Well, we are vastly improved over yesterday's experiences. Alex seems to be recovered from whatever he had. Our only challenge was that yesterday's long travel ordeal really put Katie off of her eating and sleeping schedule. As a result, she did not sleep well last night and has been pretty cranky today. I have a suspicion that the orphanage schedule may have been quite regimented and that it is difficult for her when we are doing things at different times each day due to appointments, etc.

This morning Dan and I took Katie for the very basic medical exam that is required by the US Consulate. Everything is normal, and she is a very healthy 21 lbs. As far as I can tell, she weighs the most out of all 10 babies in our group - even those that are older than she is. She is also 75 cm long.

Afterward I spent a few hours completing paperwork that will be submitted to the US Consulate on Tuesday so that she can get her visa to return with us. Later in the day we took Katie and Alex to a play room at our hotel that is funded by Mattel because of the large number of Americans adopting who pass through here.

We ended the day by going to a restaurant just down the street that serves "American" food. Alex was especially happy to get a grilled cheese sandwich and milk (pasteurized which is not common here). They even use purified, filtered water to make ice so I was able to drink iced tea with real ice cubes for dinner (it is always the simple things that you miss).

It was a bit rainy here today, but we are looking forward to getting out tomorrow and looking around Shamian Island where we are staying. It has a number of shops that cater to the adoptive families so lots of baby clothes, toys, etc. We are also going to the Six Banyan Temple, a local Buddhist temple, and a pearl market in the morning and to a Cantonese restaurant for dinner since this is the local specialty.

I hate to break the bad news, but we are having problems with the high-speed Internet access from our room so still no pictures as I am using a computer in the business center. Hope to have better news on the photo front soon. If not, I promise to post some after we get home.