blog post 2.3.13

Day 17

Now begins one of the longest days EVER.

We got to wake up early again today (Andy woke at 6am, thought I was awake, and went to take a shower... I was NOT awake, but thankfully woke at 6:30 on my own) and we (again) quickly threw the few things we’d gotten out of our bags back into them and headed down for breakfast.  I’m still not able to wear a contact in my right eye, which is a pain (literally).  However, it has afforded me several opportunities to quote Mike Wazowski these past few days (as in, “sorry I didn’t see that with my one eye!”)... which is always fun :)  I’m just thankful the usual funky-vision headache hasn’t set in (yet)!!

So, we ate some breakfast and left for the airport at 7:30 on the hotel’s shuttle bus.  When we walked outside, it was snowing!  It seems to be a trend here in Beijing :) & It really made for a lovely morning.

We checked our bags, got our final boarding passes and then -yet again- headed to the business lounge.  We have been very spoiled and are incredibly thankful for our flights (and perks)!!  Poppy enjoyed some croissants while we waited... I think she’s digging this whole business-class thing too :)  

Our flight ended up being delayed... shocker, huh?... and this was the worst yet!  We went through priority check-in at 9:25am, and were stopped (along with everyone else) for a search of all our bags and a removal of ALL liquids -even though we’d already been through security- and my unopened bottle of water had come from the business lounge upstairs.  Welcome to America -land of the free?!  Anyway, we boarded... prepared for lift-off... and then sat... for nearly 2 1/2 hours!  We finally took-off at 11:45am!!  Holy stinking cow!  We’ve had delays on each of our flights now, but this one takes the cake.  If they didn’t make up time en-route we would miss our connecting flight to Peoria... even though we’d had a 3 hour layover ensuring enough time to get through immigration.  Absolutely amazing. 

While waiting for take-off, Andy & I each enjoyed a mimosa (the real deal this time :)) and after eating “dinner” we each had some coffee with Bailey’s.  We rarely have alcohol, so this has been a very fun treat!  Andy’s thinking he could do business-class travel a little more often :)

Andy & Poppy are enjoying each other a lot on our flight.  She even asked for him to give her her “bottle” at nap and bed time!  Wow!!  She has been such a good girl.  We played with toys and talked the first several hours.  She ate a good lunch and then we had her take a nap, which went incredibly well!  She slept just over 2 hours - the perfect amount of time for us to watch “Sherlock Holmes: A Game” - a new favorite to be sure!  (Thank you Mauldings for your enthusiastic suggestion :))  After she woke up, we watched a LOT of Baby Signing Time (as in, all 4 episodes) plus the Letter Factory before it was time for dinner.  Yes, I believe there is a time and place to watch many movies with your 2-yr old :)

We got up a few times to walk around and to take her potty, but other than that she pretty much sat... so we weren’t sure how bedtime would go.  Well, Andy got the pleasure of working with her for a long time!  She’s not been fussy or loud, thankfully!!  She just won’t sleep!  We’re really hoping we can all get a little sleep here on the last leg of the flight before we land... then, hopefully we’ll be able to stay awake until bedtime tonight back on Illinois time!  Our jet-lag on the way over was barely existent and we’d love to have a good re-entry as well!!  Andy was pretty tired our first 2 days and would occasionally nod off on a couch at Little Flowers, but I kept walking around and didn’t ever feel over tired... which is amazing because last time we flew across the date-line the jet lag was so bad we both felt sick for days!!  I can assure you we were NOT looking forward to a repeat performance!  What a blessing that we didn’t have to!  God has been very good to us in many ways and we are thankful :)

Finally, we all got to sleep for a few hours.  Then we ate a little “breakfast” just before landing... in Chicago with our new little citizen (when adopting from China, the children become citizens once you touch American soil)... such a wonderful feeling :)  However, that feeling quickly faded when we got to go through immigration not once, but twice!!  But we made it, and all was well... we were going home :)

We grabbed a little snack at Starbucks while we waited for our final flight.  It was uneventful (hooray!) and we landed in Peoria where we were welcomed home by family and friends... we are thankful for each one who was there to celebrate with us!!

