MALIA IS OFFICIALLY OURS TODAY!

We're doing well here in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. Malia slept really well last night. She took a nap from 6:00 - 8:00 pm, woke up and ate some cereal and only a little formula. Then back to sleep from 9:00 pm to 5:30 am. She wimpered a few times through the night, but didn't really wake up. And, she's a very fidgety sleeper. Her head started at one end of the crib but was at the opposite end when she awoke this morning. Hoping for another good night tonight.

I don't think she's liking our formula or our bottles, but we're making do. She drinks water when she gets thirsty. And, let me just say our skinny-minny is quite an eater despite her pettite size. She loves mashed up table food and adorably shakes her head "no" if she's not ready for another bite. In fact, we are learning that she is a girl who knows what she wants and definitely knows what she doesn't want ... if you know what I mean.

Now, before I get into details about our day, I wanted to post a view from our hotel room. We've learned that Jiangxi Province is a very poor province and this is very evident from this picture ...

We drove around some this afternoon for appointments and got to see some of the side streets of Nanchang. It was quite an eye-opener. But there is a square downtown that is very nice and full of history. There are also palm trees in this area (that seem out of place in this foreigner's opinion).

Okay, back to Malia. She is a very good sleeper, like I mentioned above, but she's also taken heavy naps today. This is how she spent all of her morning nap ...

Yep, she "watched" the Colts game on the internet with her Daddy. And yes, she is a Daddy's girl. It's so sweet to watch them together. And, Carmen, I have to share that your comment in our Gotcha Day post really touched him to the core.

Spencer has gotten a few giggles out of her. He's trying really hard to make her happy and laugh. It's truly an adjustment for him, as well as Malia. A little more so than we imagined.

On to our appointments ... We first made a stop at the Notary's Office where we were asked our ages and occupations, as well as "are you pleased with your child," to which we quickly replied "yes!" It was at this office that we were given Malia's official Certificate of Adoption, which means in the eyes of China she is legally our daughter. Woohooo!!! (My Mom has a great picture of us holding our certificates, but she doesn't have her cable to download pictures into the computer. Sorry!)

We then headed to the police station to apply for her passport and get her photo taken. Quick, simple and easy. And it was here that we were gathering on the sidewalk to wait for the last couple of families to finish up when some locals began to stop and stare and try to talk with us. Of course I'm sure we were making a sight - caucasian adults holding Asian babies coming out of a police station? Not an every day scene in downtown Nanchang.

And then we got stared at some more as we shopped at the local Walmart store that occupied the second and third floor of a building. The third floor had everything but groceries, which were located on the second floor along with the check-out registers. How do you get your cart from the third floor to the second floor and vice versa? Well, by a flat escalator, that's how!

Notice the areas on the sides and down the middle lined with merchandise to buy. You know, just in case something catches your eye on the ride down (or up). And, on a side note, you should have seen the people pointing at our cart and jabbering away in Chinese. Why? Because Rick had us get 13 bottles of Coke, that's why! But to make this a sweet trip, an elderly employee stopped to smile at Malia while we were waiting to check out, and gave her a big thumbs up.

I have to share that we have one LARGE group of families in our travel group, so we make quite a scene when we go out. You know when you visit a historical place in the US and you see all sorts of native people on tours going around taking pictures of everything? Well, that's our group here in China! It's really quite comical.

Our outing today began at 2:00 pm and ended around 5:30 pm, but it seemed like an all day event. Malia was a trooper through it all, especially since she was tired most of the time - even napping through part of it. She gets whiny or discontent a lot, but is easily entertained by us giving her a new toy or Cheerios to munch on. She LOVES peek-a-boo, which makes her giggle and smile. And one other tid-bit about Malia that makes us laugh ... she loves to rock herself back and forth. She really has fun with this.

Tonight she had her first bath with us. This was quite an event. She HATED it! The hotel has a little baby bathtub in the room, which we used. We had quite a time getting her to sit down in it. She cried and screamed, but was sporadically distracted by some floating bubbles from the soap. At least she's a CLEAN crying and screaming baby.

And she's now sleeping quite contently in my bed. Both the guys are sleeping as well. And, it's not even 8:00 pm here in China ...

Tomorrow is a free day and we'll get to do some exploring with our guides Elsie and Chloe, who are wonderful and very helpful. I'm really looking forward to having the chance to snap photos of this area. Unfortunately, our request for an orphanage visit was declined. So getting as many pictures of the province's capital will have to do.