Happy birthday, Camryn

Wednesday, April 5, 2006, 9:11 a.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

NANCHANG, China - Camryn had a so-so night.
I think we exhausted the child by taking her downtown with us and then taking a walk through the neighborhood near the hotel. She was so tired she fell asleep at 5 p.m. Tuesday and didn't wake until 2 a.m. the next morning.
Now we are preparing to go on a group tour of a Chinese orphange this morning. Then this afternoon it's back to adoption paperwork - we'll interview with a notary and sign some more legal papers to speed along the adoption and Camryn's passport.
Camryn only has eyes for her mother. Lately she has been crying incessantly for Pam and wants little to do with me (which is expected in adoptions like this); sometimes she'll be quiet with me but start crying as soon as she sees her mom.
Today is Camryn's first birthday. And she is celebrating it the way she came into the world: Crying.

Copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Basic Camryn Cassreino facts

Tuesday, April 4, 2006, 9:31 p.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

NANCHANG, China - At the request of our great friends, the Sekuls, I'll fill everyone in on Camryn.
Her real Chinese name is Cao Ai Hua, pronounced "tchow EYE wha" (pronounce the T).
She's good at skipping the diaper and hitting the bed when she has to use the restroom (she can't quite make it to the toilet yet; in fact, she's so small she might slip through the seat).
Camryn loves to eat congee, a popular Chinese dish of overcooked rice. And she's starting to like formula that Pam has prepared. She's not quite made it to an Outback special of a 12-ounce sirloin; I'd give her a couple of months before she's ready for that.
Children from orphanages are usually behind in development and Camryn is no exception. She hasn't mastered sitting up by herself, but she has mastered good motor skills by passing items from her left hand to her right hand and then straight into her mouth (hey, it doesn't even have to be edible).
She loves to watch television, especially martial arts films (her favorite is "Master of the Flying Guillotine") and Hong Kong gangster thrillers (like John Woo's "The Killer" with Chow Yun-Fat). She even told me earlier Tuesday she once met Chow Yun-Fat in person. I told her I didn't believe her.
Anyway, I guess that means we will expand our satellite television lineup to include at least one Chinese language station.
Camryn isn't speaking yet. And if she was, my guess is it would be Mandarin Chinese. I guess if you think about it, she could be speaking and because we understand very little Mandarin we might not realize she is talking to us (or about us, as the case may be).
Above all, she is the gentlest, most innocent child you've ever laid eyes on. And Pam and I keep thinking and wondering how anyone could part with a child as beautiful as Camryn.
Thanks, Sherita, for asking. And we need to get together soon.

Copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Lesson learned in child care

Tuesday, April 4, 2006, 8:45 p.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

NANCHANG, China - A parent's first lesson in child care: Just because a diaper is dry doesn't mean the baby is finished.
We found that out after we returned Tuesday from a hike in downtown Nanchang and a long visit to Wal-Mart (yes, Pam still reads product labels even though they are in Chinese).
After a brief so-so lunch in our hotel restaurant, we returned to the room. Pam was changing Camryn on the king-size bed and noticed her diaper was dry.
“Oh, look, she didn’t even use the diaper,” Pam said just before she shrieked “Oh no, she’s wet the bed. Man, she really had to go.”
A good bit of the side on which I sleep was soaked. Once again, we probably scared the heck out of Camryn and caused it to happen.
Camryn took it in stride: She cried.
Actually, she cried off and on throughout the day - especially when Pam left her sight. Hey, think about it: Who’d want to be stuck with me?
As for the bed, or, rather, my side of the bed, the hotel staff cleaned the bedroom and replaced the bedding. So I’ll get to sleep dry.

Chinese water

Another interesting tidbit from China.
The country has two types of water: Water for drinking and water for flushing. That’s why it isn’t safe to drink tap water here unless you want to spend your trip in the bathroom.
You shouldn’t even use tap water to brush your teeth. Instead, you should use bottled water for just about everything (except flushing and bathing).
In fact, Holt International Children’s Services has provided us and other families here at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang with a case of bottled water for drinking (and brushing teeth).

Rough time

Some of the other Holt families are having a rough time with their babies.
At least one couple was up all night Monday with their daughter, who may have been going through the pain of teething. They looked fine, but worn out, at Tuesday lunch.
The most common problem is slow development. These kids obviously had little personal attention and, consequently, are behind American children at the same age.
Some aren’t sitting up straight by themselves, others seem indifferent to human contact, holding and hugging. Camryn just seems overwhelmed by everything thrown her way.

