Sunshine adn more sunshine

The lovely pre-summer weather continues and the girls enjoy playing outside all day long.

They play in the sand pit, go on the swings, we visit playgrounds and go to the beach. I appreciate the easy access to the nature here in Sweden. The children get dirty incredibly fast and the washing machine is full every second day - just as it's supposed to be.

Today Vera-Mei received her Swedish personnummer, so she is officially a person here in Sweden. We can now apply for the re-adoption - I will do it tomorrow. Vera-Mei has also done the medical check-up for adoptive children today. It's so hard to do the blood tests! I almost start to cry myself. Anyway, it's good to have all the tests taken and within a few weeks we will know for sure everything is fine with her.

Olivia is still very jealous, but the girls enjoy each others company very much and play nicely together a lot of the time. I have stopped Vera's mid day nap. She is very tired now, - I will put her down at 6.30 pm, but this means she will cry angrily for five minutes every night instead of one hour two times a day - better for everyone. She keeps her good mood all afternoon, until she sees the pyjamas - she really doesn't want to go to bed!

Well, time to get the girls out of the bathtub!

Spring and night terrors

We have had a couple of lovely days here in Varberg. The weather is fantastic, Vera-Mei is all smiles and happy (as long as it's only the closest family) and Olivia slowly comprehends that she will need to share mummy with little sister.
Yesterday we went out to the summer house. If the beautiful spring weather continues we will stay there over Easter.
Today Olivia and I went to Hoppis och skuttis, a gymnastic class for parents and children together. The difference between UK and Sweden became so clear: Here we were supposed to work out together, play and have fun, because they think three to five year olds are much to young to do classes on their own. In UK the parents are not allowed in the classes when the children have turned three, and it is so much discipline and very serious. After ten minutes Olivia asked me "Mum, why are we here" - she didn't see the point with the exercise and free dancing! This makes me worried. I want her to play a few more years, but she will probably start school in September.
Anyway, the whole family went to the beach and had a picnic in the afternoon, and then we met Olivia's cousins Leon and Gideon for a short play date.
Now it's time to put the girls to bed. Both Mats, myself and my mum have colds and feel very tired. I'm glad the summer time begins tomorrow, it helps our jet lag. We still wake up at five-six am.
I have also done some research about night terrors (nattskräck). I think that's what Vera has at night. The first hysterical cry normally starts when she has been asleep a few hours and often returns several times through the night. She cries for about ten minutes and won't be calmed down, sometimes with her eyes open, and then suddenly stops and just points to the bed and falls asleep immediately. Night terrors often start when there are changes in small children's lifes plus when their normal sleep pattern is disturbed - well, that fits quite good. Hopefully the attacks will be fewer soon.
Happy weekend!

Sista dygnet

The girls are playing in Granny's garden, the sun is shining and we are very happy - even though Vera-Mei had constant nightmares and kept us all awake most of the night. Poor girl, she sounds so sad when she is sobbing in her sleep. One wonders what makes her so upset, if she is grieving, or afraid all this new will disappear, or if hard memories haunt her in her dreams. She calms down only when we carry her and cuddle her. It's very nice and promising she lets us comfort her, but I feel sleep deprived, both from this and the jet lag.
Here are the pictures I promised yesterday.
The evening before we left - all the girls dressed up in their new silk dresses for group and family photos.
The Karlssons.
Final Chinese dinner on Tuesday evening.

On the plane to Copenhagen.
Finally a smiling girl!
Our lovely daughters.
We arrived in Gothenburg at 8.50 pm. Waiting for the missing suitcases, we received them yesterday afternoon.

Back home in Sweden!

