In the home stretch...

Day 12 of our adoption trip and we’ve made it to Guangzhou. We were soooo ready to get out of the small hotel room we had in Henan. (We should have chosen the two double bed room instead of the king because it was much smaller.) Sam did great on his first flight! We were up pretty early so by the time we got seated, he was ready for a nap. He slept for about 30-45 minutes I think and then woke up in time for some lunch on the airplane. They served a hot meal even though it was only a two hour flight. Surprisingly, the fish and carrots with rice wasn’t that bad. Sam usually prefers just the rice. (But we’ve also found that he loves broccoli! ...just like his big bro, Daniel.) 

Some fun in the hotel in ZZ before bed...

Yes, he can climb out of his crib if he wants... Luckily he's been staying put 

He likes to play with the phone.. "Lello!"

This is a local restaurant where we are with the group..

Green tea

Group shot...(minus Christy and her boys)

Up early for the flight 

I’m thinking we *may have the most laid back boy in China here. He’s a pretty chill kid. Only fusses at the appropriate, typical, toddler times... like when he is tired, when he is hungry, when he doesn’t get something he wants, and he’s not a fan of getting his diaper changed sometimes. He’s a busy boy in the room, but mostly with walking around and exploring. Not too much into toys or coloring. He says he wants to color, but then in typical toddler fashion, loses interest quickly. He love the Baby Einstein we brought (Neighborhood Animals). My favorite is when they show the pig he snorts! It’s so cute! He sometimes does it for cow as well, so we are working on “moo.” You can tell his nannies taught him well. He’s definitely been exposed to animal pictures and sounds before.

Chillin after the flight

Suite in Guangzhou 

Here in GZ we are in a Marriott and since Fred has Platinum status, we got upgraded to a suite. When we walked in, I started jumping for joy. It was so big and nice and has a separate living area and bedroom with a door. The bathroom is huge and there is actually a separate water closet in the hall! We are livin’ the dream here in GZ! Sam loves just walking around the place and then his new game is he hides behind a chair and we say “Where is Sam?” and he pops out. He thinks it’s so funny:) Man, this kid is cute.

Another perk with the suite is the access to the executive lounge.... niiiiiice. Wonderful spread at both breakfast and dinner with drinks and everything. It’s so convenient to be able to just go upstairs to eat and not have to trek outside of the hotel. And then not have to eat in the hotel room... that got old in Zhengzhou. By the time we left our hotel room was looking like a scene from The Hangover, less the tiger;)

All adopted kids in all of China have to make a stop here in Guangzhou. The U.S. Consulate is here. This hotel really caters to us new adoptive parents and they have an outside play place with swings and a little jungle gym. And a little walking path with a waterfall. Yeah, we are lovin’ it here!

Fred and I are still in awe of how well Sam is doing and how at ease he is with us already. We know his foster home had a lot to do with that, as well as his personality. We see the difference between the children that were came from an orphanage, and while I think they will adjust fine and are also attaching to their parents, they just have a harder road ahead of them for a bit. China does not really like foster homes and fostering out children. I think it is political and has a lot to do with pride. They want to say they can take care of them all in their orphanages. Maybe it has to do with money, but I think they get stipends for them whether they are physically in the orphanage or not. And yes, they are fed and kept warm and some get more interaction than others, but it is no way to care for a child. Luckily, fostering and foster homes have been used more in the past 5-10 years or so, but sometimes the orphanages take them back anyway, for no apparent reason. The rules can change here on a dime. Whenever someone of authority decides they want to do it this way now, then that’s the way it will be.

We were walking back to the room last night after our exec. Lounge dinner with our son, and we were saying, “This is almost starting to feel like a vacation now that we’re here.” Darn it! Totally jinxed it! ....Well, sometimes you get sick on vacation, right? I woke up this morning about 4:30 not feeling well at all. Yep, it got me. I’m not sure what the Chinese version of Montezuma’s revenge is, but I got it. Ugh. I’m not sure what I ate or drank, but I don’t remember drinking or eating anything different from Fred, but who knows. I really hope he doesn’t get this! And I hope Sam doesn’t get it. Maybe it’s a bug I got from him... anyway it’s about 10am now and I’m starting to feel a little better. I’m bummed though because this morning is Sam’s medical check and I wanted to be there, but Daddy’s got him. I’m sure it will all go smoothly, he’ll cry, but he’ll be fine. I need to rest to kick this funk so we can go enjoy this city. Hopefully the medical appointment wont take too long. Maybe we’ll go to a park across the street when they get back. Tomorrow I think we’re going shopping:) Then Wednesday morning is our Consulate appointment. Then Thursday afternoon our guide, Jason, will get the children’s Visas and we head out to Hong Kong (sharing a van with another family who is also flying out of HK.) Our flight isn’t until Saturday morning so we will have all of Friday to see Hong Kong. More later...

As the kids are saying. "Toodles"!