More stuff

Daniel and MaryCatherine are napping right now, and Mom's at the grocery store. We went to the adoption building again today for an appointment. Daniel pretty much sat there in a daze the whole time; he was both exhausted and sick. He'd had a fever yesterday too, aparently, but he started burning up this morning.

There are some cute pictures of the last few days that I didn't upload yet, so I wanted to share them.

These life-size statues are all around our hotel! After MaryCatherine posed a group of cute Chinese kids came and I took their picture.

We went to a park one afternoon. There's a little playground, some monkeybars, and a see-saw, but lots of other structures that we didn't recognize. Then we came back in the early morning, and the park was full of adults! The park isn't just a playground, but something like a public gym. They're only simple metal structures but I think they're just as good as all our high-tech gym equipment! That red barrel-shaped thing is like a treadmill, you stand on top of it and run. There are lots of things that look like they're for exercising joints, or something. MaryCatherine's on a chair that can spin, I guess you hang on to the purple handle and go back and forth; the pink circle is one that you can stand on. (Also notice the background of that picture: a "bride" is in a photoshoot. She must have been a model because when she walked, she was wearing sweatpants under her dress!) Also, it's common to see adults and elderly people walking or jogging -- but there are also people that walk backwards, or wave their hands in circles when they walk. This must be another physical therapy. Maybe Americans would be healthier if they wouldn't be too embarassed to walk backwards down the street!!

Here's another one of those nifty statues! This is right outside Lucy's, the restaurant that serves hamburgers and french fries; we've been there twice already. And this is our hotel room.

Finally, my favorite picture. There's a nice shop that's connected to our hotel. We stopped by, and as usual, MaryCatherine made some friends!

-Sarah

More details from last night

This is a sort of continuation of the last post as I could not really concentrate with everything going on in the room (children running wildly around).

I was told by our social worker that tantruming and crying from Daniel is actually a good thing and that he should be doing these things. If he is too easy going and goes along with everything, he is not really grieving and that this behavior is actually not good. He should be having a bad time for 3 to 4 days at least to start with. So far he has been a little too happy. But it has really only been about 6 hours. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

He and MaryCatherine took a bath after dinner. Daniel had the absolute time of his life. He kept pouring water over MaryCatherine's head and laughing hysterically. She is someone who hates even a drop of water in her face and normally would have gotten very upset. But she just sat there and let him do it but eventually looked at me like, Mom tell him to stop, please. The two of them played so well together . Daniel is definitely all boy, there's no question about it. He plays rougher, and likes to be roughed up. Evan was the same way; there was no play that was ever too rough. Evan, you'll finally be able to rough someone up in the house without getting in trouble for it!

We were able to get a few big smiles out of him tonight. These were the times when I grabbed him quickly and very roughly kissed him and planted some raspberries on his cheeks. He always tried to get away but laughed all the same.

We were told Daniel's bedtime is 10 PM. Well, that certainly would not stay the same. We all went to bed about 8:30 (still suffering from jetlag) and he fell asleep very quickly. He also went to bed without a diaper and is still dry at 4 AM.

Daniel, I think, has the potential to be big trouble! He has a very impish personality and likes to touch everything and get into things. I already told Bill tonight to start baby-proofing the house. He is very strong-willed (we were told this by the orphanage worker, as well) and will put up a fight if something he has is taken from him (like the electrical converter!) He really does not seem like he's 3 and a half. If I had to guess, I would say he acts more like a just-3-year old; definitely younger than MaryCatherine. He most definitely looks and acts younger than her.

Again, I have to thank all our friends for their kindess and their prayers while I have been away. Bill has had the luxury of receiving meals from some concerned friends (and they should be as he can't even boil a hotdog) so I thank you for it all. Your prayers seem also to be working as our initial time together has been very positive. Thank you, too, Joanne, for your awesome idea concerning Our Lady. It has been consoling to have her beautiful image with us here in China.


-Liz

Gotcha Day for Daniel

What a whirlwind of a day. Finally, 2 PM came and we could go to the Government building to receive Daniel. There were MANY, MANY families also receiving their children today. We arrived a little early so we were able to watch the moms and dads extend their arms for the first time. I especially loved watching the first-time parents.

Suddenly, Daniel walked into the room holding onto the orphanage workers hand. I think he recognized us at once since we had sent a photo album of all of us a few months back. He started to hide and wanted nothing to do with us. MaryCatherine immediately approached him and gave him candy (I love bribery!). However, he became hysterical and wanted no part of it. There was no settling him down, so we quickly scooped him up and got back into the van to the hotel. He cried the entire way home. Once we got to the room he gradually became interested in the toys we had for him. He LOVED the DVD player! MaryCatherine was absolutely great. She continued bringing him toys and trying to console him.

He finally settled down completely and began interacting with us as we played with him. I am pleased to say he is completely potty-trained. Yay! No more diapers. He LOVES the spiderman sandals that light up when he walks and is continually stomping his feet.

We went out to dinner about an hour after we got to the room. Daniel did well and devoured a plate of corn and beef. He is a peanut of a boy...smaller and much lighter than MaryCatherine.

The orphanage worker warned us to keep a close eye on him since he is very smart and may figure out how to escape if we are not careful. Great.

-Liz

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When we were at the adoption building, it was immediately obvious that having MaryCatherine was a huge asset. She was the only one he let approach him. He cried so hard, as soon as we got him, during the car ride back, and in the hotel. Even our bribes of food and candy didn't work. He started to settle down after getting to the hotel, but didn't really smile until dinner.

MaryCatherine put Charlie Brown on our little DVD player. He went over to it and started pressing ALL the buttons. I showed him how to open it, and put Mulan in. Then I switched it to Mandarin (My favorite thing about that DVD is that it's got Chinese audio. Most American DVDs only have English, French, and Spanish). We started pointing at all the people and things: "It's Mulan! Doggy! Baba, Daddy!" He got really into it, mimicking what I said and pointing as well, plus his own comments in Chinese.

Now MaryCatherine and Daniel are in the bath together. He dumped water on her head and laughed maniacally! MaryCatherine screams and whines when I get water in her face while washing her hair; she was a little taken aback but soon she started pouring water on him too.

I said, "Daniel, smile!" and he gave me this huge grin!!

-Sarah