... More on Today...

Happy Mother's Day! Here in China, Mother's Day is celebrated a little... but not much. Mike bought me some flowers. Elvin delivered them to him. I guess when Mike mentioned ordering them, Elvin said, "Oh yes...that's right... tomorrow is Mother's Day." Today he took the other CWA family to their orphanage. So, the day must not mean much to him if he's spending it with his job, not his family. Oh... Mike forgot to mention that this is the THIRD important Mother's Day. Two years ago, Benjamin was baptized on Mother's Day, too!!! Now I figure Reagan must get married or something on Mother's Day to round it all out.

Mike also bought me a "Born in my Heart" pendant from a VA artist who designed them for another family's adoption's fundraiser. It's beautiful. Check out the "Growing in Faith and Family" blog to the left to see the link.

Gracelynn is slowing attaching to us. Today she was Mommy's girl... maybe that's my Mother's day gift? She seemed to calm down quickly after fussy spells if she came to me. I found out today that the girl IS indeed ticklish. In the past, she would grimace and pull away if we teasingly tried to tickle her. Today in the shower, she giggled when I washed under her arms. Then, later, she was playing on the floor under my chair (?). I looked under and tickled her legs... she giggled like crazy. Then in Starbucks, she was getting fussy sitting there for so long, so I began to tickle her. She cracked up. It was great to hear her laugh.

She is still having some problems... she tends to whimper when she wakes up. Not sure if it's a grieving thing where she wakes up and realizes that her life has changed... or if she still hasn't figured out that she's allowed to tell us she needs to use the bathroom. So far, she goes "niao niao" only when we take her to the potty... she never asks or goes alone. And forget "ge ge".... hasn't figured out how to go on the potty with that yet (I'm sure you can guess what that means.)

She loves her new cup. We went to a local department store a few days back and bought her a flip-top straw cup. She loves having water or apple juice at her disposal. Gran and Granddad, if you read this... it would be great to have some apple juice awaiting her arrival at home.

We went to Lucy's AGAIN. :-) Lucy's is wonderful for that break from Chinese food. You can buy Chinese food there, but we tend to order American. I got spaghetti w/meat sauce three days in a row now... LOL. Best to stick with something I know is good. Dad had spaghetti with garlic and chili... wow! That was HOT! Mike got a grilled steak and liked it too. Grace likes fried rice, so we ordered it. She certainly put it away quickly. Dad and Mike have tried a few local beers. They seem to enjoy them. Even I tasted one at the lunch yesterday. I've been good with drinks. If you know me, you know that I can drink 6 cans of Diet Coke on any given day (caffeine free... does that make it any better?) However here in China, the "Diet Coke" is called "Coke Light" and has .8 energy (calories). It's okay, but a little sweeter than I'm used to. I'd love to know the ingredients, but it's always written in Chinese! So, I've pretty much stuck with OJ in the morning, and water throughout most of the rest of the day. Yes, Christy... drinking water. What a surprise!

One thing I learned today.... Starbuck's Caramel Macchiatos taste just as good in Guangzhou as they do in Virginia! They're just as piping hot, too. My burned tongue proves that. :-) The Starbucks here is big... probably seats 100 or more inside and out.

I learned a few things in the local China Daily paper (the English paper in China). For one, the five adorable Olympic mascots are called Fuwa. I can't remember all of their names (the panda is JingJing... we know that from the one we bought Grace at the airport.) They represent four favorite Chinese animals... the panda, the fish, the sparrow, and the antelope. The fifth represents the torch. In Guangdong, there are quintuplets (yes, in china... five kids in one family!) that helped to open the last leg of the torch relay in Guangdong. They all dressed as the Fuwa and did some neat choreography apparently. Yesterday, the torch went through Huizhou, Grace's hometown. We learned that Huizhou City sits on West Lake (a series of five lakes) that are beautiful. We're a little sad to not see it this trip... maybe next time. LOL

We were pleased to meet Mr. Jordon of Jordon's Place (yes, another "___ Place" store on Shamian Island). He offered to paint Gracelynn's name on paper with some Chinese characters. As I told him her name, he said, "OH! Like GRACE in the Bible???" I said yes, and he got so excited. "Ah! You Christian? I'm a Christian, too!" He was so happy to declare that. It was neat. Today we happened to walk by him during our walk, and he recognized me. If you go to Shamian Island, you must meet Mr. Jordon. The paper he painted was really nice.... her name and four symbols.

Sherry's Place typed out Gracelynn's American name and drew the Chinese characters for Hui Chun on a Monkey card ... her zodiac symbol... for free too. It's really cute. Mike and I think the Monkey zodiac sign is perfect.... it's both Tommy's and Grace's Chinese zodiac symbol... how fitting!

Mike mentioned that Grace is really quiet. She is. Very quiet. She observes everything around her though... taking it all in. When local shopkeepers or Elvin or other Chinese try to talk to her, she will look right at them, as if she knows exactly what they are saying. However, she never responds. Today one lady asked her where her mama was, and Grace looked at me. So, at least she understands a little of what is going on. I keep thinking about the huge change she'll encounter when we get home. Wow.... she's not going to know what to do with Tommy, Reagan and Ben. Maybe they'll help her break out of her shell a little.

So far, so good on the illness thing. Mike says I shouldn't even mention it. Like I'll jinx us. :-) All four of us have had stomach upset from the changes in diet (even Grace... remember she's used to congee 3x a day). But, so far no poisoning. One guy in our group was sick the day we did our notary paperwork last week. Another teenage girl of a family we know was sick one day too. We keep praying we'll stay well.

One thing Mike forgot to mention about our lunch yesterday. We sat at a "table with no chairs". I don't know the official name. We had to climb up to a level and stick our feet down through a hole under the table. It was interesting, to say the least. Also, not exactly the best situation for Grace. She was able to wander around on the "bench" thingee a lot and bump into another gentlemen and all. She does much better in highchairs! LOL Fortunately, she did GREAT in the stroller yesterday. That long walking tour (2 hours) would've set her off quickly. She was still a little fussy, but she definitely prefered sitting down.

OK, typed enough. Our Internet bill is going to be astronomical. Tonight we have reservations downstairs at the all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant on the river. We made reservations late enough to hopefully see some of the neat light shows. The cost is pricey (238 yuan or about $35 per person), but it sounds nice. The photo shows a Caucasian chef... wonder if it's a pretty American meal? We'll see..... We love Chinese food, but it's been nice to occasionally have a slice of American food from time to time, too.

Till later....