Coming Home

Tonight we're getting ready to say goodbye to China. What a trip this has been! 

In some ways, we knew better what to expect this time. We've been here before, after all. So we knew it would be miraculous in many ways, and challenging in others. We knew what to pack, what to leave behind, when to worry and when to relax, and we even brought the right adapter for the laptop. Hey, we even brought the laptop itself, which we didn't do last time.

Still, there was one big variable--and I don't mean the fact that we weren't staying at the White Swan Hotel and that I couldn't find fried dumplings on the breakfast buffet.

Our son Michael.

Until we met him, we weren't sure what this trip would be like. And every day, as bits of his personality started coming through, we realized we hadn't quite discovered who he was. I suspect we're still opening that gift, and we don't know all that he has in store for us. But we are in awe of this little boy who is our son. Every day he surprises us.

I don't know whether it comes across here, but we're head over heels in love with our Michael.

Tonight we are thinking a lot about our trip home. We'll be traveling for somewhere around 27 hours. Michael has no idea what's in store for him. I hope he likes flying. Or sitting. Or sleeping.

Today, during our last full day in China, we went back to Shamian Island. We just can't seem to stay away from that peaceful enclave in Guangzhou.

We stopped by to chat with our friend Jordon.

We picked up a few last gifts--and John somewhat grudgingly squeezed them into our luggage after we got back to the hotel.

While we were on the island, though, we went through the White Swan. We go there to catch a cab back to the China Hotel, you see, not just so I can sigh and say, "Oh, why aren't we staying at the White Swan?"

I hadn't really planned to try for a red couch photo with our boy, but there was a free red couch and there we were with Michael. And John was enjoying the air conditioning. So we sat down and took a few photos.

We haven't quite mastered the self-portrait, but Michael looked at the camera this time.

When I got back to our hotel and was looking through the photos, I saw this one. I had asked Michael to sit on his own, and Michael being Michael, he tried to comply. For the most part, he tries to be agreeable, though we also know he has a temper. But when I asked him to sit on the red couch, he really wanted to be held--and by his mother.

I got a similar shot when we tried for group photos of the children this afternoon.

No, he's not smiling. And it's not really the photo I had expected to take. But it's even sweeter to me that this little guy who didn't even know us nine days ago, and who was scared to come to us, is now reaching out for us. (And he didn't wait long either time for his hug.)

Our journey with Michael is just beginning, and we'll be keeping his world pretty small for a while. But already he has quite a family of people we've met along the way. Our Guangdong group, by the way, is in the front row, on the left. We've met some terrific families and we hope we'll see some of them again.

You may have noticed that Baba was missing. He is still trying to get rid of this cold, which continues to plague Michael--sleep has been a bit elusive this trip--and which I caught a few days ago, but to a lesser degree.

When we went down to the lobby to settle our hotel bill, we ran into two of our favorite people from our agency: Catherine and Joyce. Catherine's 11-year-old son, Cormac, took this photo for us, and he and John spoke in German together for a while. There was a Guangzhou Oktoberfest press conference happening in the lobby and John was itching to sneak into it and get a free beer.

It has been an amazing trip in so many ways. Still, we're tired of living out of suitcases, tired of the breakfast buffet, tired of eating Cantonese food (delightful as it is--and I haven't even talked about why Cantonese food is different...a blog for another day), tired of trying to keep Michael from banging his head on the glass desk in the hotel room, and tired of life without ice. And I don't even usually like ice in my drinks. But I could really use a glass of iced tea.

What will we miss about China?

I'll miss the sugar packets on the tables in restaurants--always a full teaspoonful of sugar, rather than the paltry American half-teaspoon. I'll miss seeing our fellow adoptive parents every morning at breakfast, comparing notes on the night before. I'll miss this special time when I can focus entirely on Michael. I'll miss the gracious Chinese people, who smile and fuss over our child everywhere we go. I'll miss the new discoveries each day, learning more about Michael, more about his native country, and more about the people who live here.

But mostly we just want to get home. We miss Louis so, so much. We know we're bringing him the greatest gift we can ever give him--a little brother. But we just want to get Michael home and see and hold our boys together.

Louis, cut that last loop on the chain! Mama, Baba, and Michael are heading home.