Squeaky Shoes!

Hello Again!

We are now at the famous (as far as adopting families go) White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. We arrived yesterday and Joy did O.K. with her first airplane ride. There was some fussiness. It was not during take off or landing, as we expected, but in between, when sitting in a seat was no longer interesting. She really loves to get down and walk, which is not what she was able to do enough in the orphanage. This brings me to the squeaky shoes. They sell these little shoes here that squeak when the babies walk in them. We bought a pair yesterday and Joy really liked holding them (she loves her shoes) but when we put them on her and she began to walk, it was just too cute. She realized that SHE was the master of the squeakers and had lots of fun stomping around on them. These shoes are actually well known here and now I know why they are so popular!

The rest of our time in Chongqing was very pleasant and mostly just about spending time together, a little paperwork and walking around downtown Chongqing. The people there were so friendly.

Our guide here is named Jason and he is just as nice as Marie and Anita were in Chongqing.
And they were a pretty awesome pair. It was sad to say good-bye to them and to Chongqing. The night before we left we were looking out of our window and at the lights. I told Joy to say good-bye for now to Chongqing (until we visit again) and she waved out the window to the street below. We decided to donate back the outfit the orphanage had given us, along with a lot of other things that were too short. Joy is tall and thin! There were eight pieces of clothing on her and most were for a very cold climate. We did keep the hat and a t-shirt. It was a lot harder than I thought to pack up the clothing. It felt very symbolic of her beginning a new life with us and leaving her home town.

Paul is napping now and trying to shake his second cold this past two weeks. But, he would want me to write about his "daddy breakthrough" he had yesterday. He was playing in the hotel lobby with Joy and she put up her hands to him to be picked up! I just wish I had been there to see it! I could tell that it made him very happy. He has been trying so hard to get her to trust him.

Since we have not figured out how to put captions under the photos, I will just tell you what they are: Joy's first bath time, Paul and Joy at the Zoo (my favorite) and Joy's finding spot at the laundry. For some reason, it is behind the photo of Paul and Joy, but if you click on it, it will show the whole picture. We got a lot of attention for taking that photo! I think they thought we were a little crazy. Blogger is only letting us post three today (darn!). I would upload them all if I could.

Also, David found out that we can view our blog through anonymouse.org which is an anonymous web surfer. We can see your comments, finally! They mean so much to us, as do the emails.

I hope to be able to write more later, but I think she might be waking up from her nap!

Much Love,

Mary