Matthew continues to adjust amazingly well

** Adoption countdown: 7 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008, 6:30 a.m.) – Matthew continues to adjust well nearly two days after he joined our family and one day after our adoption became legal under Chinese law.

After playing for several hours on our hotel room bed with a horde of Matchbox-style cars (and talking feverishly in Mandarin I couldn’t understand), a tired Matthew went to bed around 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

I snuck out of the room for the hotel lobby and the Internet at a little after 6 p.m., and he was still sound asleep.

Matthew’s progress so far is in stark contrast to our daughter, Camryn, who had sleeping problems and wouldn’t even look at me for the first week we were together as a family.

In fact, Camryn didn’t warm up to me until after we arrived in Guangzhou to complete U.S. paperwork (which also can be lengthy and involved).

The first real test for Matthew will be Friday, Dec. 12, when we fly from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou, about a three-hour trip in the morning.

How will he handle the flight? His behavior might give us a clue of what we can expect during the 12-hour flight from Tokyo to Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 18.

Getting philosophical

As I looked at Pam in our room with Matthew cradled in her arms on the bed, you can’t help but wonder about the delicate nature of life and children – our most precious resource.

With the risk of sounding pompous, I believe we all are here for a reason. And what better one than to help preserve the future of our families, our world and our God than to raise, nurture, protect and educate our children?

I remember hearing former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus speak while he served in office and in the years since then. Gov. Mabus has long been a fervent, outspoken supporter of public education in Mississippi and nationwide.

The one thing I remember hearing Gov . Mabus say over and over and over, the one thing that has stayed with me throughout the years, was his passion for protecting our most important “natural resource” – our children.

He’s right. How much more vulnerable, defenseless and impressionable can a child be than Camryn was when we took her in our arms on that fateful afternoon of Monday, April 3, 2006?

Or how much more vulnerable, defenseless and impressionable can a child be than Matthew was when we held him in our arms for the first time on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008?

We’ve met several U.S. families in Beijing and Zhengzhou who are doing the same thing we are. Many are here to adopt children with special needs: club feet, cleft palate, congenital heart disease.

Couple that with the love and support our son received from the Amazing Hands Children’s Home in Beijing and you can’t help but be moved by the commitment and dedication demonstrated by the Chinese people to give their children a “forever family” and a chance at a good life, something they might not otherwise have had.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.

More photos from Zhengzhou

** Adoption countdown: 8 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, 11:10 p.m.) – Pam and I already outlined much of the day in photos in a photo gallery-slideshow I posted earlier today (it is still there in an earlier post).

Nevertheless, I thought I would add another quick slide show of a few more pictures. So instead of blandness, we added spice. And instead of a dinner by ourselves, we chose to spend time with our new son.

At the bottom of this post, you will find a second slide show. This one includes night shots of Christmas decorations at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (as well as a few extra Matthew shots I took just before he went to bed). Hope you enjoy it.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.

DIRECTIONS: Click photo to enlarge. Toggle photo captions with button in left-hand corner of photo gallery slide show.

Certificate could shed light on Matthew's past

** Adoption countdown: 8 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, 10:20 p.m.) – Today we will finally learn all the details about how our son came to be as resident of an orphanage in Henan Province.

Well, we may not learn everything.

We are expected to get a copy of Matthew’s abandonment certificate, which, essentially, is a newspaper ad with his face asking the public for any information. The ad will list information about Matthew including where he was found.

Aside from that, it will offer no new clues into his life. I think the home where he stayed in Beijing the past year has provided us a good bit of information about the last year.

And if you ask me that’s more than I ever would have expected. This at least gives us a chance to flesh out what his life was like in Beijing; at some point he will begin asking questions about his life.

Also on tap for Thursday: We plan to walk down to the city’s shopping district, which isn’t too far from the hotel.

And we will receive all final paperwork from Henan Province, which we must take to Guangzhou in order to file the necessary forms to obtain his entrance visa.

Now, as I have said before, this next leg of the trip in Guangzhou is just as important, as time consuming and as tedious as anything else we have adoption-related the past week.

So, until later today, I will leave you with this great photo of Matthew letting Pam brush his teeth.

Have a great day – I’m going to bed.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.

New photo gallery-slide show: Wednesday in Zhengzhou

** Adoption countdown: 8 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, 5:05 p.m.) – After a hectic, emotionally-draining day on Tuesday when we got our son, today was a slower-paced and more relaxing.

