Guangzhou

On our way to the Nanchang airport, leaving the Jin Feng hotel and our borrowed stroller behind.

Leslie was very good on the plane, partly because we kept her busy with cheerios and distracting toys. She didn't cry at all but did babble a lot. It was hard carrying her, as she squirmed, through the security checkpoints in Nanchang and Guangzhou. Strollers are very good. We have to find one here in Guangzhou today.

Blessed

We've had Hua for 3.5 days now and everything is going very well. She is coming out of her shell now. She is a bright, intelligent child. Each day she demonstrates more of her capabilities. For instance, on the first day when she didn't want to eat, she would just turn her head away. Now, she uses her hand to push the spoon away and she makes a face at us. She has showed us a range of emotions, just like a normal child would. She gets cranky when we are late with her nap because of official paperwork we are taking care of. When she likes a certain food, she readily opens her mouth and waits anxiously for the spoonful. Last evening, we opened a Gerber's green beans. It was so funny when she tasted it for the first time. The expression on her face was priceless. She was surprised it wasn't the peach or apple Gerber's, made a face, and in no uncertain terms, expressed facially how she disliked the green beans. It was hilarious, a Kodak Moment.

Hua very much enjoys it when we play games with her. She clasps her hands together and wiggles her feet and legs when she is happy, and gives a big smile. At first she was very reluctant to give up her snack packages, but now she is more than happy to give them to us because she knows they will come back to her -- whether from finding them from playing hide-and-seek, or having them "fly" back to her like an airplane would. She has a very good sense of physical space and remembers where she put her snack packages down, and returns to them when she is ready to take them back.

When we met her with the orphanage director, she had two snack packages, one of which was opened. Bill sealed it back up with a rubber band, not wanting her to be eating sweets. When Hua was given the snack package back, she quickly noticed the rubber band and proceeded to try to remove it. She is such a smart girl!

Here are some photos taken during our playtime yesterday evening. Enjoy!

Teng Wang Pavilion

Here's a picture of our tour from yesterday. This 2,000 year old pavilion has been rebuilt many times, most recently in 1989. In commemoration of the construction date, there are 89 steps leading to the first level.

There are many murals inside because the pavilion was used for artistic performances and they set the mood.

View from above

View of the "new city," built since 1999 and almost complete, featuring modern condos, shopping, and wide avenues. And we can't even extend the BART line to San Jose! Wonder why our economy is stagnant and China's continues to grow? They are getting the job done.

Smart Girl

Our little Leslie is such a smart cookie. On the first day, she'd try to open her snack packages from either end. Clearly she's seen people open them that way. Later, she decided to try another approach by breaking apart the seam that runs down the center back of the package. The next day, she tried to shake the package, hoping contents would drop out and making sure there was a treat inside. When that didn't work, she resorted to pretending the snacks were readily in her reach, would take a "piece" of the snack and move her fingers to her open mouth, drop her pretend treat into her mouth, and pretend she was chewing on the delicious snack, making lip smacking sounds and smiling. Good imagination and so smart at play!

Tips IV

• There is some "hardware" work being done on the Jin Feng Hotel currently. There's an apology note in the hotel room. We hear some hammering, but it's not too bothersome.

• Blogger is banned in China. If you're planning to use it for your adoption travel blog, be sure you (1) enable the function allowing you to email posts directly to your blog, (2) have a friend ready to post entries for you, (3) use an SSH tunnel, or (4) try using a VPN tunnel if your work doesn't mind.
  

• The Jin Feng Hotel provides toothpaste, 2 tooth brushes, 2 combs, a shaving kit, and vanity kit including Q-tips and cotton balls. There are also a hair dryer, shower cap, shower soap, and shampoo. You can recharge electric razors directly in the wall socket, too!

• Our room has free Internet through an ethernet connection, not wireless.
  

Potty

Our little Leslie has pottied in the toilet twice already! Here in China, it's common for children to learn how to potty in the toilet at an early age. They actually do not wear diapers but instead have a split in the back of their pants and the caretakers take them to the toilet very often. Of course, we do have her wearing diapers but take her to the toilet when we can and have her try to "shee shee."

Nap Time

Bill has been an awesome new Daddy. He's been quite the doting father. He was the first to make her smile and babble. He helps with the diaper changing and dresses her. He encourages her to touch his face and play with his glasses. He got her to say her name and she mimics him like when he touches her foot, she tries to touch them too. I am very proud of Bill!! They are bonding well!!

Toy Room

We had a lot of fun in the hotel's play room yesterday.

Leslie learned to exchange balls with us and to throw the balls, too. She was used to fighting for her toys at the orphanage, so giving up toys voluntarily was a big change. (According to the orphanage director, she was pretty good at fending off other babies and hoarding toys. She would also go through her nanny's bag looking for snacks.)

Leslie got into the spirit of giving away balls until she got down to abut two, at which point her face took on a very worried look. You could see her re-evaluating the idea of giving stuff away. (-:

Ate Her Lotus Seed Rice Cereal

Yay, she finally ate her lotus seed flavored rice cereal that we bought at WalMart. Apparently she's not used to the Gerber brand. She does like the Gerber's baby jars of food though -- apple/banana and apple/prune.

Tips III

• When converting money to pay the various fees, Bill said the bank was very impressed and pleased with our crisp US dollars. When we got them from Bank of America, the manager told us the selection process. She said not only should they be crisp, but they should not have any writing on them, no small stamped ink marks (banks will stamp the bills as identifiers in blue ink), no tears, and the crease in the middle should only be a fold (it should not distort the face on the front of the bill).

• When you go to Civil Affairs the day after you receive your child, you wll meet with not only the orphanage director for the 2nd time, you will also have an interview with the Civil Affairs director. At the conclusion of the interview, she will give you a gift. So, you could have a gift ready for her and the orphanage director. (and the orphanage director's assistant, if present).

• By the way, the Civil Affairs building is not an abandoned building as we have heard from some. Our building was on a busy street, full of life outside and in the lobby. The floor we were on was quiet, but not abandoned.
• When we went to WalMart, we saw the two other families from our hotel and their guide shopping, too. I guess Tuesday is the day for WalMart.