Since we don’t have a vehicle which can fit all 8 of us yet, some rode home with Grandpa & Grandma W.  After finally arriving at our home-sweet-home, we gave our older kiddos some gifts we’d brought home for them and we let Poppy open a few Christmas presents which were waiting for her :)

Andy & I both felt like absolute death the entire afternoon & evening, but we stayed awake!  We drank tea, talked (with Grandpa & Grandma W. & the kiddos), and just did anything we could to retain consciousness!  Grandma got supper started for us and then they had to go.  Later, my sister, Laura, stopped by to meet Poppy Sue... and help us stay awake :)

I had Poppy in bed between 7 & 7:30 and was in bed myself by 8!!  Andy put the other kids to bed and was in bed just after 9... we were exhausted & we slept great :)

We’re just so thankful to be home... to have our family of 8 together... to have a sweet daughter who feels like she’s been with us forever, when it’s actually been less than 2 weeks... to be blessed by God.  Thank you to those who have been praying for us!

blog post 2.2.13

Day 16

We woke up crazy early today (5:45am!) and quickly threw the last few things into our bags and headed down for breakfast.  We actually had plenty of time to eat and we left for the airport at 7am with a van & driver Shiyan had lined up for us.  Sadly, I am still only wearing a contact in one eye, but it is definitely helping!

We checked in at the airport and went to the business lounge for about an hour.  Poppy enjoyed this quite a bit because she was able to eat some more noodles (she can never seem to get enough!).

We boarded on time, but our flight ended up being delayed.  We just sat on the plane for an extra 30-45 minutes before finally taking off.  This was bad news for us because we only had 1 hour to get on our connecting flight to Beijing... which we clearly weren’t going to make.  We were told they might hold the plane, but to check with their “on-ground personnel” to find out for sure what we were to do.

When we got off the plane, there was a woman holding a sign with our names on it- she said we would not make it for our next flight and they had already changed us to a later one that day.  We traded boarding passes (questionable) and then headed off toward the terminal with all connecting flights... which in Hong Kong apparently means we get to go through security again- really?!??  Our new boarding passes didn’t specify the exact gate, so we checked the boards and saw that our initial flight had also been delayed... there was a chance we could still make it!  So, we busted our rears for what felt like a few miles through this eternal airport and saw them “now boarding”!!!  We were thrilled! We explained what happened and were told... sorry, no dice... they cannot change the passenger list this late.  I said, hold on here- we just got these new tickets only 10 minutes ago and we want our old ones back!  We want on the plane we had booked!!  And the result this time?  She would check... and she found someone else who would say “no” with more authority.  It turns out I like hearing that word about as much as my children do, and so I was ready to have a “little talk” with these people. So that’s when Andy said “no”... what?!!  Not him too!!  He reminded me that the airline had given us each a sizable food voucher and the next flight was boarding in about an hour and a half... there really wasn’t a reason to fight.  Except that I could see our plane right there - that I had booked for us - and I didn’t want to be just killing time in an airport (with a 2-yr-old) when we could be on our way to our hotel now.  Not to mention the fact that it was their personnel which robbed me of my chances of boarding when she “traded” with us.  For me, it was a matter of principle.  For Andy, it was nothing to make a big deal about and he just wanted to calmly move on.  And sometimes I need a little nudge in that direction :) Thankfully, I know our flight time really isn’t important right now.  We’ve got nothing to do (except bathing/bandaging, eating & sleeping) until 10am tomorrow morning when we take off for HOME!!!!!!!!!!!  THAT is the flight we CAN’T miss!  So, we kindly walked away and found some lunch.

We finally landed in Beijing after 6pm and quickly grabbed the hotel shuttle bus (back) to the Crowne Plaza.  It was really nice staying at the same hotel so we didn’t have to learn anything new for these few hours!  