A trip to the Civil Affairs office to complete and the adoption. A trip to the notary public for official documents. A trip to pick up Matthew’s Chinese passport. A trip to Wal-Mart.

Whoa! Wait a minute! Wal-Mart? Again? Say it ain’t so. Well, actually, it wasn’t Wal-Mart. It was Lotus SuperCenter, a Thailand-based retail store that seemed larger than Wal-Mart in Beijing.

I’m sorry. Pam and I can’t help it. It’s a sickness. Maybe we need to get some help. Is there a support group for folks who go to large discount shopping stores outside of the country?

Oh well, too late. At the bottom of this post, you’ll find our latest photo gallery and slideshow from today, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008. You can click the photo slideshow to enlarge the picture.

AND DON’T FORGET: Time is running out to help choose the exotic food Pam will eat before we leave China.

Thanks for joining us on this unforgettable trip. We hope you will continue to follow us along – we still have a lot to do before we head home Thursday, Dec. 18.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.

DIRECTIONS: Click photo to enlarge. Toggle photo captions with button in left-hand corner of photo gallery slide show.

Cassreinos' adoption of He Wu Di is complete

** Adoption countdown: 8 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, 4 p.m.) – Matthew Wu Di is now officially our child – the Civil Affairs office of the Henan province here In Zhengzhou formally approved our adoption this morning.

It was a small ceremony in the fifth-floor office of the government building we visited on Tuesday to get custody of Matthew. And it took place just before noon.

From there, Pam, Matthew, I and our guide from Holt International Children’s Services walked about a block to have official paperwork notarized. We actually will receive all of the official paperwork on Thursday – including information on where Matthew was abandoned.

After our adoption became formal, Pam, Matthew, our Holt escort and I visited a local department store, the Thailand-based Lotus SuperCenter, to buy baby products.

Because Wal-Mart has no stores in Zhengzhou we had to settle for something else. And, to be perfectly honest, Lotus had tons more products at what looked like better prices than Wal-Mart.

Among the $40 worth of stuff we bought: Toy cars for Matthew Wu Di, additional diapers, cookies, several bottles of Coca-Cola and several bottles of Diet Coke.

With the weather cooling off significantly in Zhengzhou on Wednesday – right now it is 43 degrees under overcast skies – we considered buying Matthew a new coat. But after we thought about it, we decided he can wear the coat he had when we got him.

We will find him something better in Guangzhou.

Matthew update

Matthew is doing fine and adjusting well. In fact, he has readily smiled and has started calling Pam “mama” and me “baba.” He might even have an easier transition than Camryn did.

Even though Matthew cried today when we had to have his hand prints taken at the Civil Affairs office, he otherwise was a well-behaved child – both at the Lotus SuperCenter and at lunch in the hotel.

Speaking of eating, this kid can put away a lot of food. Today at lunch he ate almost an entire bowl of chicken congee (which was pretty good) and munched on some decent French fries.

Matthew loves boxed milk – milk in boxes similar to the juice boxes in the United States. We also treated him to a couple of toys today, including a pack of small race cars.

Matthew is fascinated by cars. He will sit in a car or van, look out the window, point and say the Chinese word for cars and trucks. He says a few other things in Mandarin, but I don’t know what they mean.

Zhengzhou bustles

Even though we haven’t had a lot of time to explore Zhengzhou, Pam and I can tell you this is a pretty busy city.

Within walking distance of our hotel is a shopping district where residents shop for clothing, jewelry and groceries. Two U.S. staples also are in abundance here: McDonald’s and KFC. The McDonald’s location a couple of blocks away is open 24 hours a day.

Our 2006 trip to Beijing saw hordes of people moving about the city on bicycles, taking them to work or the store. While bike traffic was noticeably down in Beijing this year, it looks very heaving here in Zhengzhou. Bikes are all over the place.

And just like in Beijing, most businesses are decorated for Christmas. Our hotel, for example, has a large artificial Christmas tree, dramatic indoor lighting and a gingerbread house. Outside, neon reigns as it is used to decorate just about every building in town.

Adoption trip

This time in China, Pam and I are on our own.

In March-April 2006, we traveled with as large group from Holt International Children’s Services. When we traveled to Jiangxi province to get Camryn, we were with 10 other couples.

This time, it’s just Pam and me. We were the only Holt folks in Beijing, the only ones in Zhengzhou and probably will be among a small group in Guangzhou.

It’s not that big of a deal. But, I have to admit, there have been some times on this trip in which Pam and I have felt isolated and alone. At least with a large group, you can find someone to share and talk about their experiences.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.