The Official Adoption Day

On Tuesday, we all went back to the civil affairs office for the official adoption. Even though we were the only family, it still took all morning. I included some pictures in the last post from this day. Isaac was great and did not really react when he saw the director again. He was having too much fun with Ella. There was a large chalk board in the room and the two of them drew on it with Isaac imitating everything Ella did. He is a lot like Ella was when we're in a car or van...he is very quiet and is just glued to the window. There's a lot happening in the streets of China.
In the afternoon, we went to the embroidery factory. The museum was closed, but we still enjoyed seeing the amazing work of these girls at the museum factory.

Isaac loves his stroller. He can't wait to get in it. Sometimes he goes and sits in it and asks for someone to do up his straps. He loves to have the tray on and then go for a ride. There have been a few tense moments between him and Ella on this stroller. He realized he could head butt her from the front and she started elbowing him. It's already started....the love hate sibling relationship. Ella loves the stroller as well. She loves the fact that she can hop on and off and has a seat if she needs it. No one else likes it. It's hard to manoeuvre on these streets. Isaac is really too big for it as the foot rest for him is quite small. Still, we absolutely need it...he's a brute!

On the way there, we passed this guy on his bike. We're constantly amazed by what people can carry on their bikes and scooters around here.

After the embroidery factory, we came back to the hotel and then headed out to a department store nearby via a street market behind our hotel. By the way, for those previous visitors to Changsha and staying at the Dolton, Apollo (the department store we were taken to in 2005) has gone out of business. There are many more around and all these new streets are lined with new shops. Even though the new streets are open and the sidewalks are almost complete, there is still a lot of construction. As I said, we went through a street market behind our hotel. The other family was also with us. Of course, we were a curiosity...especially in this market where they probably don't see many foreigners. You could get anything in this market.....maybe even bird flu (see picture). Dale, the new daddy from the US, tried a chicken foot and a few other things. He tried bullfrog at the hotel restaurant the night before. In the market, we saw live bull frogs, small local frogs, snakes, chickens, eels....even little rabbits for sale. It was interesting and we enjoyed it, but mom couldn't wait to get out of it.

Wednesday update coming soon,
Effie