Last night

Well, here it is... the last official night in China before we head home. We went to the American Consulate today and swore our oath to raise Meg to the best of our abilities and the like. It was cool. There were about 30 other families there. Nearly every one had a baby in their arms. We were the only ones with a child as old as 10. The next oldest I think was near 4, as was Mister Q when we adopted him a year and a half ago.
Adopting an older child here is lonely. We were alone on the last trip and we were alone this trip. I know being by yourself has advantages, like being able to choose exactly what you do each day, but it also is very singular. Most of the couples there at the consulate were part of a group of at least 1 or 2 other families. It seemed like they had all formed bonds with the other couples and could lean on each other because they were going through the same stuff. I think I missed a bit of that. We could kind of talk to other families and we were all in the same general boat, but we definitely had our own level to ourselves. The one thing that we ALL had in common was that everyone looked like they were just dang tired. I know we are.
Today Meg was doing pretty well. She had her usual morning fit when we tried to get her dressed. She was asked to wear an outfit that she picked out in Kunming and wore 2 days in a row. Today she wanted to have nothing to do with it. Bridget got to stay up in the room this time while Q and I went to breakfast with Grandma. They made it down about 15mn later and everything seemed ok. She was wearing the outfit we set out... so we won that battle.
Meg did pretty well all morning. Mom and grandma went out after breakfast to do some shopping, then I went out when they came back. We left for the consulate about 2:45 and she was just fine. She still had some sniffles, but nothing like yesterday. I didn't get to read if Bridget posted anything about her sneezing and the product it left, but I will just say that, being the only parent she allows to touch her left my back pocket full of... well, I will say that if anyone tried to pick my back pocket, they would have gotten what they deserved.  Anyway... back to the day. The swearing in went well. She mostly sat in the little area they had for kids, with some toys and such, and built a tower of Duplo blocks that was higher than she was. She seemed very proud, as she should have been. On the ride home, we were to stop at a few places to pick up a few last things, some DVDs and some books for the plane trip home. As we stopped for the DVDs, Quincy so tactfully pointed out that she was making a mess with her mouth. I looked over and she was staring forward and it looked like she had spit up a bit. I thought it was odd, but proceeded to get a napkin to wiper her off. As I did... whatever else had been bubbling up, made it's escape, all over the van and my towel and me and her. The van had stopped and I was getting out, thinking we were going to clean her up and get situated. Richard was talking to the driver and I had no idea what they were on about, but as I got out, the door closed and the van took off. Richard said they would head back to the hotel and we would just get the shopping done and cab it home. I was worried, but figured they would call if there was trouble. We got the DVDs and the books and headed home. Bridget said that Meg had let loose a few more times in the van, but she was apparently doing ok. When I opened the door she smiled and said hello as she always did. She had eaten some crackers and was looking fine. She had her blood sugar checked and was ok. I don't know if she had a bit of food poisoning, or what, but she went to bed in good spirits.  I just hope she is well for the day of plane trips. I am NOT looking forward to the 6 hour lay over. Oh well...
Till next time, when we type from our own computer in the USA...
 
Jason, of the Laflin brood.