Day 17

Well, the boys sleeping in one room and the girls in the other room worked out pretty well. Unless you were in the boys' room. Seth woke up about 4 am, and decided that was all the sleep he needed. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get him back to sleep, he and Kris just played together until everyone else woke up. It was some good one on one time for him. After a couple of hours, they were sitting on the couch and he just slumped over, asleep. He stayed up as much as he could, but finally gave in. He slept for another hour before heading to breakfast.

In the morning, we went with a group of other adoptive families to a pearl and jade market. They harvest pearls from the river here in GZ, so the prices are quite good. We had already been to one jade market, so we didn't do much here. The market was huge, with wholesale jade, silver, and all manner of other items. There were three or four floors with hundreds of shops each (most of these independent shops only take up a little bit of space) Kris was carrying Seth in a strap on baby carrier, and he started to get tired so they were walking around together. Lots of odd looks from folks when they saw an American dad carrying around a Chinese baby. Plus, the Chinese don't generally let their babies cry much in public, so anytime our kids are crying people take notice.

After leaving the market, we went to a Cantonese folk art museum. The facility was build in the late 1800s, and all hand carved. It was all so intricate, and impressive to think that it took 6 years to build the place. We enjoyed looking around, and Elliott got a souvenir that he had been wanting. I won't tell you what it is, because some of you reading this might also be receiving the same thing. :)

In the afternoon, we had plans to meet up with our friends and swim here at the hotel. However, while we were at the museum, it began to pour down rain. It is typhoon season, so it rains here almost every day, we're told. We had seen some sprinkling before, but this was a heavy downpour. Ruthie had a blast playing on the edge of the covered porch while she waited on Elliott. She kept sticking her hand out to feel the rain and smiling. When we walked back to the bus, we were all soaked to the bone, but she had the biggest grin on her face. 

All through the morning, Seth was acting tired, from the pearl market on, and getting crankier. Finally, Anne saw two little teeth popping up in his mouth, so that explains his grouchiness. He fought sleep as hard as any baby I've ever met, and it wasn't until we got back to the hotel that he finally took a nap. This does not bode well for our plane rides home...

In the afternoon, our friends came over, which was a lot of fun. Funny story: when they first moved to GZ about 2 years ago from the US, they learned quickly how to tell a cab driver to go our hotel. The reason was because there is a Starbucks right across the street, and all the drivers know how to get to the hotel, but they wanted the Starbucks.

Because of the ongoing rain, we nixed the swimming and just hung out in our room and visited. It is always a treat to be with friends, and we were glad to hear that they have adjusted to Chinese life so well. We are so blessed in our life to have so many relationships with great people. And, since almost all the other contacts we have in China were gone for the summer, we were glad that we got to visit someone we knew who was actually here at the same time as us. And, these people are cool because they have a kid named Elliot, too (though spelled with only one T). Their Elliot is only 8 months old, and it was nice to see her and Seth side by side. We have said that he presents himself about the same way a 9 month old does, and that was confirmed in some ways. It is really sad to think that he was in an environment that contributed to such a delay for him, but we are already seeing progress from him. Tonight, Kris was playing with him and tapping his head with an empty plastic water bottle. Then, Seth would pick up the bottle and tap his head, too. He really likes to mimic us, the things we do and he tries to copy some of the things we say. He really notices when Anne and Kris are not around. He loves the kids, but wants his parents to stay close by. On the bus today, he played peek-a-boo with the person sitting in front of him by leaning his body around the seat. (There are no car seats, so he was just sitting in Anne's lap). He was doing all the peek-a-boo work, and it is fun to see him playful. He's still got work to do, but we are grateful to see some progress in such a short time. Even if that comes with a little crankiness...

Random facts of the day: 

-Apparently, LeBron James is in Guangzhou this week, too. I wouldn't be surprised if he is staying at our hotel. 

-There's a Mexican restaurant in town, that is not bad according to our friends. Stay tuned for details on that. 

-Also, if you are wondering, while the guys bond in the one room, the ladies watch synchronized swimming in the other. I (Kris) came in to the room for a bit and Calla and Anne were glued to the TV. I must admit, that team from Spain was pretty impressive.