New gum

While at Wal-Mart today, I picked up a new product: coffee flavored Wrigley chewing gum.
The gum was pretty potent and tasted exactly like a cappuccino. So if I ever wanted a drink of coffee at work, all I’d have to do is unwrap a stick of gum and chew away.

Copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Nanchang photo gallery

Tuesday, April 4, 2006, 6:45 p.m.

Nanchang photo gallery

I hope you take time to look through a selection of eight photos Pam and I took today while visiting the beautiful city of Nanchang. If you have any thoughts, suggestions or comments, drop us a line here at our blog or at our e-mails, cassreino@bellsouth.net or terry-and-pam@cassreino.com. We hope you all have been enjoying participating in our journey. -- Terry R. Cassreino

PHOTO 1
Camryn enjoys a mouthful of congee during breakfast on Tuesday morning at the Gloria Plaza Hotel. The hotel has a breakfast buffet whose items resemble a lunch menu (fried pork chops, fried rice and duck to name a few items). The food is good, though. Camryn loves the congee, which is long grain rice that has been overcooked to the consistency of oatmeal. It's usually sweetened with sugar.






PHOTO 2
Camryn enjoys watching her mom make a strange face during breakfast. Actually, I'm not sure what Pam was reacting to at this point. She might have bitten into one of those exotic dishes they serve here (at the lunch buffet, for example, one dish was braised bullfrogs. Yum).









PHOTO 3
Here is a shot of some apartment buildings near the hotel. I thought it was interesting that the tenants hang their clothes off the side to dry them.











PHOTO 4
I don't know why, but I've been fascinated by tea sets like this one that I've seen for sale in Beijing and in Nanchang. I don't drink a lot of hot tea, but these sets are beautiful. I think I could buy one for about $10 to $15. And I may do so either in Guangzhou or Hong Kong before I head back home.








PHOTO 5
Here is the owner of Tiffanie's, a small store up the street from the Gloria Plaza Hotel. There, they sell the tea sets pictured above as well as made-to-order Chinese outfits like the one being held in the photo. We can buy one for Camryn for about $12 to $14. Dresses for girls and women cost about $32 each and also are made to order. Here's the amazing thing: We can choose the fabric and have the dresses ready in one day. Oh, and the prices are much better than the ones we were quoted for similar dresses in Beijing.











PHOTO 6
Pam and Camryn pose in the heart of the People's Square in downtown Nanchang on Tuesday morning. We took this after visiting Wal-Mart SuperCenter. I liked this building because it reminds me of the old Walgreens on Canal Street in New Orleans. Now don't ask me what the sign says on the building because my Mandarin is not that good. I will make an educated guess about this: It has something to do with the year 2006.












PHOTO 7
Camryn takes it easy watching a soccer match on Chinese television. This kid is so much into soccer that we had to race back to the hotel Tuesday morning to catch the afternoon match between her hometown team from Jiujiang City and their arch rivals from Beijing. I don't know who won because I didn't watch it (I don't like soccer). But by the way she cried afterward, I think Jiujiang City lost. Maybe next year.






PHOTO 8
By popular demand, here is another shot of Camryn sound asleep. This was taken on Monday night after she met us. We obviously shocked the poor child so much that she exhausted herself crying.








Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Camryn finally takes the bottle

Tuesday, April 4, 2006, 5:46 p.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

NANCHANG, China - Camryn finally took the bottle.
Pam and I have been concerned for the past few hours because we couldn’t get Camryn to take a bottle. Every time we offered her a drink (of the bottle, that is), she refused.
At first we thought she was frightened of the bottle. Then we thought she might not have given the bottle in her orphanage.
But when Pam and I took the baby to the hotel restaurant for lunch, we sat her in a highchair, fed her congee and then she drank from the bottle.
And boy did she drink and drink and drink. We knew it worked because we could tell when we changed (or, more correctly, Pam) her diaper a few hours later.

Crying baby

Camryn still cries a lot - except for when she is sleeping.
Seriously, she does seem to cry a lot.
Pam and I suspect she is grieving over the loss of her caretaker at the orphanage and she is still confused by these crazy two white Americans who she is now living with.
I imagine she may cry less the more she becomes used to us. But we wonder how she will take to the friends and family who can’t wait to see and meet her when we return.
As timid as Camryn is, I’m guessing she’ll be petrified of Sophie, our Maltese.

New teeth

Could Camryn be teething?
She already has two bottom teeth. Pam thinks she might be teething two uppers, which could be why she won’t stop crying.
And hey, I’m not just talking about crying. I’m talking about screaming-at-the-top-of-her-lungs hysterics. Sometimes I fear she’ll break my eardrums as well as hers.


