Wednesday,
May 19, 2010
BABY BONDING . . . AND THE ZOO
“The flower that blooms in adversity is
the most rare and beautiful of all.”
~Mulan Movie
This morning started slowly as Emma slept until after 7:30 she
was a bit clingy to Daddy, but did not cry. It appears she is
slow to wake and very quiet when she gets up. We gave her some
formula milk and she didn’t like it but drank a full cup of her
favorite cold milk and asked for puffs. Daddy dressed her and
she is very helpful in dressing and seems curious and proud of
her new clothes…all the photos we have of her are in pants so I
think these might be the first dresses she has ever worn.
She asked to brush her teeth by pointing and then asked for more
puffs, she seems to be getting used to our routine. At breakfast
she wanted to sit by Daddy on the seat bench, until now she
cuddled in his lap. She wanted the table pulled to her, wanted
her bib and wanted a napkin in her lap…all from observing what
we have been doing she now wants to do. Yesterday at breakfast
she would not eat if I was at the table but after she had the
yogurt bites I gave her she has since eaten well and in front of
me.
She points to what she wants and she really likes noodles and
eggs…she has yet to allow congee to her lips…we brought our own
cup and milk and she really likes this little milk carton with a
lion on the front…she pointed to it in the store so we bought
it. We had a very nice breakfast and she allowed Daddy to just
hold her had as we left.
We have this really nice stroller and she will have no part of
it at all…forget it so we used the stroller to carry our huge
diaper bag and her Ergo and a few other things and Daddy carried
Emma or she walked and held his hand. We met our guide and then
were off to the zoo.
We arrived at the zoo and to say it was hot is an
understatement…I don’t even know how to describe the feeling of
hot here…Miami plus humidity times 10…end result wet hair all of
us, wet clothes even undies and socks when we returned to the
room we all had to change…so so so so hot, no breeze it did rain
but that only added to the humidity. Emma drank probably 2 cups
of water while at the zoo all by herself.
The zoo was nice and she enjoyed it both being carried in the
Ergo by Daddy and walking with Daddy, she would point to the
animals and at times make sounds. The zoo here was a combination
of zoo, amusement park and theme park as they had performances
of bears and monkeys as well as a dolphin and seal show. The
cost was 50 Yuan for each of us, which is about 25 dollars total
and really if you could stand the heat it would be like
Dollywood and the zoo combined. As we left we grabbed cold
drinks from a vendor and then enjoyed the cool of the van….
On the way home we stopped at a bookstore and I bought several
DVD’s of Disney movies in Chinese and English, several books in
both and some flash cards and traditional Chinese lullaby music
for children. So about 6 DVD’s, 6 books, 4 sets of flash cards
and 2 or 3 cd’s of music for less than 30 dollars…what a deal.
We also stopped at McDonalds for take out, ordering was
interesting ….our guide asked for Big Mac no lettuce and you
would think a world congress was needed to accomplish this and
then I didn’t want ice in the drinks…all in all it took 3 people
to get our order and they made it to eat in and when we asked
for a bag I thought someone might strangle us…I took a photo and
afterward the mood of the staff was not any better. Let me tell
you…McDonalds is really good here…we don’t much eat it at
home…but it was nice to have here…..even Emma ate the fries and
she downed a bowl of noodles similar to ramen noodles but the
Chinese kid version and she ate them fist over fist and smiled.
She is learning the sign for more and uses it for puffs and
noodles mostly.
Nap time for all…she seemed unsettled and Mel rocked her and
then I did and then finally he was able to get her down…she was
sad. She slept until after 5:30 and then we all played and had
dinner in our rooms. This girl loves noodles and even tried a
bite of Daddy’s pizza….be careful if she doesn’t like something
it comes out of her mouth like a boomerang…..we will work on
this…
After dinner she clung to Daddy on the couch and then I offered
her puffs and she came alive and played so cutely with her phone
and blocks and made lots of sounds none really sounding like
words but so sweet. She must have played for nearly 2 hours very
sweetly and interactive with Mel. I talked to Mimi Margie most
of that time on the phone. Mel took her to the potty and we had
our first “poo” and we clapped and made a big deal…what a
trooper she is and Daddy is pretty amazing to figuring all this
out. She liked her ladybug pajamas and snuggled into Daddy…she
has taken a step back with me for now…
She was a bit hard to get down for bed tonight we finally tried
laying her in bed with us and she did fall asleep and Mel moved
her to her crib….she rested well.
About Emma…everyday we see something new…she loves peek-a-boo,
she looks for me if I am not in sight, but still controls how
much she lets me in. She clings to her Daddy and when she wants
him will say “Maw”…even though we say Daddy. If we say where is
Daddy she looks for him and knows he is Daddy. She put her
little photo album over her arm like a purse today very cute.
She is very sweet, but has a stubborn and sort of rough side I
believe because she doesn’t talk much she uses gestures to get
her point across…she will push things away or take food out of
her mouth and throw it like a major league pitcher…we will work
on these things in time…right now we want her to trust us and
learn she is loved…we will set boundaries as we go. She seems to
feel more comfortable as she sat on the seat in the van instead
of on Mel and enjoyed looking out. Her thumb is her main
comfort….loves the thumb. When I left the van to get the books
and cd’s Mel said it really worried her and she paced the van
looking for me and even the driver had to talk to her in
Mandarin to tell her I would be back.
Tomorrow is a free day and we may walk over to the park…
|
First family photo…
Getting ready for bed
In front of the sea turtles
McDonalds in China
Noodle Girl
Two peas in a pod
Zoo fun |
