"Everything changes, nothing stays the same. Make peace with that and all will be well."

Buddah really knew what he was talking about. It's 6:30 am on our last day here. Mia has been up and bouncing around since 5. And I haven't had any coffee yet. And I was playing with her until I handed her to Evan so I could look at email. Evan can't believe my transformation into a "morning person". He's wondering how long it's going to last. Very funny, in a sick joke kind of way. Hey, it's not so bad being up this early. You can get so much more packed into your day.

It's our last full day here, and I think I've spent most of these long letters home talking about our experiences here. But let me tell you a little bit about our baby girl. Her likes: stacking cups, drooling, peeing on mom, making that rasberry sound with her mouth,babbling, Cheerios, and playing with everything that is not a toy. Her dislikes: Not being fed IMMEDIATELY on demand, being put down to sleep, things on her head (doesn't like hats), yogurt and mashed prunes.

She is an extremely squirmy baby. I think I may have mentioned that she is constantly moving. I mean CONSTANTLY. Her favorite thing is to stand on my stomach and bounce and down. She tries to walk on me but can't quite get it together. She's like her mom in that she has ants in her pants. But, like me too, she has an incredible ablility to sit and focus on what she's doing. She's calm like her dad and she's also incredibly silly. She does an amazing Stevie Wonder imitation. She's babbling a lot, is incredibly alert and interested in whatever is going on around her. She also sits quietly and plays by herself for short periods of time.

And she likes attention. She loves to be held and walked. We haven't used a stroller here and have been carrying her in a hip carrier. She loves it and we have been dragging her everywhere. Babies who come from orphanages here, although mostly well cared for, don't get the individual attention that is so vital in their early months of development. I couldn't imagine sticking her in a stroller and pushing her around not facing me or not being near us in these first days together. There will be plenty of time for her to become independent. Carrying her around has been great for all of us. She mostly seems secure and engaged with us. And my arms and back are really strong now (and not even too sore!)

She likes jewelry (always playing with my earrings), and when I handed my passport and credit card to the hotel clerk when we checked in, she grabbed the credit card, NOT the passport to play with.

For a little girl with a mild case of rickets, I'm struck by how strong she is. Most of her strength is in her lower body - her arms and upper body not so much. She can't pull herself up yet, and while she can sit on her own, she's often kind of bent over. Her gross motor skills seem pretty good, but her fine motor skills need work.

It's amazing how much we know about her in the little over a week that she's been with us. OK, got to get ready for breakfast. Wow, it's already 7:15 am!

Now it's 10:30pm.

We're staying in the White Swan Hotel, well known here to be THE place where adoptive families stay on the last leg on their trip to China. This place is overrun by families adopting little Chinese girls. It's an extraordinary site. I've included a picture of us and our new friend Suzanne and her little girl Elizabeth. She's the only other New Yorker we met. A lot of folks from the South and midwest here adopting their third, fourth or fifth child. People we meet here ask me if Mia is our first. I say "she is our first together, and probably the only". I hinted to Evan that maybe we could come back sometime and adopt another. The resounding "klunk" you may have heard sometime this week was Evan's head hitting the breakfast table.

We're just about packed and ready to go. Our wake up call is at 4:30 tomorrow (Thurs 6/15) morning. As I'm writing this, it's Wednesday morning where you are. Although we're arriving home on Thursday afternoon, it will really be Friday at 5:30 in the morning for us. (did you follow that one?) We'll still be on China time. And so will Mia. Looking forward to being home, but not looking forward to the transition of the time change.

Tonight was the first night that Mia would not go to sleep. Ever since we got her, she's been going to sleep mostly without too much difficulty. But tonight, she shrieked the most awful blood curdling screams. And they didn't stop. Well eventually they did, but it took a really long while. I feel like she knows what's happening tomorrow...that we're uprooting her and taking her away from her home.

Today we went to the American Consulate to get her visa. We were there with about 75 other folks and their little girls to pick up the papers (yes, even more papers in addition to the visa). We also had to take an oath stating that all the statements we've made in the adoption papers were true. So, after we were all gathered together in this huge room, the Consulate Official came in and spoke the oath via microphone. As a group, we raised our right hands and our voices together and "swore or affirmed" that all of our adoption paperwork statements were true. I have to say, aside from holding Mia for the first time and her official adoption in Jiangsu, this was my next favorite moment. It was awesome, really. Our last official act, courtesy of the good 'ol USA, allowing us finally to bring home our baby girl.

It's been so much fun recording our trip here. Thank you to everyone who figured out how to post comments and sent us emails along the way. It's made us feel much closer to home. So, zai jian from us here in China. And looking forward to saying ni hao to you all very soon.

"Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. Make peace with that and all will be well"