out of her shell

Today was Grace's medical exam, a necessary evil for her visa. She endured. Grace continues to make strides, and we feel like we are getting a good dose of personality that was missing in those early stoic days. She has a very bad habit of slapping you right in the face, and today, she hit me so hard that I had a headache immediately. We're trying to break her of the habit, but it's hard to do when she's been living with us for a week (compared to the 13 months she spent in the care of her foster parents). She continues to smile, play, and each day, she becomes a little less stranger crazed. This morning was the first morning that being helped into the highchair by the waitress didn't end in absolute hysteria.

One thing that I've noticed is that Grace does not have any concept of what a kiss is, which is not a bad reflection on her foster parents. She's obviously affectionate, but the kiss is a foreign concept. Grant at her age kissed anyone and everyone, including himself in the mirror. I, of course, have been kissing Grace like mad, and just today, I asked her to kiss Mommy, and she opened up her lips for a big kiss. I died. It was just too cute. She's also saying mama and dada, which melts our hearts.

We've also moved to using the stroller some here in Guangzhou. Grace did not nap well in the Ergo, but she naps like a champ in the stroller, which is a good thing. She starting to show some of her personality outside of the hotel room, babbling to others and smiling at them. She's coming out of her shell more and more each day.

Today, we did some shopping, and I did break down and purchased Grace a few pairs of squeaky shoes (they squeak when she walks) for 2 bucks at Jennifer's Place (she kept bringing them to me long after her clothes were off; I think she's going to be a shoe girl). I bought her some traditional clothes and some other trinkets. My favorite store, though, is A Gift From China. This store is not full of the junky clothes and souvenirs in which so many of the stores on Shamian Island specialize. The stuff in A Gift From China is pricier, but it's well crafted and beautiful. They have beautiful quilts, baby bags, and some of the cutest clothes ever. Plus, it's a non-profit store, with all of the proceeds heading back to kids in orphanages with special needs. It's the best store on the island, and I could put quite a dent in our Amex bill next month.

Tomorrow, we are skipping the tour to the pearl markets (already purchased pearls for Grace) mainly because the girl needs two normal naps. Instead, we're going to head out the QingPing market, one of the largest and most famous outdoor markets in the world (the sell every type of animal meat imaginable). Tomorrow, we also take our famous Red Couch photos (it's a China adopt thing) and then will take a dinner cruise on the Pearl River.

I love China, but I am tired of living in hotels and eating at restaurants. I'm a homebody, and I miss my son. Bret and I are so thankful that we've been able to experience this together; there are no words to describe how deeply we love our Wei Wei, but we're ready to bring her home.

The next part of this blog is part one in a three part series for future adoptive parents. If you're not a future adoptive parent, I'd stop reading right about n…o…w.

Advice, Part 1
Okay, so this post is really for adoptive parents. There are details in here that only make sense to those of us in the Chinese adoption community, so faithful readers who are not in the Chinese adoption community, you'll have a wait a bit for another post about the prettiest little girl ever!

I've thought about how to organize this post, and I've decided that the easiest and fastest way for me to get this all down is just to start listing my thoughts, potentially in random order, but it gets the job done. I'll start with a bit of a warning, though: these are just my thoughts and my opinions. My husband probably doesn't even agree, so don't get all angry with me if you don't agree. These are just my opinions. Take them or leave them.

1. Don't go on every tour. There is a hefty temptation to go on every tour for two main reasons: cabin fever in the hotel and a desire to see your child's country. Both are very legitimate reasons, but we found that by day two of touring, we had a very out of sorts baby. She tried to nap in the Ergo, but they were not the solid naps she took back in the room. We found that without that serious morning nap (1.5 to 2 hours) our little girl was regressing. We skipped several tours, and in the end, we were glad we did, as our little girl had a much better day. Don't be afraid, as hard as it might be on you (as you are cooped up in a hotel room ordering room service or eating noodle bowls), to stay put.

2. Chinese Pampers worked just fine. I hear lots of talk about bringing diapers, formula, etc, but our trip to Walmart confirmed what I thought: everything you could possibly need is in China. We purchased clothes for Grace. The night she came the nanny brought us 5 bags of her formula (every baby received five bags). We purchased wipes, a bottle (which she likes WAY better than the one I brought), and diapers. The Chinese Pampers are not the same, as there is no elastic in the tabs. I put them on the first night, and said, "these are never going to work," as the top doesn't stay tight around the baby, but we have had eight days of blowouts (and I mean blowouts), and the diapers have held up. So, pack enough diapers for a day, bring one thing of travel wipes, bring one bottle to get you through until you can shop. It's all in China.

3. Don't bring snack food. Bring a few snacks for the plane (the food was horrendous), but beyond the plane trip over, you will not need extra snack food. There are so many little markets with all types of snack food. The market right around the corner from our hotel had everything: Cokes (even Coke Zero), Oreos, Pringles. The Walmart had a whole aisle of sodas, crackers, even peanut butter. Plus, there are tons of snacks not to be found in the states. I purchased some of the best sesame crackers ever. Grace and I ate the whole box. Also, there were these noodle bowls (like ramen noodles) that are fabulous for a quick meal in the hotel. There were times when Grace was napping, and sitting down to lunch just wasn't going to happen. We had several of those noodle bowls around, and we finished them off. Plus, Grace loved the noodles, so it was a great snack or lunch for her too. The noodle bowls cost about 50 cents, and the roasted beef one
was my favorite.

4. Don't worry too much about walking shoes. I was so concerned about comfortable shoes, and I brought a pair of Crocs and a pair of Tevas. The longest walk we have taken was 20 minutes. I had much cuter shoes that could have lasted an easy twenty minutes, so I wish I would have traded in one pair of the comfortable-but-ugly shoes for cute-but-not-as-comfortable shoes.

5. Bring only two piece outfits (or dresses) for baby. We only brought eight outfits for Grace (plus two pjs), and half of it was too small. The pieces that we brought that were two pieces worked best. The pants we brought, though too short, were suddenly capris. The pjs we purchased, though too big, could be rolled up at the waist. Any romper or footed pj we brought that was one piece, didn't do the trick. Plus, even dresses that are too short work just fine if you put a pair of shorts or leggings under them, so bring tops and bottoms that can mix and match.

6. Pack light; do laundry. We will have spent about 100 dollars on laundry by the time we are done, and it was worth it to have only two checked bags the whole trip. In Nanchang, Evelyn brought laundry bags and order forms the first night, and in Guangzhou, you can walk your laundry to any of the souvenir shops. In Nanchang, we did three HUGE bags of laundry for about 70 bucks, and we'll spend about 30 bucks in Guangzhou.

7. ATMS work just fine in Guangzhou. We have used the ATMs multiple times here in Guangzhou with no problem. We could not use the ATM in Nanchang. Credit cards are accepted most places in Guangzhou.

8. Dinner in Nanchang was cheap, often running us 12 bucks total for a complete feast. In Guangzhou, you can expect to pay U.S. prices. We just had a great lunch at a local Italian restaurant that was about 40 bucks. Thai last night was about the same.

More to come in the coming days...