Visa Photo, Medical Exam & Shopping

Today was pretty cold for this province. Long sleeves and jackets were needed for everyone. When we arrived at the photo place, there was another adoption group already there so we had to wait. Like everything else in China, this was going to take some time.

Once we were all done getting photos taken, we walked over to the hospital for the medical exam. All babies must pass this exam of they cannot leave China. Even though our daughter was sick, we didn't think it would be a problem, but still I worried about it anyway.

First we waited in line. We saw many doctors walking around. Finally we were called and we had to remove all of Katrina's clothes, even her diaper. They measured her head and chest. Of course she started screaming her head off! They listened to her heart and poked and prodded her a bit. She was weighed and measured for height. 16 pounds and 29 inches long.

Her hearing was tested while she sat on my lap. The doctor rang bells, banged on a small piano to see if she turned when she heard the noise and recorded how long it took her to react. They asked about her cold and we said she was taking cold medicine. It didn't seem to be a problem and her medical exam was approved.

For lunch we had noodle soup. We bought these containers of ramen noodles that come with a fork. You just have to boil water and pour in over the noodles. Since we were all a little sick, we figured soup was a good idea. I had purchased these in a grocery store. A really cheap meal, but it tasted so good!

We went shopping after lunch. I bought many Chinese outfits for Katrina. I picked up a chop with the sheep on it since she was born in the year of the sheep. We put her American and Chinese name on the chop as well along with a dragon and the symbol for happiness. We had her name painted with animals which also had both of her names on it. Her favorite purchase though, was squeaky shoes. As the child walks, the shoes squeak. The squeak can also be removed, but whats the fun in that! Not that Katrina is walking yet, but the shoes still look good on her feet and they still squeak when she is bounded up and down as her feet hit the floor. Fun for all!