Potty training

When the Chinese potty train their children, they start early and use a unique process: Their children wear “split pants.”
Split pants replace the seam up the middle of a pair of pants with one zipper. Boys and girls who are potty training wear the pants with the seam unzipped and wide open.
It’s common to walk around any Chinese city and see parents with their children who are wearing split pants unzipped.
On Tuesday, we saw two children. One, a boy wearing split pants, ran up and down the People’s Square to the delight of his parents and exposing everything to the world.

Wal-Mart similarities

We’ve visited Wal-Mart SuperCenters in Cancun, Beijing and now Nanchang.
And besides the thick crowds, the Nanchang store has at least two other things in common with stores back in the United States.
First: They have a greeter at the entrance who welcomes everyone into the store. The greeter also checks your receipt to make sure you didn’t steal anything.
Second: Why can’t they open all those dang check-outs? The Nanchang store has more than 60 registers, but only 15 open on Tuesday while lines snaked five to 10 people deep.
If they don’t plan to open the checkouts, then don’t tease shoppers who are more interested in popping in and popping out instead of waiting in line for an eternity.

Favorite cookies

Success
While browsing the snacks and cookies section of Wal-Mart, we found Camryn’s favorite biscuits (or crackers, as I call them). She's eating them in the photo on the left.
The sweet, rectangular biscuits cost less than $1 a pack. When we returned from Wal-Mart, we gave Camryn one - and she munched and crunched away enjoying every second.

Smaller town

Nanchang is substantially smaller than Beijing - and the lack of serious traffic problems and smog is more than evident.
It took me, Pam and Camryn 10 minutes by taxi at to reach the People’s Square and the Wal-Mart SuperCenter. In Beijing, the same trip might have taken 20 minutes,
Here’s another fascinating piece of trivia: The cab ride cost us about $1 each way. Try taking a taxi in the United States for that fare and see how far you go.


Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Elderly Chinese woman spreads cheer

Tuesday, April 3, 2006, 5:29 p.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

NANCHANG, China - The elderly Chinese woman stopped, walked over to the little girl on the bench, bent down at the waste, looked into her eyes and smiled.
The woman stood, looked at the girl’s mom, spoke Mandarin and laughed. Then she flashed a thumbs-up, fully aware that the American woman was adopting the baby girl.
The mom was my wife, Pam, the baby was our new daughter, Camryn. Pam and Camryn were sitting on a bench just off the People’s Square downtown; I was standing nearby.
We were far from alone.
A steady stream of business people, parents and children enjoyed the cool mid-morning breeze and a break from the hectic pace of life in this city of 4 million.
Most of the people knew we were here to adopt a child. And as strange as it was to see an American couple in a major Chinese city with a Chinese child, they accepted us.

Downtown trip

Our visit downtown began after a short trip up the street from our hotel, the Gloria Plaza Hotel on the banks of the Gan River. Pam and I had decided to take Camryn for a walk.
After walking about a block, we decided to strike out on our own and head for the Wal-Mart SuperCenter to buy baby supplies.
We’ve felt at ease in China ever since we arrived March 28 in Beijing, so a taxi ride into town was no big deal. Besides, we had to visit Nanchang’s Wal-Mart.
Call it what you want: strange, bizarre or a total waste of time. But Pam and I call our trips to Wal-Mart, to department stores and to grocery stores an educational experience.
Think about it: Where else can you go in a foreign country to get a better taste of a region’s culture and what’s important to the people who live there?
And with Wal-Mart’s familiarity back home, Pam and I find it interesting to look at the similarities as well as the distinct differences between China and United States stores.

Camryn’s experience

Anyway, I digress. We took Camryn, hopped into a taxi and spent a couple of hours exploring Wal-Mart and downtown.
Our trip to Wal-Mart also gave us a chance to see if Camryn would take to shopping carts. She did, sitting in the seat and quietly enjoying the ride until she quickly fell asleep, her body slumped over and eyes closed.
At that point she moved to my shoulders, then to Pam’s baby carrier - before ending up on Pam’s lap later outside Wal-Mart on the bench near the People’s Square.
And that led to the elderly woman’s visit. Like many people in China, she was well aware of efforts to save China’s “lost daughters” - children caught by the one-child policy.
But with the country’s limited space and the number of residents growing rapidly, what else can China do? That’s why Chinese people seem so genuinely excited about adoptions.
In fact, Chinese people often stop new parents on the street.
A lot of Chinese don’t speak English, but that’s OK. All they have to do is flash a smile and give a thumbs-up - just like the elderly lady we saw on the People’s Square.

Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.