Poppy had her bath while we yet again watched/listened to a favorite movie... this time it was the BBC’s Pride & Prejudice... yes, the 6-hour one... though we only got a few hours into it before we had to call it quits and turn out the lights :)  For some reason, the hotel had given us 2 complimentary drink cards.  So, after Poppy was sleeping, Andy went down and got some mixed drinks for us to enjoy while we continued watching P&P.   He had a pina colada & I ordered a mimosa (which is supposed to be orange juice and champagne, but apparently they didn’t have any champagne so it was mixed with white wine instead- very interesting).  I slept really good that night :)

blog post 2.1.13

Day 15

This morning, we all woke up crazy late (9:50am!) and so we had to rush downstairs to make sure we didn’t miss breakfast!  Once we had our foot in the door, we settled in for a leisurely brunch :)  It turns out we weren’t the only ones with that idea, and the staff here are SO friendly and accommodating! 

After completely stuffing ourselves, we headed outside to find the park we’d walked through on Tuesday night (with the group- going to a restaurant).  We walked slowly and took a load of pictures :)  It was fairly easy following the signs to the LiuHua Park and we found that it is a huge “park” with walking paths that just kept going!  Everything circles around a large pond/small lake.  It was gorgeous!  In fact, we wish we had found it earlier!!  It also made me want to call for our other kiddos and just have a little vacation together in Guangzhou :)  Poppy had a great time running around and looking at all the pretties.  She did have one tiny fall, but thankfully nothing came of it... we try to protect her all we can, but we can’t hold her forever.  Falls will happen, and she will get hurt... but honestly, I’d rather a few falls than a little girl too afraid to move.  What a sad thing that would be!  However, I do wish Poppy would at least respect the things that can hurt her, but I’m thankful for her spunk & vivacity!  She loves life and she enjoys herself!!   & I love it :) 

"chasing" daddy around a large banyan tree

this cracks me up... she wants to be with mommy, but doesn't want daddy straying too far
or being too interested in taking pictures... what can i say?  this girl wants it all :)

We spent several hours in the park before heading back for Poppy’s nap.  While she slept, Andy & I spent our time packing up!  Oh, and I learned something about myself.  It has become quite apparent that my eyes can only handle 2 weeks of dry hotel air.  After that, pain and irritation begin.  So, in the hopes of being able to fly home tomorrow & Sunday without contracting a painful ulcer in my eye & sporting some Tiffany-style sunglasses (again!), I opted to take my contact out now.  Hopefully, it will have enough chance to heal and not cause me any more trouble.

After babydoll woke up, we let her watch a little Baby Signing Time so we could quickly finish up our packing.  Then, we went downstairs to eat an early dinner together in the hotel.  This was all planned around the intention of having a nighttime bath & bandage session- while still getting to bed early for our big day tomorrow!!  Andy decided to start one of our favorite movies (“You’ve Got Mail”) on the iPad so we could listen as we worked on pumpkin, and it turned out to be a great diversion for her too :)  It timed out perfectly- we started watching it while she was in the bathtub and we finished it just shortly after she fell asleep.  We had just a little more buttoning up to do and we were in bed by 10pm!!

blog post 1.31.13

Day 14

Today was a good day!  Since we couldn’t get any earlier flights out of China using our AA miles, we have 2 days on our own in Guangzhou... and we are trying to make the best of them :)  We just chilled in the morning, eating a nice big brunch and playing in the bath... good times.  Poppy Sue LOVES her bath time!!  We haven’t been able to give her a bath every day at the same time, so we just work it in whenever possible... usually in the evening, occasionally in the morning, and apparently noon-time works too!  Whenever we can’t do her bath in the morning, we make sure to check her over for new blisters/wounds and change any bandaging that needs it... which we also do at night before she goes to bed... but we only do a full body bandage change after her bath time... which is why bath time requires a bit more scheduling than one might think :)