It's now half past eight and we have been awake since 5am - not to bad, I was worried we'd all be up at 2am.
The trip home went great. We managed to feed the girls and put them to sleep before the adults' food was served and enjoyed two meals without disturbance! Our adoption friends were very impressed, but I have to admit this was mostly luck. But it's a long journey and we were all very tired when we finally landed in Gothenburg. Granny's partner Douglas and our very good friend Gunnar met us at the airport. They had borrowed children's car seats for the girls (first safe journey in a couple of weeks) and a small trailer for the suitcases. The last wasn't necessary, as only Granny's suitcase and one buggy arrived with our flight. The rest was stuck in Copenhagen. Very irritating, after such a long trip you really want a nice shower, a toothbrush and some clean clothes! Hopefully the suitcases will be delivered here within a few hours.
Douglas served champagne in the car and we were all very happy to be on Swedish ground. Wow, we did it again! Adoption is such a long process both emotionally and practically, and the relief when you're finally back home with a wonderful child is indescribable.
Vera-Mei was awake almost all the way to Varberg and looked at the surroundings with big eyes. She said "Dä!" "Dä", baby-Swedish for There, There!. Yesterday was also the big break through for her, she is now all smiles and laughing all the time, and she says Mamamamamama, and giggles happily.
I will post pictures as soon as we find a way to transport the files from Mats laptop to Granny's computer, which I am using now. We can't connect the laptop to the Internet here.
Thank you so much all of you who have followed our amazing journey to bring little sister home! Thanks for all the nice comments - they make me very happy! I intend to continue blogging from Sweden, but maybe not every day, it will be difficult to find the time as I will be alone with two children all day.
Next week we will register Vera-Mei for a Swedish "personnummer", meet our social worker, apply for the re-adoption and do Vera's medical examination. When all this is done it's time to apply for a British visa. Wish us good luck, please!

Pa nastan svensk mark

We went to the Swedish table tennis player JO Waldner's restaurant yesterday. In the rest of the world you can always say Abba and people understand you're from Sweden, but in China you need to say JO Waldner.
The slogan is "Probably the best Swedish food in China". Well, it was okay, but some more salt and pepper made it even better.
Olivia tried out the table tennis. Notice the man with the camera in the right corner of the photo. He's a photographer from People's daily, the newspaper which is the number one voice of the government in China. They will publish a story about the restaurant on Saturday, and have promised to send me a copy if Olivia appears on a picture. But I doubt the want to write about adoption, and they have to if they don't intend to lie.
Kottbullar, Wallenbergare, Biff Rydberg, Pyttipanna och halstrad lax smakade got efter tva veckor i Kina.


Olivia is practising egg and spoon race.
Learning to use the fork.
We tried the football game as well.
Olivia didn't reach so Mrs Fang, Mats Chinese colleague, helped her.
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Today Granny, I and Olivia have been on a Hutong-tour by rickshaw. It was interesting but very cold. I forgot the camera, so no photos. We went with our adoption group and visited a local market, the home of an "ordinary man" and a nursery. The nursery was for children from four years old and more like a boarding school, the children live there Monday to Thursday. They eat and play in the classroom and sleep in a dormitory. The reason the stay both days and nights is the parents want the children to develop their independence.
How different we look at things!
Now both the sleeping beauties have woken up from their nap and want my attention.
Tomorrow: Sweden!

Kina-fynd

We bought this at the Yashow clothes market yesterday.
Vera-Mei tries a Rolex watch.
My mother and I went to the Pearl Market today. The girls now have one mobile phone and one watch each. They are very pleased. Olivia's is a Spiderman phone and she is thrilled.

This is what we bought today.

I wanted to go to the zoo but the weather isn't very good. Hopefully tomorrow. Because on Wednesday our two weeks in China is over and we are going to Sweden!

Tonight we will meet Fang again and go to JO Waldner's Swedish restaurant. Olivia is looking forward to the meatballs!

Dad Lasse, I have bought you five shirts and five ties. I hope you like it.

Vi kommunicerar!

