Hi everyone!
Well, we like Guangzhou much better than Nanchang - it's actually got quite a tropical feeling here (we're on an island actually), and it's not so smoggy. This hotel is phenomenal - hard to believe how drastically and how quickly little Lexie's environment has changed. She went from the village she was in, to now she knows how to put the key card in the door to open it, how to push the buttons on the elevator, and how to decide which elevator door is about to open.
We had a really great day. We started off the day with the nightmare - getting all the paperwork together for the US Consulate meeting. I had everything - hooray, so that was over after about an hour or so. Everything is tucked away in a big red folder, so now we just wait... All of the babies have adjusted so beautifully, and we've made some wonderful friends - so this part of the trip should be a little vacation. There are SO many Americans here with babies that the hotel caters to families like ours. They gave us a gift for Lexie, which is an American Barbie doll with a little Asian baby. Can you believe it?? There's western food - so Billy has been chowing down. He started last night with this buffet and he loaded up on as much meat as he could get his hands on. This morning he filled up with the buffet, and tonight we hit the barbeque by the river. So, he's in heaven. Tori even found food to eat, so our jeans might start fitting us again soon.
Tomorrow we are going to go to a Catholic Church in the morning to check it out. It's all in Chinese, so we won't understand anything - but we're going to give it a try. Then, we're headed to the zoo at 3pm, which should be rather interesting. I remember hearing that it's very strange and that the animals are quite different than those we are used to.
Lexie has been just loads of fun. She has been playing, laughing, running around - more often than not she has a smile on her face. She's gotten quite a reputation in our group for being the funny / active little girl. They all say - here comes Lexie - as she runs giggling down the hall. She can put on quite a show. However, bedtime is still an issue. Tonight I was trying to put her to bed and she was doing the arched back screaming thing; she saw one of Billy's tshirts and grabbed that as consolation - as soon as Billy walked in, she quiets down immediately, puts her head on his shoulder, and within 5 minutes she's out. I don't know what I'll do when he travels, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I think I still remind her of her foster mother when it comes time to bedtime, and she just can't go there yet.
I think that's about it for today - not nearly as eventful as last week, nor as emotional. I guess that means we're settling in a bit with each other, which is a good thing. I'll write more tomorrow and will let you know how the church / zoo excursions go.
Our love to all of you,
K
