Goodbye, Zhengzhou; Hello, Guangzhou

HYesterday we all left Zhengzhou and there wasn't a disappointed individual in our tour.  We had all grown tired of the city, of the hotel, and it was becoming increasingly clear as the week unfolded that the hotel staff, from top to bottom, was growing tired of us.

So with the paperwork that we'd waited days to get was in our backpack as we boarded a plane with Henry for the first time.  Nothing about the plane ride phased him, and in fact he even sat on my lap for a portion of the ride.  Of course I was offering him animal crackers, but both Jenn and I will take what we can get at this point.
In thinking of Henry's whole attachment process, particularly with me, we've been thinking about it in the context of our Father's love for us, and how we don't always return His love, but how in the midst of that He waits patiently for us.  And we're not the only ones who have seen this play out on this context, as Uncle Mark described the same thing.  There are lessons for all of us in this process, both for Jenn and I as we live within it, for some observers as they recall similar life circumstances, and still for others as they even consider adoption.  It's becoming unmistakable to us that adoption is a concept designed by God to reveal a seemingly small, but very important part of Himself.

Without much of a meaningful nap because of our travels, Henry was tired and grouchy as we rode our bus to the Hotel China.  It's a very nice hotel.  The rooms are smaller than our Zhengzhou hotel, but Jenn and I decided two days ago that we'd rather have a smaller room with WiFi than the other way around.  After a pieced-together dinner for Henry, he went to bed at 7:00 and cried until about 7:02.  As I'm writing this paragraph at 7:20am, he's still sleeping.

We haven't yet formed an opinion of Guangzhou, but it's hard to imagine we won't like it better than Zhengzhou.  On tap this week are: Henry's physical on Monday, our consulate appointment at the end of the week, and a few tours in between.  There will be even more downtime (blah) this week because it is a waiting process at this point. But, that'll give us more bonding time with Henry and more photo opportunities... and along with these, more laughs.

Jenn and I got to Skype with Grandpa Doug, Grandma Paulette, Lincoln and Lydia last night.  Lydia, we've learned, is sleeping nearly 2 hours longer at Grandma's house.  Unbelievable.  And both of them appear to be doing very well in our absence.  Wow, do we miss them.