We had Poppy take an early nap and then we experienced another first together- we got a taxi in China!  And it wasn’t half as life-altering (or perhaps death-defying) as I thought it would be :)  We took that little taxi all the way back to Shamian Island for some more shopping and strolling... and it was wonderful.  Everything was going just peachy until we sat down on a bench for a while.  Poppy wanted to sit by herself on this wrought iron bench and since it had a back on it, I thought that would be fine... and it would have been if she wouldn’t be so tiny!  She decided to scoot back just as far as she could, and she started slipping through the crack -literally.  Andy & I both caught her and helped her back up, but her poor little back (and the back of a knee) lost a little skin and formed blisters.  It wasn’t horrible, but it kinda put a damper on things :(

It was clearly time to get off our feet and get something to eat... so, off to Lucy’s we went!  Ok, seriously, it is so funny to me that we ate at Lucy’s twice since we weren’t even staying on the island... and it’s even funnier since that’s the one place where I would not have chosen to eat last time.  Sure, they have wonderful salmon, but we’re in CHINA!  It felt too much like an Applebee’s or something... it certainly doesn’t cater to the asian crowd... and when in China, I kinda thought I should be eating something - oh, I don’t know, Chinese?!  But this time, not so much.  After Andy getting sick twice, and me pushing the line once, we were both losing our appetites for adventure... so Lucy’s moved up to pretty near the top of our list :)  Perspective is everything.

While we were eating (outside- looking towards the park & Pearl River), we met a family with SIX girls!  They have 4 biological daughters and had just adopted 2 more little daughters at the same time!!  It was really fun talking with them and watching  them with their girls... we told them about our girls back home and how wonderful it will be when all our girls are together!!  As this family was getting ready to leave, they told us about a random person that had wanted to give them some “tips” about their upcoming adoption trip... she had adopted a child from China several years ago and wanted to share some sage “advice” with them.  Here are three of the pearls that we could remember -

• there would be squid and chickens “flying down the aisles” on the airplane (never mind that squid are sea creatures; she assured them they would be running rampant!!)
• the most valuable travel item is a hot plate (she even told them which specific brand to buy and where to buy it ... they had almost bought one just in case she was right!)
• they would receive their daughter in a dark alley with one light bulb, but don’t worry, it’s legit!!!

Oh, and another funny thing we learned from them is that to say “stop crying” in Cantonese (which is the language their youngest daughter understands) sounds like “mo(re) ham” and her name was YumYum ... seriously...  “Mo’ ham, yum-yum!”  They just couldn’t handle saying it without laughing :)  And it has become something Andy & I just randomly say to each other now... I enjoy him so much!

By the time we left Lucy’s, it had gotten dark and we figured we should start looking for a taxi to take us back to the Marriott.  Thankfully, there were several lining up in front of the nice restaurant near the White Swan... a very short distance from Lucy’s.  We had yet another uneventful ride back to the hotel and then we got baby ready for bed.  Daddy enjoyed some more reading and I did some more typing as she slept.  

Tonight we ended with something different - a movie!  It’s been a long time since we’ve really enjoyed that together (although we did try to watch a short one during one of Poppy’s naps a few days ago when Andy was feeling nauseous and wanted something to take his mind off of it).  So, with the VPN in place, we were able to stream some Netflix.  Thankfully, Andy had a can of Watson’s to top it off :)

blog post 1.30.13

Day 13

Ugh. Last night began another bout of tummy trouble for daddy... and a little bit for me too (though I’m a far cry from where he is!).  He woke around 3:30am with nigh-unto-diarrhea (plus serious nausea) and didn’t slow down until after noon.  I, on the other hand, had just a few trips.  So, yet again Poppy & I had breakfast alone... but this time I smuggled a few bananas and plain rolls for him in a non-descript bag (ok, so maybe it was hot pink, but Laura- you would have been proud :)). 

Since daddy wasn’t able to go out, we all stayed in, snacked and got some more blog posts uploaded (it was the best I’ve had our VPN work yet!).  Finally, Andy crashed... and Poppy was soon to follow :)

After naps, we snacked a little more and then headed downstairs to say good-bye to our group... we got there 1/2 an hour before they all did, so Poppy & I went up and down the escalator a few times and  walked around the lobby a little before everyone showed up.  It was shortly after 4pm when they all got in their vans and left... even dear Shiyan.  We are officially on our own until Saturday.  Andy has never wanted to be home so bad!  China just hasn’t seemed to agree with him this time... poor guy.  Before leaving us, the King family gave Andy some antibiotics and a can of the much-sought-after Watson’s ginger ale... they were showing us some serious love and we knew it :)  Hugs (& fist-bumps) were exchanged and they were off!  We wandered back to our room like lost puppies ... ok, maybe not that bad, but we will miss them all greatly! 

