A Final Visit to the Registration Office

Well she is really ours!

This morning, Mark went to the registration office again. Today we got Pu Fu Na's adoption certificate, her Chinese passport, our "donation certificate" from the orphanage and all of our receipts. This is the end of the paperwork from the Chinese government. It was a semi-formal ceremony. This is a picture of the presentation:

And here are some of the official Chinese adoption certificates, receipts, and other paperwork:

Beth stayed at the hotel for some more bonding time with Merrilee. Yesterday was a better day for mommy and Merrilee. Our baby loves to share Cheerios and she has already learned to "high five" people. She also likes to play "ring around the rosie..."

Amazingly, this morning, she had a BM in the toilet! Mark held her over the toilet...grunted...and much to his surprise, out it came! That's how they potty train here. She's already pee-peed in the toilet four times!

Last night we had a group dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was a fabulous dinner and cost just slightly more than the pizza the other night from Pizza Hut -- $16.95 per couple! Here are our friends Nikki and Billy and their little girl, Kassidy:

One of the specialities was a local fresh fish. It looked a little like a bloomin' onion from the Outback Steakhouse but it was very, very tasty:



While at the restaurant, Merrilee discovered the best seat in the house -- high atop daddy's shoulders. Or, she may have mistaken his bald head for a crystal ball and was just trying to look into her future:


Later we rode through a park on the Yangtze river. There were thousands of people out enjoying the breeze. The break from the heat during the evening feels so good.

Later this afternoon, we are having a celebration pizza party for our group here at the hotel.

Tomorrow afternoon we are due to fly south back to Guangzhou, which is just a little northwest of Hong Kong. If you've been watching the news, Hong Kong is about to be hit by a powerful typhoon. If the flight goes off as planned it should be some bumpy ride!

Finally, one more picture. Merrilee loves magazines and books, and we have been reading to her from some of the books that were given as gifts. She knows now that cows go "moo" and dogs go "woof." It is hard not to love such a sweet and innocent child who's already had a life that most of us can't even imagine!