Vera-Mei skrattar massor, men doljer sitt ansike mest hela tiden. Hon ar fortfarande blyg for alla utom Ia.
Ord Vera-Mei sager:
Dje-Dje (big sister)
Mamma (said twice when asleep a couple of days ago)
Good girl (Duktig flicka, brukar vi saga till Olivia och nu aven till Vera-Mei)
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Saker hon forstar:
Tag pa/Tag av skorna/byxorna/strumporna/jackan
Vagnen
Bada
burkar (att stapla)
banan
ga till toaletten
Sitt ner
Sta upp
Ligg ner
Kom
Ga
buss
Bil
Vatten
Knacka pa dorren
Pappa
Mormor
Ia
Titta
Borsta tanderna
Tvatta handerna/munnen
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...och sakert mycket mer
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Favoritmat:
Glass, brod, pizza (suck)
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Storsta intressen just nu: Mobiltelefoner, skor och klockor. Hon har just suttit och lekt med sex rolexklockor. Hur manga barn gor det vid tva ars alder? Jag kopte dem av en dam som borjade med tva for hundra (kronor/yuan, same same but different). Efter 200 meter var det fyra for hundra. Efter 500 meter var det sex for hundra. Jag skulle inte kopa just sadana klockor och just da, men jag blev sa berord av denna kvinnas desperation att jag till slut halade upp en hundring. Kvaliteten var kanske inte den basta, men den dar kvinnan blev i alla fall valdigt lycklig. Och Vera-Mei hade hur kul som helst nar hon lekte med dem sedan.
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Nar v fick Olivia insag jag tre saker: Att ha barn ar jobbigare och roligare an man kan forestalla sig. Det innebar dessutom ett standigt daligt samvete, trots att man gor sitt yttersta att vara en bra foralder. Att fa ett syskon ar: Jobbigare och roligare an man kan forestalla sig, och det daliga samvetet blir dubbelt! Olivia vill vara bebis hela tiden och jag forsoker verkligen att uppmarksamma henne jattemycket, men nu maste ju lillasyster fa mycket tid, sa att hon lar sig svenska och borjar lita pa oss. Och jag ser hur Olivia blir ledsen emellanat.
Men att se dem busa och skoja och skratta gor mig saker pa att detta var ratt. Och nu nar vi lart kanna Vera-Mei sa ar hon oss oerhort kar. Tank vilket tur jag och Mats har haft, att ha fatt tva sa underbara flickor! Vi kanner oss sa lyckligt lottade!
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Nu har bada illbattingarna somnat och jag ska hamta Mats som sitter inne hos svarmor och dricker vin. Jojo, sa kan det ga!

Pa lekplatsen

We had a really lazy morning today, we all needed to sleep. Granny though went up early and went to Tienanmen square (Himmelska fridens torg) and the Forbidden city. We saw it last time we were here and once is enough for us!
Mats and I took the girls to a nearby park. There was a big outdoor gym and a playground and we played for an hour. Vera-Mei really enjoyed going on the slide! I tried so hard to take her picture when she smiled, but she still hides the happy face.
Kind of a smile, maybe?
Olivia did some exercise at the gym.


We had a bunch of spectators all the time. They speak very poorly English, but want to know why we have Chinese children, most people try seems to understand the word adoption. They think we look very young (thanks) and wonder why we don't have biological children. They say our girls are very beautiful, and we agree of course!

After a quick lunch (Mats and the girls had take away from Subway, I and Granny went to a local restaurant) the girls have had a nap. Olivia is still sleeping, Vera-Mei is awake, talking and playing in the bed.
We will soon go to a market to begin the serious shopping! I hope for better weather tomorrow, because I want to take the girls to the zoo. Olivia must see a panda before we leave!

In Beijing with a smile!