Here they come!  Three families ready to go home to the states!!!

It was time to see more than the 4 walls of our hotel room (nice, though it may be!).  So, we headed to the big park “across the street” :)  They are gearing up for Chinese New Year so there was a lot of work going on with festive displays and what not.  It was fun... though I would love to see what it looks like when things are a little more calm as well :)  Poppy is very much a momma’s girl, but she enjoys her daddy as well... so tonight seemed like a good night to gently push her in his general direction.  She could hold his hand and still walk with me (though she held both of our hands quite a bit :)).  I held her some too, but I think it was good for her to be with daddy a little more... and as a bonus, I got to take some fun pictures too (which hasn’t happened very much!).  Win-win :)

Stopping to smell the "hua" (flowers) with daddy - and thinking of Grandma Mott :)

Here is a perfect Poppy "grumps" face!

Poppy & Daddy enjoyed watching the colorful fish swimming around!

As we were heading back to the hotel, we ran into another adoptive family which we’d met in Poppy’s province.  We talked with them for quite a while and walked back together... it was really nice.  Then, we headed off to "The Coffee Club" for dinner, which truly was just across the street!  However, we still had to cross about 8 lanes of Chinese traffic without a stoplight or a crosswalk... thankfully it was a one-way street and pedestrians have the right of way (ha!) :)  This coffee shop was very quiet and catered to American tastebuds, so Andy was pretty happy.  He ordered some bruschetta and I got a chicken wrap... so, because they (yet again) had to go out and kill the chicken, Andy was completely done eating by the time mine finally arrived!  Little Miss Poppy Sue had gotten some pancakes which apparently weren't as good as the muffins at breakfast, but she ate them up once she saw that I was :)  

After dinner, we again ran across the huge street with crazy drivers to safety and got baby ready for bed.  She was being really sweet and asked for an orange... I told her I would get it ready for her if she would let daddy get her ready for bed.  She wanted it so bad, she was willing to do anything!  Then, it was off to bed for babydoll ... daddy spent some time reading and I fought with the VPN yet again :)  Fun times!

blog post 1.29.13

Day 12

So, our entire trip works towards and builds up to the rather anti-climactic Visa Appointment... and today was the day!!  We ate our breakfast and met up with the group downstairs.  Very shortly after we got there, Vicki came rushing down and told Shiyan their wallet (w/their passports!) was missing.  They had set it down during breakfast and couldn’t find it... it was stomach-churning for all of us.  Shiyan took them back up to the buffet area to look, but it was nowhere.  She told us to go on to the bus and wait... we stood outside rather dumbfounded.  John suggested we pray together and as we stood in a circle, we cried out to God to work miraculously -even while we stood there- to provide for them.  As we said “amen” and lifted our heads, there were Vicki & Scott with passports in hand!!!  We have seen God work many miracles this trip.  We have seen him provide for us in amazing ways... and here is another blessing that we don’t want to forget as He faithfully provides for His children!  And can I just say right now how incredibly thankful we have been to share this trip with brothers & sisters in Christ.  Every couple loves the Lord and sees His hand in bringing us here.  It has been awesome!!

Once we finished rejoicing together, we gathered in the bus (plus a few others with a different agency) and headed to the consulate.  Within a block was an IKEA... one block... a Chinese IKEA... is anyone else getting excited about that prospect?!?!!  Andy had to hold me back... so, all I got was a picture (sigh).  Anyway, we went up to the 5th floor of the consulate building, took an oath with several adoptive families on behalf of our children, had our paperwork checked over, and then.... we were done!  We went downstairs, took a few pictures, and loaded back up on the bus.  We were back at the hotel within 2 hours!  Pretty amazing considering we had some Chinese drive-time in there too :)

We decided to have a snacky-lunch today and just stay in.  We let tootsie take a nice, long bath and she had a great time!  This was the first time she actually got a little pruny from being in the water :)  Then she took a nice long nap (2 hr 45 min!).  She woke up a happy girl (which has been a change too- she used to wake up with some pretty serious “grumps” but has slowly gotten out of that :)).

