Medical Exam...CHECK

For the second morning in a row, I have woke up to sunshine. Yes, good ole sunshine. Something that I did not see in Beijing or Chengdu due to the amount of pollution. I actually know which way is East now.

The White Swan sits right along the Pearl River. We have a great view of the river traffic right outside our hotel room window. We sat in the lobby last night, right around sunset and watched the boats go by. One thing you can say about the Chinese, they love their neon lights! As you can see from the boats....

Cruising on the Pearl River outside the White Swan

Today was the "medical exam". For those of you who have been here, you know why I added the quotes. This exam is necessary for the child to get a US VISA to leave the country. It is performed by Chinese officials in a medical facility. This facility has a special room for the examination of Adopted children. You have to pass through the stares of the Chinese people that are waiting in the front of the offices.

We should be used to the stares by now...the first night in Guangzhou, we are walking down the street and a Chinese man is trying to get his son to stand beside me and take a photo. But he's trying to do it on the "down-low". So you know me....I stop him and say, "Hey, let me pose for that shot!" I stand there beside the poor young man (who is mortified by now) and smile nice for the camera!

Matching jammies

We walked to the Victory hotel and then to get VISA photos taken. Amelia sort of smiles for this photo. Unlike Elise who was wailing her her VISA photo. After the photo, we walked to the medical office.

Playing Mahjong

I missed this part of Elise's trip...I was lying of the floor of our bathroom (with Tucker) suffering from food poisoning. I got the scoop on the trip, but I wasn't sure what to expect.

Waiting for our turn....

First stop, was a lady that checked Amelia's feet. She seemed to be concerned that there had been some surgery. Of course there hasn't. But her feet are a bit scared up from the braces that the orphanage put on her. We haven't been putting them on her as tight as they did. When we got her, her poor little feet were purple from lack of circulation. We do leave the braces on her when she tries to walk so she stays on the flats of her feet, or sort of. Anyway, it will be good to get to an orthopedist. After some "hub-bub" over that, we moved on to the weigh in.

This isn't so bad....YET!

Well, Amelia did not like being taken out of my lap and being weighed and measured. As a matter of fact, I'm not so sure how they got a decent weight and measurement. But according to them, she weighs 19 pounds (which I can confirm) and she is 28 inches long or 73 centimeters. So for a 16 month old, she's below the 5th percentile on both. Well, at least she's consistent.

Getting ready for the weigh in. Elise is very interested in this part and what she has to say.




Wiggle, wiggle, squirm, squirm

Next was the hearing test...or sort of. There was a squeaky frog and a keyboard. I had to make Elise "stand-down" over the keyboard. She was vibrating with excitement thinking she was going to get to play with it.

Hmmmm...what is this thing?

All I can say is that the wailing and gnashing of teeth began. First, it was the ears. Hated that part. Second was the tongue depressor~nasty stuff I tell you. I can say that all "fresh" exam tools were used! I made sure they came out of clean wrappers!

Squeaky frog is not impressing Amelia!

Worse part...checking the throat!

We did stop at a small park on the way back to the hotel. Elise was thrilled, there was a slide. But we didn't stay long since the temperature is 102 degrees and the humidity is 80%. Amelia had fallen asleep by now and Elise needed lunch and a nap.

Couldn't tell you what this is. But Elise liked it!

Hoorah! A slide!

The troops are napping now and I've promised Elise a bubble blowing session when she wakes up. We have another free night, probably find the Papa John's and eat there. Who knows what we'll do. I'm dying for an American Hamburger. I'd like mine to moo at me when I bite into it too. That ain't happening here!

I need to hit the electronics store and buy a few things. We will probably head there later. Only two more sleeps in China till home!