Hello from Guangzhou, China! We love it here! I have many new friends with the local shop keepers! I don't know how they do it but they manage to remember all our names and it is so cute they will yell out "Hello Kathy and Emily" when you walk by! The funny thing is they all have American names: Lucy, Jennifer, Sherry, Andy, etc. I am stocking up on squeaky shoes and am not quite sure how I will get them all home yet! Fortunately, I bought Abigail a seat on the plane, so she can have her own suitcase! I just sure hope my friends are outside the airport in Beijing to help carry the bags! :) We plan on exploring this quaint little island more tomorrow! There is an amusement park that Emily would like to check out!
Today a small group of us visited the Family Temple in Guangzhou with our guides Tracy and Judy. Abigail was the only baby on the trip and it was very sweet to see how concerned and proud the local people were of her. We often had groups of 7 or 8 Chinese Women circled around us talking to Abigail and gesturing a thumbs up to me! They were very curious about adoption and were so thrilled to know she would be coming to the United States of America. They asked Tracy a lot of questions about Emily and I and Tracy said they were all very touched and supportive! They said Abby was a very lucky baby! I think I am the lucky one! It is really humbling to think about how these babies go from being the discarded, unwanted and the poorest orphans to living a life style which in many ways is quite privileged especially in comparison to what many people have in China. All day long, I thought about her birthmother, and missing the opportunity to watch Abigail grow up! It is impossible for me to really grasp the magnitude of the decision that so many of them have no choice but to leave their babies! I hope she finds comfort in knowing that the CCAA finds them good homes!
For my family who was a little concerned about how Emily would like the food here, rest assured she is eating just fine! Tonight for dinner, 4 of the families ate in the dining room at our hotel, The White Swan! It is the funniest thing to see all these babies and strollers and then these serious businessmen having fancy, elegant dinners. We all had the Buffet, and bless her heart, Emily had 9 slices of Prime Rib! She just kept going up and they would slice her more and more! They definitely lost money on us! Our total dinner was $450 Yuan, which is about $50 some American dollars! It was well worth it! I needed a break from pizza! Abby continues to eat just fine too! We have added smashed bananas and cherrios along with the congee, and she loves it! She is also doing much better drinking her baba and today she drank some water and apple juice.
The babies in the Jiang Cheng group are really progressing! Abby has much better head control today and is sitting up a little better. She wobbles over on the bed, but can keep herself up in the stroller or the high chair! She will scoot herself from one end of the bed to the other after a toy. She has not tried to crawl, and we need to work on using her legs to stand! She recognizes both Emily and I and lights up when we walk in the room! Emily went swimming today and Abby would get so concerned when she was underwater! Then when Em would emerge she would let out the biggest squeal!! Abigail loves the water and it is really hard to hold her for her bath because she is playing in it and splashing! The babies recognize one another, and it is really sweet to see them interact! We have certainly Americanized them already because at one point 3 of them were sitting on Sig and Temple's bed watching a Baby Einstein DVD. They will reach out to each other and rub their arms and occasionally engage in a little hair-pulling!
The time is going pretty quickly and we are almost home! We miss you all and I can't thank you enough for all the emails! It is so good to hear from you! Cricket, thank you for your offer of making us homemade spaghetti! We can't wait! That sounds fabulous! We are a bit pathetic at times. One of our dinner conversations tonight was about what we are going to eat when we get home! You would have thought we were contestants on Survivor! We are looking forward to Cricket's spaghetti, Nuevo Alcapoco, and Panera French Onion Soup. I will have to find some Congee recipes too for Abigail! This kid can eat!
Well, I better get to bed now as my sweetie wakes up to play around 6:30am. Hopefully, she will let Emily sleep a little longer! Today she just kept looking over at her and yelling, "Eh-Eh" to get her attention! Any regrets Emily had, are gone! She loves her sister!
Jamila, Emily wanted me to be sure and tell you how much she misses you and she can't wait to play with you next week! And finally we really miss our dog, Junior! Tell him we will be home soon! :)
