Goodbye Zhengzhou, Hello Guangzhou

Yesterday I took Quinn and a sister friend to the park near our hotel.  There were some carnival rides and lots of trails.  Quinn and Katrina rode the merry go round and were allowed to stay on for about 15 minutes.  Actually, they wanted off much earlier but were expected to jump off when ready so they started getting panicky before I realized that they weren't having fun any more.  I was busy being oogled by the locals.  We left at three to go through two hours of processing at the airport.  We got to the gate only a few minutes before boarding and our plane was delayed on the ground at Zhengzhou.  We knew it was a bad sign when they began serving the in-flight meal on the ground thirty minutes after we were supposed to take off.  The flight full of anxious babies must have caused our pilot to fly extra fast because he made it past two thunderstorms and got us to Guangzhou only an hour late.  By the time we made it back to the hotel it was near 11 and our luggage was delayed another hour in traffic.  Needless to say, everyone was super tired and on edge.  Quinn cried more than Tyler.

We woke up much happier and went to breakfast at our very Westerner friendly hotel restaurant downstairs.  We saw no tentacles or animals with heads.  They even welcomed us with pizza and baked beans.  What Americans don't eat these for breakfast?  There is a waterfall with a huge coy pond in the lobby beside the restaurant and the tables are a sea of couples with babies.  This city is the home of the US Consulate and all adoptive families must pass through here for five business days to be processed by our government before leaving the country.  Today we had Ty's medical exam in the morning and I filled out more paperwork in the afternoon.  The medical exam is a ten minute walk from the hotel.  The office was crowded and very warm, but Ty was a trooper and got a clean bill of health to travel.  This evening we ate at the American restaurant next to our hotel, the White Swan.  We ate burgers and fries, and even ordered a coors light.  It was heaven to eat something familiar. 

Ty is such a joy in the daytime hours.  He is showing more affection, although he still loves a good head butt and hair tug now and then, especially to Quinn.  He pulled a little girl's hair in the play room this evening and looked a little sorry when he realized it wasn't his sister.  He is starting to get jealous of her and any other kid that comes near us.  At the playroom, I noticed that he was studying the learning table and the little musical toy like Quinn used to study her toys.  I had the camera ready, thinking that he was about to do something intellectually profound, when he raised the music machine over his head and smashed it into the top of the table, laughing loudly at the noise and attention he got from it.  He is such a boy. He is very ticklish laughs out loud when tickled and when Andrew, me, or Quinn walk in the room after being out for a minute.  He is super cute and we love him, so we forgive the 11pm, 2am, and 4am wake ups every night.  He is cutting three jaw teeth and a canine tooth, so I am not sure if this is part of his sleep issue or if it is the point that he allows himself to grieve his lost life.  We try to comfort him, but it seems only a bottle will do the trick.  We had the crib removed from this room since he will only sleep with Andrew.  Laugh if you will dear friends, but we have decided to wait to work these things out when we get home and Ty is more secure with us.  It not only makes life easier for us, but also spares the poor guys in the neighboring rooms in our hotel. 

Tomorrow we have a down day.  We plan to eat breakfast, check out the area around the hotel and maybe go to the pool.  Tomorrow evening we will eat with the other families in our group at a nearby Thai restaurant.  We miss our family and friends VERY much and cannot wait to get back to our soft bed.  More tomorrow!

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