Shamian Sunday



All over China the people sweep the streets constantly with these cool brooms.



A lot of women use parasols to keep the hot sun at bay.

These flowers drop from the trees. The first time one hit us we thought it was a bird.  The locals use them for medicine, soup (maybe it was soap?)  and other things.

Chinese for "Wash me?"

There are so many bicycles in China although more and more people are able to own cars. People will carry huge loads of goods strapped to their bike.

Ariana has scored quite a few squeaky shoes.  The prices here are so good!

Here we are on the fire escape balcony close to our room on the 17th floor.

At night the city view  is much prettier because the smog isn't so evident.

Poolside at our hotel.  There don't seem to be many bugs or mosquitoes. Maybe the hotel sprays I don't know.  We enjoyed our second Papa Johns pizza poolside with one of the other families. 

Sunday was spent exploring more of our beautiful Shamian Island.  Ariana is warming up to us more and more.  She is eating yogurt mixed with rice cereal three times a day and likes mashed bananas and has eaten a tiny bit of carrot baby food.  Today (Sunday) she tasted Mommy's Vienetta ice cream bar and loved it.  The girl has a sweet tooth.

Second Saturday with Ariana

We love those giggles!

Here's a little look around beautiful Shamian Island.  This park is close to our motel and wasn't very crowded.  We got a lot of stares today, not because we aren't Asian, but because we have Ariana. It isn't considered rude to stare here and people will stop dead in their tracks and look you up and down.

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This is the White Swan Hotel, our home away from home. 



People often enjoy games on the street.  Board games and badminten are favorites.



Yet another photo shoot.  The traditonal Chinese wedding dress is red although we understand most brides wear western style gowns now.

This is my favorite book.

Nightime view of the Swan.

There was a blimp out last night and it attracted quite a lot of attention, but we couldn't get a decent picture of it.

Morning nap with Daddy.

Lazy Friday in Guangzhou

She doesn't like her bath much so she's only had two in the week we've had her!  Really!  The babies were very clean when we got them.



I like it when Daddy brushes my hair.



Friday was a laid-back day as we didn't have any appointments or outings scheduled.  Our guides were busy picking up the 3 families who adopted from other provinces and taking them to their medical appointments.  Most adoption trips to China have three parts:  Beijing for a few days, the baby's province for 5 days, and Guangzhou for five days.  All American families have to travel to Guangzhou because the American Consulate is here.  Because Ariana is from  Guangdong Province we are here for nearly the entire time.  Our trip is also extra long because of the 3 day Tomb Sweeping holiday. 

Steve wasn't feeling well Friday so Ariana and I ventured out on our own for a couple hours to let him sleep.  The area where we are staying is quite accustomed to tourists and English speakers and it's pretty easy to communicate your needs.

We dropped our laundry off as many of the shops also do laundry for a fee and borrow out strollers.  We haven't tried a stroller yet, but our Ergo carrier has been great for bonding and really comfortable.  Ariana often falls asleep while we are "wearing" her.

I picked out some matching Mommy and me jade bracelets that are just adorable.  Shopping here is a unique experience as the shopowners are very aggressive and hard-working.  They will not allow you to leave without making a sale!  They will bargain prices and it has actually been fun and we've bought a lot of keepsakes for Ariana for very little.

After two great days of eating she seems to be on a bit of a hunger strike again Friday.  I am actually writing this Saturday afternoon (have to blog when I can) and she has eaten pretty well today so we won't stress about it.

Zoo Day and First Smiles for Mommy and Daddy

 Thursday's outing was the Guangzhou Zoo and Children's place department store. I have read that many of the zoos in China aren't really up to American standards but the Guangzhou Zoo is outstanding.  The animals were all very healthy looking and full of personality. The grounds are beautiful and well-kept. As you can see there were no crowds!  What a surprise that was.  They did have among the clientele two dogs, but they were in more of an entertainment area.

 Of course they highlight of the trip were the two Pandas.  Ariana slept through most of our walk through. It was nice to be outside with plenty of shady areas.

 Ready to go down to the breakfast buffet.  I am the cutest one there although I did hurl a plate across the dining room and smash it today.  Oops!

 Late in the afternoon Thursday we had a real breakthrough.  Ariana decided to get very playful and we saw some smiles and lots of babbling.  She even let Daddy hold her while she did a little "walking".  I think it will be a while before she is walking on her own. This is the first time she has had any interest in being down on the floor. 

The area of Guangzhou where we are staying is called Shamian Island.  It is very  beautiful and has roots with English and French, something about the Opium Wars.  I need to look it up to know exactly what. You can see the architecture has a very European feel and there are plenty of trees.

I love my stacking cups but haven't figured out how to stack them yet.  I so want to put one inside the other but can't figure out how to keep my fingers out of the way.  My fine motor skills are way behind but I am making great progress every day. 

Everyday there are lots of photoshoots all over the island.  Mommy keeps finding pictures of the beautiful models on the memory cards.  I am sure daddy wants to document everything for Ariana.  Hmm

The smile that is melting Mommy and Daddy.  Never mind the food we are both wearing.  I see a lot of Photoshopping in my future.

Wednesday in Guangzhou

Wednesday was a bit of a turnaround for Ariana as she ate 3 times and seemed to enjoy it.  Since she won't take formula, Monday we started to put a couple spoons of it in with her diluted juice (pear or apple) or her Pedialyte which we are almost out of.  She will also drink some water with sugar in it.  That's what they give them in the orphanage so we'll deal with the sugar issue later, we're just happy she's drinking.  She's also eating rice cereal mixed with apple/banana baby food (and of course sugar.) 

We are seeing more little bits of her personality each day.  Evenings from about 6:30p.m. on are pretty rough and she whimpers, cries, or screams for hours until we can get her down.  Bedtime has varied greatly.  She is alright if we carry her around so that she can rest her head on our shoulders.  Mommy and Daddy both have very sore backs but of course that is nothing compared to what she has been through.

She is making the cutest little clucking sound.  She seems to do it when she is most relaxed.  We think she is communicating with us, but most likely it's just something she developed in the orphanage to entertain herself.

Wednesday afternoon was the medical checkup for the babies.  We were expecting it to be pretty chaotic and upsetting for them, but it was actually pretty quick.  The Kentucky families said the last time they were here it was very crowded and they had to wait much longer. 

Waiting our turn for the medical exam.

That's right...Mommy didn't bring any hair products, curling iron, or blow dryer.  It wouldn't matter anyway it's so humid here.  Ariana really seemed to like this nurse, all the babies did.  They probably liked hearing her speak Chinese.

Our next stop was the Security Bureau of Guangdong Province where we applied for the babies' Chinese passports.  They will travel to the United States on Chinese passports with American visas.  They didn't allow pictures inside the building but Daddy got this one in.  Shh.

 Lobby of the medical exam building.  Sorry, having trouble moving the pictures around.

 Playing with my "sisters" in the hallway at the White Swan Hotel. 

 Ariana is the least social of the group and doesn't interact much with the other babies.

 This is Savanah on the left in the pink, Tracie and Tony's baby. I found Tracie on a Yahoo group about 2 years ago and that's how we got to "know" the Kentucky families we are traveling with.  They all adopted girls six years ago and know the ropes and are a huge help to us.

 Outside the Security Building.

Later we all had a pizza party in the hallway.  Oh my did that Papa Johns taste wonderful. They don't shampoo carpets in China and I can't believe we all sat and ate there-even me!  You really have to get past the germaphobe stuff here to make it.

More later.