Officially a Murphy

Today's adoption proceedings were full of ceremony here in Shanghai--a much different experience than with Madi and Daniel due to Shanghai being a wealthy city. The Civil Affairs Offices and Notary are so much cleaner and more professional here. The people were all so kind and very gracious. We were out all morning taking care of business. At one point, our guide questioned something on the adoption decree and Madi, in a concerned voice, asked, "Are we going to be able to keep Charlie?" Once again, everyone raved about Madi's nurturing ways today.

Happy to report that Charlie got his first dose of Juice Plus today. Since he won't eat the gummies yet, we opened up a veggie capsule and put it in his formula. You knew it wouldn't take me long:) Tomorrow we'll introduce a fruit capsule. After he went down for his nap, Daddy treated Madi to McDonald's. I know, I know...McDonald's and Juice Plus shouldn't be in the same paragraph, but the reason Madi can have Mickey D's once in a while is because she takes her Juice Plus and eats great 99% of the time! Apparently, there were two elderly Chinese women who took a liking and curiosity to Jimmy and Madi. She couldn't speak English but was really kind and gave them her phone number. When they were looking for a seat in the jam-packed restaurant, the same woman waved them over to her table and invited them to sit down.

Charlie woke up crying from his nap. We are attributing it to two things: the introduction of beans and Juice Plus into his diet today (gas) and major teething. Once we calmed him down with some homeopathic teething tablets on his gums and let him pass some gas, he seemed much more content:)

We ventured out to the department store in search of new shoes, a sippy cup, and a teether. First of all, I could almost hear Grandma Pauline shouting down from Heaven about how every child needs a pair of good shoes for their feet. Of course, I heard her shouting this at 3:00 am last night, but I knew she was right. We found him a quality pair with good ankle support and narrow enough for his little feet. They have a little more breathing room than the shoes he was delivered with. We found a good transitional sippy cup with a silicone tip like a baby bottle. The popular canteen model that I brought along from home didn't work. He couldn't quite figure out how to get the water out.

We went to dinner at a Sichuan restaurant tonight and enjoyed a great meal. We have loved trying new things and settled on spicy bean curd (tofu) as our main dish. Tofu might sound gross to some, but you didn't see the other protein choices on the menu...

We are now "back to the ranch" relaxing together and winding down for the night. Until tomorrow...