Waiting for an Update...

In our quest to adopt Lillian, I have spent the last six months "paper chasing"...phone calls, emails, government/agency documents. Every time I fill something out, I worry that I forgot to include something or mistyped something and it will cause a delay. It is exhausting!

Monday, I sent all my documents and immigration approvals to my agency. I am officially done with my "paper chase!" Yippee! The rest of the process...yes, there is more...is completed by my agency representative in China. It is completely out of my hands now...of course, I will still continue to worry until our sweet Lily is safe in our arms.

Today, I filled out one last document...the most exciting document. We are requesting an update! The information we have on Lily is from November...babies change so much in five months...I can't wait to see how much she has grown! My agency suggested we ask around ten questions. As you will see, I had a few more than that.

Our Questions:

1. Did her birth mother leave a note or any other memento with her? If yes, please describe.
2. Can she roll over? Sit up unassisted? Crawl? Walk?
3. Can she pass a toy from one hand to the other?
4. Is she imitating speech sounds?
5. What was her first word or sound?
6. How many ounces of formula per bottle? Bottles per day? What times?
7. What time does she wake up? Nap? Bedtime?
8. Does she have a special friend or crib mate in the orphanage? What is this child's name?
9. If she is upset, what soothes her?
10. Can she wave bye-bye?
11. Does she have a nickname?
12. Is she close to a particular nanny? What is this nanny's name?
13. Describe her personality.
14. What is her favorite toy to play with?
15. What makes her laugh?
16. Please send updated photos and measurements. 

Babies in Lily's Provence are all adopted at the same civil affairs office in Guangzhou. Lily will travel three hours to meet us and will probably be brought by the director's assistance...not someone that knows her personally. This could be our only chance to get factual answers. Some of these answers will help us prepare for our visit and others will be for later on in life when she wants more information about her life in China. We hope to visit the orphanage, but that is at the discretion of the orphanage director and we will not know until a few weeks before we travel.

The update should take a couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted...