Wisconsin "Re-adoption"

Sonia's adoption process was final in China and she became an American citizen when her feet touched the ground in Detroit on our way home. But, I wanted to complete a WI state re-adoption so that Sonia would also have a US birth certificate (in addition to her Chinese one). The Social Worker, who had done our homestudy paperwork through the years, did the legwork for us. So, pretty much all we had to do was show up for court.

Our court date was on December 21st at 2pm. I took the afternoon off work and picked up Sonia from daycare. It was a really nice experience. The Judge spent a little time talking about his positive feelings on adoption, our Social Worker "testified" that she supports the re-adoption, and I answered a few questions. All together, this probably took less than 10 minutes. Through all this, Sonia entertained the judge, court recorder, and bailiff with smiles, soft babbles and cooing, and overall just being her adorable self.

Afterwards, the judge invited us to his bench to let Sonia "make it official" by knocking his gavel against the wood block. She loved making the noise! He also gave Sonia a "family bear" and we snapped a few pictures. A fun 20 min... :o) Since I'd taken the afternoon off work, we had lots of free time at home to play... a bonus!