Saturday Update
joek...@insightbb.com
- Molly and I are sitting here watching a replay of TXA&M-Fresno State
game - I already know A&M wins in 3OT, but we're watching college
football in China...how cool is that? And, Molly is just sitting here
with me watching and loving it...looks like I've got another football
buddy.
- Lunch after church today...Papa John's pizza...not quite as good as
home, but not bad
- Dinner tonight was at a local resturant, everything was very good
and went fine until the fruit came at the end of the meal. My buddy
Bobby is much like me and willing to try new things so he grabbed a
piece of something that looked like a cross between an apple, pear,
and a cantelope (green skin, white flesh, seeds like a cantelope). He
was chewing on it when Susan our guide came over to the table and said
somewhat urgently, "Don't eat the green fruit!" Bobby spit it out
quicker than you can say salmonella. We all start dying laughing not
knowing what was going on and watching Bobby's reaction. Susan goes
on to explain, "It has no flavor, I don't know what it is or why they
brought that fruit." Well, needless to say that made Bobby's reaction
even better and he took some punishment from the group. This group is
pretty merciless if presented with an opportunity (and Bobby's given
us a number of opportunities).
OK, on to some other things.
First, hope you all noticed I posted some more pictures yesterday or
the day before. We have some time on our hands, but it still seems
like we've been on the move quite a bit. It also makes it hard
because I'm still on the outside looking in most of the time with Ms.
Molly. She is definitely opening up to me and given me more
opportunities but I'm still not allowed to do many things. So, that
means if I have her I'm usually on the move or asleep. Hence the
reason for fewer posts the past couple of days.
Molly's sleeping has gotten better. She an Rene' are down looking
through some of the shops in the hotel because Molly decided to play
after taking her bottle tonight. But, that means she will crash
pretty hard before long and go to sleep in her crib. She has done
this, slept in her crib, the past two nights but she has also woken up
around 3:00 am or so and would not go back to sleep unless someone was
holding her. So, we are making progress.
To get to Guangzhou we had a one hour flight which serves as a trial
run for Wednesday's marathon flight. Molly did pretty good but did
get a little restless. Thankfully the Chinese man sitting next to
Rene' was the father of a 4 month old baby and completely understood
and was even trying to help us out through the flight. Wednesday is
going to be a long day either way.
I think part of the restlessness is that Molly is starting to adjust
and show her real self. Most of the girls are at this point. I think
Rene' was correct when she saw her picture and said she saw fire in
those eyes. She is fiesty. I stand by my statement that she has a
gentle spirit, because most of the time she is very easy going with
lots of coos, laughs, raspberries, and funny faces to offer. But,
she's also starting to show her preferences. Like right now, she
needs to go to sleep, but instead she's fighting it wanting to play on
the bed and watch football instead. She can't crawl, apparently most
Chinese babies never do because they are rarely in a position to do
so. They spend their time in a crib, being carried around, or sitting
a the table. The floors of most houses are not really clean and are
not a place where kids play. So, she can't crawl, but she has very
strong arms and she pulls herself around the bed to play and try and
reach things she wants. Her legs kind of drag behind her like a
little frog. We have not seen much of this until the past couple of
days because she would not venture far enough away from Rene' to show
us her moves.
She's still the youngest baby we've seen in the hotel even though
there are loads of adopting families here this week. It's kind of
deceptive though because of all the hair. Everywhere we go we get
comments about the hair. One, you just don't see that much hair on
Chinese babies. Even the older kids that might have hair have had
their hair cut, usually in strange styles and not just in the
orphanages - this seems to be a Chinese thing, so their hair is not as
long as hers. Two, her hair has a little curl to it which is somewhat
uncommon in Chinese girls. I think that is a symbol of beauty to them
(but don't quote me on that).
One thing that kills us about her is her cry. Especially when she
can't get to Rene'. She'll start calling for her by crying and
saying, "Uuuu, Maaaa. Uuuu, Maaaa." It's hilarious and once Rene'
picks her up, she immediately stops crying. No comforting from me
will help. I can do the exact same thing she does and it will not
work no matter what. Like I said, on the outside looking in most of
the time.
That's all for now. We'll probably have a couple more short posts
before we start the trip back on Wed.
In His Hands,
Joe
sweetb...@iwon.com
between "bed head" and "blowing rasberries"! She is SO beautiful and
I can't wait to see her in person. Thank you for all your postings
and for sharing this time with us. Rene--I recognized the Gerber
Juice Treats in the video--always a bit hit at our house, too! We
love you all and pray for a safe and easy trip home.
Love,
Sarah