Don't Let This Innocent Look Fool You

Happy 39th anniversay to Grandma and Grandpa Buettner!!! We had some ice cream in celebration of your anniversary! Matthew thought it was a little too cold!

I can not tell you how happy we are to be in Guangzhou - for many reasons: it means we are closer to coming home, Abby gets to meet up with some of her friends again, and we are not the only Americans adopting children. It has been good to see the people we met in Beijing and to meet their babies. Then we are also sort of part of this group that arrived last night for events planned together if we want to participate. But one of the families from Beijing (the ones with twins) remembered that we were coming and asked Kathleen (our new guide) to give us the name and room numbers for that group too. Although having our own personal guide and tour guide back in Jiangsu is almost unheard of and we enjoyed it very much, there is just something about being here with other families. Abby was jumping up and down when she saw Maddie at breakfast this morning. They went to a Safari and we were stuck back here to do paperwork. (But it sounds like we got the better end of the deal. Because it was a Saturday, I guess it was so many people that you had to almost just shuffle along.) We now have a "playdate" for Maddie and Abby scheduled for tomorrow.

Today while I was doing paperwork Rob, Grandma, Abby and Matthew went to the Swan room. It is a big playroom that has toys donated by Mattel. We found out something new about Matthew...he can get to where he wants to go. We had noticed that he had no interest in crawling and we had seen him do some rolling and a little bit of scooting. Well at the playroom, he scooted backwards for like 6 feet! And apparently he was fast! Watch out TomTom and Frankie!

We also did some shopping at the local shops. They will give you a umbrella stroller to use for free and all they say is -"please bring it back before you leave." These are things that would not happen in the U.S. These local shops do have things figured out - they lure you in by asking about your baby or complimenting your children. Then they give you something for free, hoping that you will do business with them. We turned the corner and saw a shop called Jordan. Both Rob and I remembered the shop from when we were here 5 years ago. As soon as I saw the shop owner I recognized him and remembered visiting with him. He did both Abby and Matthew's name in calligraphy for free. We did buy a few things from him - such as squeaky shoes (they squeak with each step). They should be an incentive for walking. At other places we also got a Chinese outfit for both Abby and Matthew - we will try to get pictures of the two of them tomorrow. We bought a second outfit for Matthew but he might have to grow into it - but it is very cool with Chinese characters and tigers.

Being back in Guangzhou and at the White Swan has brought back memories for us of our first trip. The White Swan is a 5 star hotel (not a place we would normally be staying!) and the service is outstanding. There is a free breakfast buffet - and let me tell you, the food is incredible. You name it, they have it. They serve both Western and Chinese food. The great thing about the buffet is that there are so many options for trying new foods out on Matthew. He really likes most things we have given him. He is a stinker though - if you put it on the table or in his hands he will throw it to the floor (along with anything else that might be within his reach). But if you feed it to him he will eat it willingly. And if he wants more and you are not feeding him fast enough he will grab your arm with what I refer to as the "pinch death grip" and pull your arm towards him. Rob thinks that since I will be off I should have time to make a buffet every morning when we get back. He's a dreamer, isn't he?

Now promise not to be too jealous, because I have heard that it has been cold and rainy there, but today it was in the 80's and tomorrow it is supposed to be 85. Got to love that - and now it is okay to not have Matthew dressed like the Michelin tireman. He does look a little smaller without all those clothes on. But when we initially weighed him in Nanching he was 20 lbs. We think his cheeks look a little fuller. We will try to weigh him again before we leave. He has also gotten stronger! - his head was a little on the wobbly side that first day, but not anymore. He can also sit up from laying down just by using his stomach muscles, which he could not do. And he can stand and walk (holding on) for longer periods of time. He still loves the glasses game and he is not partial to Daddy - anybody wearing glasses is free game! He also loves my curly hair and luckily does not pull too hard on it. He will imitate things that you do (i.e. he figured out how to undo the velcro on his shoes). And for pat-a-cak he likes to take your hands and make them clap together.

A special thank you to Maddie for taking such good care of TomTom and Frankie! We really appreciate knowing that you are taking care of them and giving them some attention. I think they will be in for a big surpise when we get home.

Someone had asked about the time difference and I believe it is 13 or 14 hours difference so when it is night here it is morning of that same day (i.e. Right now it is 9:15 pm on Saturday, so it would be like maybe 8:15 am on Saturday there).

Okay now to answer the questions from Ms. Koniar's class - quite an inquisitive bunch :)

Yes, there are islands - in fact we are on an island right now - Guangzhou. They do have governors of each province. They also have a president whichis often referred to as the Chairman - the current one is Chairman Hu. I would like to find out more about the schools too, but one thing that I did find out is that education is very important to them - in the elementary schools they go to school from like 7:30 to 4:30 and at the high school level they go to school from 7:00 - 5:15. (Those poor teachers...) Yes, they do have police cars. The cars have the same red and blue lights on the top.