In Guangzhou

We have been in Guangzhou since Friday night; it's Monday night as I type this. We are in Guangzhou because this is where the US consulate is at. We were very ready to come home last Thursday before we even got to Guangzhou, while at the same time looking forward to the warmer climate down here. One more full day tomorrow and we come home Wednesday. We have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to leave...ugh.

The part of Guangzhou we are in is very nice; the buildings have an old world European flair. It was wonderful to see the palm trees after getting off the plane. The White Swan hotel is absolutely amazingly beautiful, with a waterfall and pond inside by the dining room and big windows that look out on a bay. The breakfasts are delicious and Ben enjoys watching the boats going by while he's eating. We have been hanging out with the Mast family, going shopping and walking around outside and visiting the hotel's playroom with our boys.

The days have been flying by with this busy little guy. He was Mr. I want to please the first couple of days and a simple "no" and displeased face worked. Then, he got really comfortable quickly and started to test his boundaries by doing things like flipping the light switch on and off, even after 5 or more "no"s and pulling his hands away. So, we had to move to a raised voice "no" and pick him up and put him on the bed. When we do that, he knows it's a time out, gets upset enough to stop, and just sits there until we go to him a few minutes later to cheer him up and reassure him we still love him. He's really well-behaved whenever we're out and overall, he's a really good little guy. He's just a very active 3-year-old boy and loves discovering anything new, taking things apart, and is learning that there's a lot of things mama and baba don't want him getting into.

The orphanage staff said that he's a little actor, and we found that is so true. He is a Drama King. Our first night at dinner, we ate at this wonderful restaurant called Lucy's outside on a patio with palm trees decorated with lights. We waited a while for our food and Ben thought he would entertain both himself and us. Bob and I were laughing so hard, we were crying. Ben started mimicking things he saw us do during the day...He pretended to drop pills in his mouth and swallow them, went through all the motions of taking a bath and washing, and reinacted the difficult time Bob had opening a jar the day before, including tapping the jar on the sink and then pretending to try to open it with a scrunched up frustrated face just like Bob had! Ben is highly visual and imaginative; he loves looking at pictures, drawing, pretend-play, books, and dancing. He also appears to be a vain little guy, as he loves looking at himself in the mirror and posing for pictures.

I think Bob is finding out that kids are a lot of work, but Ben is such a joy to us and we are so blessed to have him. We love his cute little giggling and voice when he says "ah baba" over and over, which means, in his dialect, that he loves baba. He comes to us often for huggies and is very affectionate most of the time. He has started to say "ah mama" too.

Our friends on the trip; wish they lived in Chicago:

Ben loves the traditional Chinese outfit we bought him. Here, he wears the hat:

In the playroom:

This is when Ben was enjoying posing for Grant's mama, Lori Mast. After you take a picture of him, he insists on running to the camera to see how it turned out:

Bouncing up and down with buddy Grant Mast:

Posing again for Lori:

The socks I bought for him are way too big. Ben pulled them up all the way past his knees over his long pjs and started running around like that and laughing; he had us laughing too:

Ben getting his required medical checkup:

Bob and Ben the second night we ate at Lucy's. Lucy's serves American food and Bob thinks that this was a welcome break from noodles and rice. Ben loved his glasses baba bought him until he broke them: