DAY ONE: Still in disbelief

Today was a whirlwind. For me, it started promptly at 4:30 AM after going to bed at midnight. I woke up and my mind started racing with names of people I forgot to email last night, things that have to get done in the next few days, and oh yeah, that pesky question of what to name our daughter!

I'll start by reporting that I had my co-worker and friend BZ help me out by translating a few things on Li Lei's report that weren't translated for us. She told me that Li Lei means beautiful flower bud! And that Long means dragon (which I think implies majesty). She thought it was a terrific name! The one other thing on the form that hadn't been translated reported that Li Lei drinks 200 ml (about 7 ounces) of formula and sometimes eats cereal. I told BZ that she needs to teach me some Chinese phrases before I travel!

I did notice that one other family from our agency who got a referral from the same SWI (social welfare institute or orphanage) had a child with the same last name. This is the common practice, that all the children in the same SWI usually have the same last name. Sometimes it is the director's last name. Sometimes they just use a different name for each year. I'm going to try to get more details on the origin of the name from our agency.

We did get an email from the agency with some things we need to do quickly - apply for our visas tomorrow, send the care package to Li Lei in the next day or two, and get the travel documents in order in the next few days. Of course, these require us to declare the baby's name, so I will be forced to stay awake tonight until that is resolved. Honest...we're down to two, and we really are happy with either. But it doesn't seem like the kind of decision that should be made with a coin toss, so the debate goes on.

The email also said we would get updated measurements this week. We just discovered from the pediatrician (and first suspected by Uncle T) that, despite those chubby cheeks, Li Lei is a lightweight! She looks so chubby, but my only comparison is with EJ, who didn't hit 15 pounds until she was 12 months old, so 12 pounds at 7 months seems okay to me! And, the children in China are generally bundled up quite a bit (even in the middle of summer), so maybe she just appears chubbier than she really is. They also say we should get a growth report in a few days.

Some other neat things...Li Lei shares the same birthday with my cutie pie niece H in PA! That's kind of cool. And, after our paperwork went to China in the Fall of 2005, Santa left a special gift under the tree that Christmas. It was all wrapped up and labeled for EJ, but Santa had attached a note saying she should give the contents to her baby sister when she arrived. EJ unwrapped the package to discover a cute stuffed Panda with the name of Li Mei! That Santa...he was so close with the name!

Thank you all so much for your warm wishes and support. We look forward to sharing our travels with you. We hope to leave in late May or early June.

Oh, I almost forgot...in the craziness of the last week or so, I have surprised myself by not blogging a single word about the start of baseball season. I did let out a big sigh of relief yesterday as we drove past Fenway on the way to the adoption agency...relief that I will have something enjoyable to watch on TV for a change. At least, we hope it will be an enjoyable season. I still need to get that Papelbon jersey...and I'm anxious to see Dice-K pitch tomorrow.