July 9, 2005
A Medical Exam & Paperwork
2:30 pm -
Today has been a somewhat leisurely day. We took Tyler for a medical exam this
morning that is required to get his American visa. Boy, what an experience. It
was like a public health clinic and it was full of people getting check ups. There
was a special section devoted solely to adoption exams. First they weighed and
measured him. He's 21 lbs. and 77 cm (30 inches). So he's actually not as
chubby as we first thought.
Then it was
on to check his ears and mouth. The doctor looked in his ears and then he shook
rattles on the left and right side of Tyler's head to see if he turned his
head. No problem there. Then the doctor shoved a tongue depressor into his
mouth to look down his throat. As you can imagine Tyler was really thrilled
about that. It didn't help that he didn't get much sleep last night because he
was coughing all night. Because of this he was a little cranky this morning. This
is also to say that Mom didn't get much sleep either.
Last was
what you could call a skin exam. They took off his clothes and checked for any
rashes, or other ailments visible on the skin. The funniest part of this was
when the doctor whipped off Tyler's diaper and was surprised to see that he was
a boy. "Oh! A boy! A boy!" His reaction was classic. Thankfully we
got a little bit of it on video. Obviously, he hasn't seen too many boys in his
career as an adoption doctor. The only noticeable mark was what the orphanage
said was a heat blister that had popped on his right hand. Besides that there
were no other things to be concerned about.
So needless
to say Tyler passed his exam with flying colors. We then spent some time at
Susan's Place, a souvenir shop, on the way back to the hotel. We brought our
laundry there and have gotten to know Susan and her husband, Dong, over the
past couple of days. They are surprised, as is everyone we meet, that we were
able to adopt a boy. We have been borrowing a stroller from them and bought a
chop (Chinese name stamp) with Tyler's name on it. The shop is actually Susan's
parents' store and she is running it for them in order to pay for her education
at university. They are very interesting people. While we were hanging out some
school children stopped Bill and asked if they could take their picture with him.
Caucasian faces are so interesting to the children here. Sort of funny. So
somewhere out there there is a picture of Bill surrounded by Chinese children.
8:45 pm -
We're settling down for the night now. Tyler just had his second bath with us. This
time it was much more enjoyable. He was splashing around and having a good old
time.
Alana spent
the afternoon with some of the other parents filling out the paperwork for the
U.S. consulate in order to make Tyler a U.S. citizen. It was a lot of paperwork
and a lot of it was just stating the same things over and over and over again. It
took an hour and half to fill it all out, but it's all worth it. We'll just be
glad when this paper work is all over.
We went to
a Thai place for dinner tonight with the group. It was pretty good. We ordered
a curry dish with beef and potatoes and Pineapple rice. The curry wasn't as
spicy as we like it, but considering the hot weather it was probably a good
thing it wasn't that spicy. After dinner we checked out an art gallery next to
the restaurant called Ben's Gallery. We bought a few pictures, but before we
did he gave Tyler a little red string bracelet with jade figures on it for good
luck. This was a gift for no charge. We were really touched by the gesture even
if we did buy 380 yuan (about $46) worth of paintings. What a deal for original
paintings he did himself.
The countdown continues to bring Tyler home...
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Going to the clinic |
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The weight station - 21lbs and 77 cm in length |
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Ear, nose & throat station - all is clear! |
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Skin check station - this doc did not expect a boy |
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Exam complete! |
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Stores are named using
common US first names... We think this is part of their marketing strategy |
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Tyler, Dong and Susan Susan and Dong are
proprietors of Susan's Place. They sell goods and services (Chinese trinkets,
laundry service, stroller rental, you name it, they sell it) |
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Playing in the tub |
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All clean and it's time for
bed! |
