The 411 on Baby Zhu

A little over a week ago, we became parents. It's been a whirlwind of emotions and activities, and I know there will be much more of both before we touch down at home with our daughter in our arms. And, it doesn't help when your computer crashes two days after you get your referral. Is that luck, or what???

At any rate, I've been very busy notifying everyone we know that we got our referral, doing research, joining new Yahoo groups and all other things new adoptive parents do. Thankfully, I've come to know a terrific bunch of parents who have adopted their daughters and sons from the Fuling SWI where our daughter currently lives. This Yahoo group, the Fulingers as we're known, are a terrific resource of information about the SWI and the children raised there. They've shown me how to translate our baby's Chinese names, where to get maps of her home province and they even have a photo page of past travelers where (by the grace of God) I found seven photos of our daughter. What a blessed gift that was! I was scrolling along and lo-and-behold I saw my baby....even one with cereal on her chubby little cheeks. As they like to point out, these photos are a great way to show where they spent the first portion of their life and will be very treasured items when she's older.

So, that brings me to what we know about our baby so far:

• She hails from the beautiful province of Chungqing (pronounced Chung-King) where she is one of 2 million people living there. The area is known for its beautiful farm land and I'm told the women of Chongqing are known to "be the most beautiful in all of China" by local tradition. There are a lot of farmers in the countryside of the province.
• Our daughter's name is Fu Bao Zhu which, translated in English, means Lucky Treasured Pearl. To address our daughter by her first name, we would call her Zhu (Choo). She is definitely our treasured pearl, however we are the lucky ones.
• Our daughter's birthday is 8-14-06, making her a Leo.
• She lives at the Fuling SWI and anyone interested in more information about this orphanage can go to http://www.fulingkids.org/. You will see pictures of the director and staff and find out all the wonderful things taking place there. We've been told that Fuling SWI is one of the best orphanages in all of China and that our daughter will have been given great care while there. If her photos are any indication, she has received terrific care and attention.
• Our baby girl weighs about 22-25 pounds, is approximately 29 inches tall, and is in fine health. She has four teeth, is a deep sleeper, stands while holding onto support, is active, fond of imitating, likes music and toys, is quick to react, and can eat biscuits without help. The best one of all is that she can be obstinate sometimes. (My poor, poor husband. He'll now have two stubborn women in his life.)

That's all we have so far. We continue to stare at the photos of our baby and just smile with joy that we finally have a face to go with the dream we've carried in our hearts for so, so long. We have paperwork to complete and then with any luck we'll travel to China in late September.

Until next time....