Thursday, February 19, 2009

Happy First Birthday, Stanzi!

Here in China it's February 20--Stanzi's first birthday. We don't have much in the way of plans, as we're flying to Guangzhou this afternoon. Maybe we'll do something with the other couples when we get settled in at the hotel there.

We did have something of a celebration last night. We received our copies of the adoption paperwork, including her birth certificate. She is now officially our little girl, and we plan on doing all we can to give her a happy life. My friend Peter Schramm, who was born in Hungary and escaped with his family when the Soviets crushed the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, likes to say that he was "born American, but in the wrong place." We think Stanzi was, too. I bought some some locally-brewed beer at a nearby convenience store, as well as a bottle of apple juice for Stanzi (total cost was 6 Yuan--less than $1 US). Then we cranked up the iPod and danced around the room.

Yesterday morning was spent in a trip to the countryside, to a cluster of villages that have been in existence for 1,300 years. Of course, we don't have any buildings in America that are anything close to that old, and aside from Greek and Roman ruins there really isn't anything that old in Europe. Europe 1,300 years ago had barely gotten over the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Unfortunately we didn't get a whole lot of time for sightseeing. Not long after we began exploring one of the villages Stanzi started to pitch a fit. We appeased her as long as we could with Cheerios, but it was only delaying the inevitable. She was ready to EAT! And before long several of the other babies were fussing as well, so we cut the tour short, headed back to the bus, and made the two-hour trip back to Nanchang. We spent the rest of the day hanging around the hotel room playing with Stanzi. All in all, a pretty good day.

3 comments:

  1. HB2U, HB2U, HBDearStanzi, HB2U

    We really like the Peter Schramm "born American" phrase. Some day you'll tell Stanzi that.

    When we see Stanzi's smiles, our hearts are warmed. We can't wait to meet her.

    ReplyDelete
  2. two observations:

    1. Monica looks particularly beautiful in the birthday videos - two beautiful girls - Stanzi brings out Monica's best, obviously.

    2. It's an hour past your normal daily posting - it's 6:45PM Friday eveing here in Florida - we'll be staying up waiting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have just discovered your site and first of all... congratulations...
    Second... I have really enjoyed reading of your adventures in China.... some of the posts are very amusing...
    Safe journey...

    ReplyDelete