Hey guys! I bet you blog lovers are wondering what happened to us. On Friday we hung around the hotel and walked around West Lake again. It was beautiful with temps in high sixties at least. I just have to say that the Chinese are beautiful people and it is a lovely culture. With that said, I still don't understand the issue of needing to put three layers of clothes on and then sweating AND gawking at others who choose not to do the same. :) It cracks me up. So, it was super nice at the lake and everyone had on winter coats, gloves, scarves, and hats. It was something else. We got to see some kids with split pants on too which was nice. After enjoying our comic relief, we headed back to the hotel for Micah to work, me to pack, and Levi to take a nap.
We left the hotel at 4 for the airport go travel to Guangzhou. That is where all of the American families have to do the visa process in order to return to the states with a cute kid. I just have to say that I have so been looking forward to this part of the trip since we were the only family adopting from our province and I felt kind of isolated there even though our Holt staff there was great. Also, Levi has really turned a corner and we have too in terms of getting to know each other better which makes things so much nicer for all of us. ALSO, this is our fourth hotel change and I am super glad to be able to stay here for a whole week! Woohoo! No moving. Also, (this might be the last one) all of the families from our travel group are reunited, Yay, along with many others from other agencies so you get to meet lots of people...you guys know this is right up my alley.
So, the airplane trip was interesting since Levi cried and all of the folks on the plane acted like they had never seen a crying baby. Ok, I'm sure that they stared out of concern, as is the Chinese way (lots of staring) but it totally is like nails on a chalkboard to me because my mom taught me not to stare. Anyhow, we made it to the hotel fine at around 9:30pm and when we got here two other families from our travel group were in the lobby with their new children and it was so cool to see them all now as a larger family. Such cute little munchkins!
The night went well and we all slept late and then headed off to breakfast to gorge ourselves on the ginormous western style buffet and swap stories with the other families. The hotel is super nice...well really too nice as we are a bit shocked by the price of everything here. Oh well. The island that the hotel is on has lots of little shops geared toward the adopting families and lots of the locals speak English. The weather is wonderful. I have not checked the weather but it feels like 70's and super humid. The island is on the Pearl River so the view is nice. I will try and post some photos of the hotel along with the cutest ones of Levi. We have some great video too that my wonderful husband will be working on uploading.
Levi is not the kid that he was on day 1,2, 3, or 4. Scratch what I said about him being less mobile than other kids his age. He is constantly moving, running, climbing and so on. He is pretty friendly unless you try to hold him (and your name is not mom) and he is a total goof-ball. He loves to play games and be tickled and to laugh. He is so fun. Oh, and he is naughty in that two year old sort of way so I we have learned that we are going to have to show him who is boss and fast!! Whoa Nellie is he ever determined! We anticipate some dramatic stand-offs at home. I think Isaiah in particular will be amused to watch his new brother try some of these stunts.
He is so cute that it really works to his advantage. We think that he is indeed saying "uh oh" but we can't decipher anything else although he is very vocal. He waves when you tell him we are going bye bye. It is clear, and surprising, that he understands many things that we are saying already. Today, we told him to go put the garbage bin lid back (he has an affinity for garbage -- weird). So . . . he proceeded to walk over and put the garbage bin lid back where he found it.
This morning we had to take him for his TB test and he did not appreciate that. We will go back on Monday to have it read and to the rest of the vaccinations and medical check. This afternoon is a paperwork check meeting and the rest of the time is free. We are just trying to enjoy each other before we get home and Micah has to head back to work.
We can't wait to see Isaiah and Naomi again. It seems like with all that has happened we have been gone for months. And I am so happy to be able to go home to such wonderfully supportive friends and family. I can't wait to introduce you all to our new son!
We hope this video link works for everyone -- it's tough for us to check from this end, with all of the internet restrictions, especially for Google applications like Blogger (the China vs. Google soap opera is front-page news here this week).
You'll need a fast connection for this, or you can download it to your local drive to play it.
1 comment:
We just watched the video and it is sooo awesome. Made us all cry! Miss you and can't wait to meet your handsome little man.
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