The weather here should be more winter like, but the sun is shining and it feels like spring! We don't miss the humidity and rain in Changsha, but the food was much more spicy there and is much more plain in Beijing. Mats says he can't have another Chinese dinner for the rest of his life and is insisting we are going to Pizza Hut this evening.
Today Vera-Mei gave me the first smile, when she woke up after her nap. It was a great feeling! She also is much more curious and determined, but still very serious and she thinks a lot. She keeps pointing to different things and wants us to tell the words. She tried drawing and coloured the bed, she constantly tries to make phone calls and fiddles with everything. What a difference a few days make! She seems to be at least partly toilet trained, when we put her at the loo she will wee and poo, but she also uses the nappy when she wants. At the moment she is snacking on dried octopus, included in the flight lunch. She is the only one who appreciate it! Vera-Mei is also stronger, she walks better, doesn't fall as often and her posture is improving every day.
It's amazing how similar this adoption is to Olivia's. We have reminded ourselves over and over again that everything will be different, but it is so much the same. They are both the weakest, shyest, quietest and prettiest (okay, I'm the mum) of the bunch. They have a great appetite and they sleep well (but Vera has nightmares from time to time - and I think she has used a dummy though the orphanage staff didn't tell).
Olivia is so happy and says she only love little sister, not mummy or daddy. She is also very jellous and has cried a few times. I guess it is hard for any child to get a younger sibling, but maybe there is another dimension in the feelings for adopted children. Anyway, most of the time Olivia is very caring and nice to Mei-Mei. Vera is also very fond of Olivia and almost starts to cry when Olivia leaves the room, for example. They have attached very well (but I think Vera could easily change parents today without missing us).
And, thanks to all of you who have written comments here on the blog. It's so nice to know you follow our journal and please comment more!!!

Sista dagen in Changsha

At a buddhist tempel today.
Vi besokte ett tempel och blev lite hapa over stallet dar rokelserna tandes - skrapgropen. Ingen i gruppen halkade pa andan pa vag ned, vilket far ses som mest tur.
Olivia fick ocksa en spadom:
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Olivias fortune was told:
Tha karp swims through the dragon gate, meaning Great success will come in the future, she will make generations proud and probably work for the government.
Vi besokte en by pa landsbygden for att fa en uppfattning om de forhallanden som flickornas biologiska foraldrar kan leva i. Det var kallt, lerigt och blott. Ingen varme, samma temperatur ute som inne.
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We visited a village on the country side to get an idea about these girls biological parents environent. It was very poor, muddy and cold - no heating, the same temperature inside the house as out. And very, very humid. Not a pleasent experience, but an important one.
Koket, vedeldat. Morsan tippade pa tidigt 1900-tal i Sverige.

In the swimming pool today.
Tomorrow we leave for Beijing!

Bilder

Vera-Mei's first try to brushing teeth. Olivia watches carefully.
They both enjoy taking baths. They have also been together in the swimming pool on the ... 6th floor. The hotel has 43 floors. We are staying on 32nd.

Street life in Changsha.


A lot of the new high scrapers are only empty "skeletons".

Local internet cafe.
Cigarette kiosk. They smoke a lot, but say the Spanish adoptive parents smoke even more.
Sports lesson in school. They are obviously provided with sports outfit.

I will have a hard time implementing the maximum two hours of telly a day. The orphanage staff said Vera's favourite hobby is watching tv. She gives the remote control to Olivia and she puts the telly on. What they watch isn't so important. Olivia is very happy when she can persuade me to let little sister wear a football t-shirt. They are actually very cute, but I don't know how much to encourage them. I am longing for a girl in a dress ... Olivia is such a tomboy.
Sleeping beauties.

Outside our hotel.

A happy family!

No crying!

Two beautiful girls in one big bed, both very tired but none of them wants to sleep. This is the first evening without crying, instead they are playing, singing, laughing and giggling. Vera-Mei has a lovely laughter! It is wonderful to listen to them, but they were extremely sleepy all day as they played in bed until half past eleven pm yesterday.
Mei-Mei is still very shy to everyone except Olivia. I still haven't seen her smile, she turns her back against me or holds it back, or waits until protected by the darkness, as now. She needs more time before opening up to Mats and me, and granny. She seems afraid to do something wrong and always goes to a corner, leans to the wall and stays there quiet and watching - strykradd in Swedish - but I am sure she will soon trust us.
I have a lot of photos but just now i don't have time to handle them. I will post more another day.
Tomorrow we re going on a half day trip to the country side, to get an idea about the environment these girls were born in. We will also visit a local temple. And on Saturday, we start our journey back to Sweden, via Beijing!