5 February -- Kunming -- And Now We Are Three

Today was the most exhilirating, rewarding, and frightening day of our lives.

We headed out early to a close-in suburb of Kunming where the orphanage maintains an apartment for the handing over of the children. We walked in, and there was Shu Ping! She's so much bigger than her last picture -- and she has lots of hair now!

She settled down immediately with us and didn't have any problem with either Suzanne or Steve holding her (much to Steve's relief). She's a beautiful baby with a wonderful disposition. She likes to babble, and she loves the set of rings that we got her. She was bundled up (as Chinese babies typically are), but she's been so easy we still can't believe it!

She's fighting a cold, and she's on antibiotics for something, but she's happy and there's no apparent health issues. Our facilitator was a little concerned about her hearing, but once we got her away from distractions she was fine.

There were a couple of other adoptive parents in the apartment at the same time (Dutch), and after a raft of paperwork, some official chops, and a baby footprint later, we now have guardianship of Melissa Kathleen Shu-ping Herin; the adoption will be finalized in a day or two.

We received information about where she was found, and we'll be visiting that site later this week. We tried to get the paperwork started for her Chinese passport, but there was a slight problem -- how do you say "The computers are down" in Chinese?

We're taking it easy today, and once we get the passport paperwork completed tomorrow we hope to just spend quality time with Melissa.

I'm trying to get pictures loaded, but the computer at the business center only displays Chinese. We'll try to get them up as soon as possible!