We are enjoying Poppy so much!!  In Chinese, a word which sounds like “boo” means “no” or “not” ... so we hear it a lot :)  Other Chinese words we hear often are “mama & baba,” “bobo” (hold/hug), “mayo” (where/where is it?), “da-kye” (open), and “tong” (hurt- though she says “boo-tong” more than just “tong” :))... and her most frequent English words are “no” (shocker, huh?!!), “yay & hooray” (especially at the end of songs), “pa-lease,” “all done,” “be nice,” “be gentle,” “where’d it go?” & “there it is” ... Oh, and she’s learning sign too!!  She signs “more,” “all done,” “please,” the Witzig’s version of “don’t touch” or “no-no” & and the Chinese version of “thank you” which is absolutely precious :)  Lemme tell ya, she is one smart cookie!!  We’re going to have our work cut out for us with this one!

Since tonight is the last night the whole group will be here, we asked Shiyan to go to dinner with us again as our “last hurrah” ... and it was so nice.  We walked to a beautiful park several blocks away.  It had a large pond in the middle of it and lush greenery all around.  Tucked away in it was a little restaurant that the rest of them had been to while Andy was sick.  We got ourselves some yummy noodle dishes - WenWen even picked hers out on her own!  She did a great job too- we split it :)  We all stayed quite a while after finishing our meals, just enjoying the fellowship.  It reminded me of our wonderful talks with Don, Linda & Kelly who were with us when we got our Lily-pie.  Good memories :)

We walked back to the hotel and had a little more pop-pops (again, draining the large blister on her hand).  She whined more this time and I’m not sure why.  She had a tiny fall after dinner, but it was soft enough that she didn’t even cry when it happened.  I had checked for anything new and there wasn’t anything... so I don’t know why it was bothering her so much.  We tried to get it done gently and quickly and then just got her ready for bed (it was time).  She has still been taking a while to fall asleep at night so now I’m just patting/rocking her a little while... then I give her more hugs & kisses and tell her good-night... I lay her down on the bed and she generally stares at daddy who is reading (or falling asleep!) until she finally gives in and goes to sleep.  Silly girl :)

blog post 1.28.13

Day 11

Today we took a little day trip to Shamian Island!!!  Oh, how we love that place!  We have such fond memories of staying on the island, strolling around day and night (always in a drizzle at night).  It is picturesque and we just feel comfortable there (for lack of a better word).  It was really fun to be on the island in this gorgeous weather because we got to see soooo many more people out exercising and playing in the park... young and old... often with the older leading the younger.  It was awesome.  Andy even got pulled in for a game of -well, it’s sort of like playing hacky-sack, but with a weighted feather-type thing.  Very fun!

We also had fun just being more relaxed with our group... playing ball, shopping, walking & talking.  The ladies enjoyed the few shops that are still open (sadly, many have closed since the White Swan is under renovations) and everyone enjoyed the park-like atmosphere.  I was just reading about the island a little bit and I found a few sentences that sum it up quite nicely-

On the South side, the river breeze gently blows 

and the water sings lowly. This all adds to the contentment 

people feel while staying in Shamian and they have no desire to return home.

And this is Shamian Island…

*Ok, I know many of these pics could be way better with a little photoshop, but I don’t have time 

for post-processing here in China... SOC (straight out of the camera) will have to suffice!

Ahhh.  Poppy LOVED it too :)  She was a happy little girl!  She had napped so well yesterday, but kept waking in the night with pain from her hand (even though we’d given her a healthy dose of motrin before bed)... so I wasn’t sure how well today would go.  Silly me!  We were going to heaven on earth :)  What’s not to love?!??  She didn’t have any falls either, and that made daddy & mommy very happy!!

