Today was our last day in Fuzhou. We didn't have anything scheduled until 3:00, so we decided to take Layne to McDonald's and the mall. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Sutton is lacking in the clothes department, so I had to find him something for his debut in the US. The mall has everything for babies we have and then some. They even have a Hallmark clothing store. It's the same Hallmark that makes greeting cards. It's actually where I found his new outfit.
Fuzhou is a small city by Chinese standards. The population is 1.4 million. But as we were walking down the very crowded sidewalk outside the mall, we ran into the lady in charge of foster care at Sutton's orphanage. Talk about a small world. We stopped and spoke to each other, but neither of us knew what the other was saying.
At 3:00, a policeman came to the hotel and brought us Sutton's passport. I don't think homeland security would do that for us in the US. He was so serious as he looked over our adoption documents. He wanted to know if we were going to have Sutton's cleft lip repaired. We ended up riding down stairs in the same elevator, and he ended up being very nice. He played with Layne and offered to help me with Sutton.
We immediately left the hotel to go to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou. It was supposed to leave at 7:45, but was delayed till 9:45. There is no food in the airport once you pass security, so the airlines gave us our meals that would have been served on the plane. I don't think that would have happened in the US either.
The flight to Guangzhou was Sutton's first ride on an airplane. The pressure change really hurt his ears. He screamed and cried. Unfortunately, he can't take water from a bottle, but a sweet stewardess brought us a big spoon and a cup of water. It seemed to help some.
I'm not sure what time we finally made it to our hotel, but at 1:45 we were just starting to get everybody ready for bed. We had to be up at 6:00, so we weren't a very happy family.
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Sutton waking up in his crib. Can you believe he still sleeps in it? |
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I have to brag on Bobby. He really thought ahead. This morning Layne gave me a birthday card from her and Sutton. On the front of the card it said, "Mom, happy birthday from the both of us." Needless to say, even though most of it was spent waiting at an airport, it was a fabulous birthday!