a great belly laugh.

Tomorrow is an off day since the US Consulate is closed for the tomb sweeping holiday.  Tomorrow morning, we're going with Karen and her crew to Shamian Island.  It's supposed to be beautiful there.  One family told us that it reminded them of walking through the streets of New Orleans.

Hope everyone has a great day!