Finally we landed in Melbourne in the early hours of the morning on transit to Sydney. Xiao Qiu did not seem to have any problems with her ears but we fed her a bottle on descent anyway just in case. We found the Parents Room and changed Xiao Qiu's nappy, washed her and ourselves and changed clothes ready for the final leg. This was our first experience of using a Parents Room - gosh they are so convenient! We boarded late so we phoned a few Melbourne friends to report on progress whilst we were waiting. Other Chinese passengers on the plane asked us all lots of questions about our daughters.

We arrived late in Sydney and several flights were trying to clear Customs at the same time and Priority Baggage as usual did NOT come out first like it's supposed to!!! but we got through at last and were met by my parents, plus Stephanie, Stephen and Erica (NSW Batch 6); Belinda and Isobel (NSW Batch 5); and Stephanie (NSW Batch 8 still waiting for allocation) who snapped some of these wonderful photos. Maternal grandmother (to be known as Nanny) swooped on Xiao Qiu as she appeared in the Arrivals Hall perched on the baggage trolley but Xiao Qiu, true to form, immediately wriggled away into the preferred arms of her Baba.

Xiao Qiu, despite lack of sleep, coped with all the well wishers very well but stuck close to Mama and Baba. She even consented to going in the car seat for the drive home which we assume is her first time ever. The beautiful Welcome balloon given to her by Erica unfortunately flew out the car window as we took off - she was holding it very tight so we are fortunate that Xiao Qiu did not sail away with it! She only started to cry after 20 minutes in the car seat, presumably because she was starting to get bored even though Baba and her maternal grandfather were trying their hardest to keep her amused.

We arrived at Lilli Pilli and Mama and Baba were overjoyed to be re-united with the cat. Our cat however was not too pleased about this noisy arrival who marched into the house as if she had always lived here. Not surprisingly Monty the Cat disappeared for most of the day.

Meanwhile Xiao Qiu explored the house and toys and got to know her grandparents. She is very mobile and we had been most worried about the huge number of steps in our house but she worked out very quickly how to get up and down stairs, initially crawling but then quite quickly learnt how to step one by one and hold onto the bannister uprights to steady her. Otherwise she grunts and holds out her hands and indicates clearly that she wants to be carried! None of us have any trouble understanding what she wants and her wish is our command.