Day 10

This is my last post from Guangzhou!

Tomorrow afternoon, we head for Hong Kong.

Can't wait to start the long journey home!

Giggles.

Lunch by the fountain.

Day 9

Another beautiful, LONG day in Guangzhou!

After an hour at the park, I was looking for anything to kill some time.

The leaves on the streets helped us kill an hour. 

 Based on his interest at picking up the leaves,
I'm guessing he'll be great come Easter.

 Marching like the soldiers, above.

Pretending not to notice the 50th+ bride and groom photo shoot

 we've seen on the island.

 Hurry up, Friday!  We want to go home!

Day 8

 I took Will to the nearby park, this morning.

He was a little leery, at first.

This boy really wanted his picture taken.

 It didn't take long for Will to overcome his fear.

 He even started running with the big kids.

By the end, he looked like an old pro at the playground.

Day 7

It was a perfect day for the safari park.

 Part of the park you drive through.

 We rode through on a park trolly.

 Local families drove through in their cars.

 Lots of animals very close up.

 After the trolly ride, we went through the walking portion of the park.

 We took the stroller, but Will was really into the animals and didn't want to miss out.

 He and the red panda, above, could have chased each other all day, I think.

 The zoo put on an amazing white tiger show.

 Will was frozen to the glass.

 You can feed the giraffes at the park.

 I thought he might be too scared, but no fear here!

 After we were done with the giraffes, it was on to see the 12 pandas.

 MAA families.

 Can you spot the three pandas?

As intrigued as Will was with the animals, he also loved the maps.

He carried the maps the entire day.

Day 6

We borrowed a stroller from one of the shops.  He and I are both loving it!

 We learned he's 29 lbs of pure lovableness at his medical, today.

Below, a photo of our first night out at Lucy's.

Tomorrow, it is off to Safari Park.  Very excited!

Day 5

We made it to Guangzhou, this evening.  Thankfully, we had to take an earlier flight than was originally scheduled.  We made it in at 4:30pm rather than 10:20pm.  It feels kind of like home away from home.  Next door to our hotel is a Subway restaurant and right around the corner on the other side is a Starbucks.  The island we are on is much more laid back than the rest of the city.  We're both a little tired, but not too tired to venture out for ice cream.  And the hotel room actually has English cable stations other than CNN World News. It feels great!  A few pictures from today.

 Hohhot airport.

 JiaLe fell asleep as soon as the plane started taxiing.

New hotel and play station for JiaLe.

Day 4

JiaLe, sing everyone Happy Thanksgiving.

This was after the orphanage visit.  Very thankful we had the opportunity to visit.  JiaLe was very loved and well taken care of.  He was sad to leave his nannies but seemed OK leaving.  He slept both almost the entire way to and from the orphanage.  I'm thinking sleep is sometimes his way of dealing with the whole adoption situation.  Practically every time we enter a vehicle, he dozes off.  Upon reentering the hotel, he returned to his chipper self, as seen above.

 Will's bed.

 Posing with roommates.

 Administrative staff, nannies, and director.

 His favorite nanny.

 Half the Sky teachers and classroom.

Another Half the Sky staff shot.

 JiaLe's classroom chair.

The sweetest little girl saying goodbye.

Day 3

Today, we picked up the passport.

Tomorrow, we visit the orphanage.

Lots of hotel time, today.

 He's very busy, but unbelievably happy and well behaved.

Definitely counting these blessings, one day before Thanksgiving!

Day Two

We started our day with a trip to the Inner Mongolia Museum.

JiaLe was fascinated with every display.

He kept accidentally bumping his head on the display glass.

 The weather outside was blustery to say the least.

JiaLe didn't seem to know what to think of it.

He was an unbelievable trooper, nonetheless.

 After dozing off on my lap twice, both on the way and back, I didn't expect naptime to go so well.

He has a thing for toilet paper.

I finally hid the rolls so that he would leave some for its intended purpose.

 Paper, I showed him, could be a close second.

First, he filled ten sheets, both front and back, with crayon.

We waded them up, and shot baskets.

 Then, he created his own game of tearing them into tiny pieces and dropping them into the trash.

 This kept him occupied for over an hour.

This process has been like a fairy tale, thus far.

He's attaching beautifully.

His personality is so laid back and happy-go-lucky.

I just can't wait to get him home!

Introducing Will!

Look what just happened to arrive a day early!

 Will was already at the hotel when I arrived.

There have been very few tears.

This kid has been AMAZING me all night and day.

Every hour.

By the hour.

Speaking of hours, he actually fell asleep in my arms while rocking him within two hours of meeting.

 Our first meal, together, happened at breakfast.

JiaLe looked like he had never seen a fork before.

After a few extremely awkward attempts, he was eating with a utensil in both hands.

 Food is his FAVORITE thing.

He inhales it.

 We had to sit at the adoption signing/notarizing session for almost 2 hours, today.

He sat QUIETLY, smiling for the entire thing.

He did refuse to take off his three layers of tops and shoes for the first 18 hours.

I found what I think might be his second MOST thing...stacking cups in the bathtub.

We couldn't get the clothes off fast enough when he discovered they and he would be enter, together.

 The other thing is he needs to carry at least three things in his hands at all times.

 He serenaded me with some really long song that I'm pretty sure really was a song.

His vocabulary is huge.  And I think he thinks he'll just teach me his language.

Although he has already repeated things like water, good job, uh-oh, and no.

By this evening his orneriness started coming out.

It started as retaliation for washing all of his orphanage clothes. 

He was purposely doing things to get me to scold, then he'd repeat what I said and smile.  

This hotel is loaded with mirrors.

And he loves to see himself and smile, kiss, talk to, etc to the twin in the mirror.

This kid is going to be so much fun.

I could go on and on, but I'll have to save it.

It is bedtime.

Can't wait to see what the next 24 holds!