Our group met together for a late lunch at Lucy’s.  Andy had decided he’s had enough Chinese food for a while, so this was a great choice for him :)  And I remembered loving their salmon, so we ordered that along with some tasty vegetables and a little bowl of congee for pumpkin.  I think Lucy’s salmon is very possibly the best I've ever had in a  restaurant & it did not disappoint (except for the bones) :)

We made it back to the hotel after 3, so baby got a late nap... especially since we had to do a lot of pop-pops on her big blisters which had filled up again.  But this time they were no big deal to her.  There was no sign of pain at all - which we were thankful for!  So, little bit of pops, and off to sleep :)

After nap, we walked around outside the hotel a while.  There are 2 parks near to the Marriott and we were trying to decide which park to visit - the big one or the little one.  We finally decided the little one would be the wiser choice since we didn’t have a lot of time before getting dark and wanting food.  So, we fired off for it - only to discover that it was an orchid garden that was already closed!  We could see the other park “just across the street” but we would have to go underground to cross and decided to find dinner now and save that adventure for another day :)  We walked around quite awhile, found a Lebanese restaurant that looked questionable... and not much else, so we turned back around and went back to the hotel... entering at Starbucks :)  I got myself a chicken wrap, a scone & some fruit, and then we went back to the Cafe Veranda where Andy ordered a club sandwich & Poppy got some noodles.  I’m sure one of the hostesses was about to snap looking at my contraband, but I enjoyed it anyway :) 

blog post 1.27.13

Day 10

It looks like Andy is truly on the mend!!  Woo-hoo!!!!!  He still didn’t feel up to eating breakfast with us, so he stayed in the room with another “squirter” and some crackers while Poppy & I enjoyed the lavish buffet :)  We met up together in the lobby... however, I had sent Lori ahead of me to ask him to make sure and bring a needle for pop-pops... she had somehow gotten a small blister on her forehead that I thought we should take care of before leaving for the day.  She doesn’t mind a bit though!  We were done and out in just a few minutes... whew!

The Guangzhou Folk Art Museum was lovely.  I remember enjoying it even in the hot temperatures of late July... this was a treat!  The weather could not have been more perfect!!  We walked around slowly (poor Andy was still feeling under the weather) and we just really soaked up being there and enjoying ourselves (and our wonderful group :)).  Well, that is, until tootsie bit it... again... on the same side as 2 nights ago.  That poor little right palm swelled up immediately.  We had been walking together, holding hands and she somehow slipped out of my hand and just fell.  I have no idea how or why (no stairs/bumps)... it just happened so quickly.  She had already been a little grumpy in the morning... and this just sent her over the edge.  She was tired, hurting, and just plain upset.  Throwing fits just for the sake of it weren’t beyond her.  It’s amazing how suddenly I was “done” being at the Museum and was now quite ready to be back in our room!  We had to wait a little while for others to finish shopping, and then we all gathered back on the bus.  We couldn’t get upstairs quick enough!  

I had tried pop-pops at the Museum (after washing up a bit), but she cried very hard whenever I tried and actually pulled away.  This is very unlike her.  Generally, she knows she needs it - is totally fine with it - and might even sing during it... so this was shocking to say the least.  We knew it hurt though, so we decided to wait until we were in our room and not making a spectacle at the Museum!  She did better in the quiet of our room too.  Yes, she still cried, but it was not as bad.  The blister was very difficult to drain and took over 1/2 an hour to do a good job... we were all tired out and she was more than ready for her nap!!  It didn’t take long for her to crash.

For supper, all 3 of us went to the Cafe Veranda.  It was Andy’s first attempt at real food!  He ordered some minestrone and it sat well with him :)  Poppy & I decided to go for the buffet this time - I couldn’t stop eating all the fruit!  And Poppy decided that strawberries are pretty awesome... that’s my girl :)

By the time we got back to our room, it was yet again bedtime for our little girl... and I’m happy to report that she’s excited about her “bottle” & bedtime routine again... as long as she’s with mama :)