Happy Birthday, Abby!

It is Friday morning and we just finished breakfast. We are packing and will catch an afternnoon flight to Guangzhou, our new home for six more nights.

Today is Abby's 6th Birthday! Happy Birthday, Abby!

We will post again when we get in Guangzhou.

The Truth About Matthew

Okay, so if you remember the report from the orphanage said that Matthew was a quiet boy. Hmmm...today we saw the other side of him (both in excited situations and sometimes when he was upset). Tonight he cried and then SCREAMED when we put him down for bed, which he has not done the last three nights - he always goes to bed and doesn't mind putting himself to sleep. So it is good to see this feisty side of him, because he was almost too laid back.

This morning I was able to lead Rob and Abby to the same "supermarket" that TingTing had taken us too. I don't mean to brag, but I was pretty impressed with myself, because normally I can't find my way out of a paper bag. Unfortunately the reason I took them back there was because our video camera died! I know - we are getting requests for more video and we have no way to do that right now. We ventured to the Orient Department Store. We kind of knew we were out of our league when we walked in and they were all high end name brands. We walked past a purse store called Fendi (I don't know why Rob had heard of this brand before and I have not, but I am not a purse person...) The one purse that we looked at in the window was like 90,000 RMB which is like 13,000 American dollars. This doesn't seem possible, but the exchange rate is 6.8. So when we saw the video cameras and saw that the lowest was $1,000 we decided to wait for Guangzhou where the prices should be cheaper. (And yes we did try Walmart again but no one could speak English to help us and there were not any in the Electronics Department).

Tonight Helen took us to dinner at a Chinese restaurant - this is something we have been too chicken to try by ourselves as the menus are not always in English and we don't always know which restaurants are considered safe to eat at. (i.e. we ate lunch at Papa John's -I think if it was just Rob and I we could be much more adventuresome, but there is always the factor of trying to find something for picky Abby to eat, and we know she loves pizza. She also has discovered she loves the egg over easy at the free breakfast buffet and has one every morning. We ordered four dishes and then shared them (chicken with pinenuts, asparagus, and two different beef dishes) and pumpkin soup for Matthew - he LOVES soup, which will be an awesome way for me to get veggies in him when we get back. He will get excited and kind of bounce in between bites. Some of the items on the menu that we avoided were: duck tongue, ox tail consomme, and stewed sharks fin.

We have learned a lot about the Chinese culture and history from TingTing and Helen. At dinner Helen said that they always watch American movies because they have a happy ending. We asked her about Chinese weddings as there have been two at our hotel, both in the middle of the week. She said that it goes by the lunar calendar and the bride and groom would choose a day based on good luck. Because of Western influence brides often will have a white dress rather than the traditional red. But at some point during the night they will have to wear a red dress.

We are pretty excited that this is our last night in Nanching. We are ready to move on to Guangzhou. It has been a little hard for us to be the only family adopting from Jiangsu province. When we came for Abby, there were 17 families in our group and there were always people to talk with and we could let the babies play together. So we should be able to meet up with the families we met in Beijing - they will all be at the White Swan too. In fact, I do feel a little bad for them as they have been staying there this whole time and then one more week. That is a really long time to be in one place when you are anxious to get home and introduce your baby to everyone. There is one couple here who are going to be first time parents and they are getting twins. I am curious to see how they are getting along. Also in Guangzhou I think they are used to a lot more foreign adoptions - so even though I said we are starting to get used to it, it also starts to get a little old. They do not try to hide their curiousity as they stare and then talk wildly to who they are with (sometimes along with some pointing). They will completely turn their bodies to watch you as you walk past. Today when we were visiting a historical site, Rob who was walking with Matthew in the baby carrier was asked by two different people to have their picture taken with him. I think he felt a little like a celebrity.

A special hello to Mrs. Koniar's class - Thank you for the great note. I will for sure bring Matthew to visit you - it might be a little hard to bring Abby as she will be back in school too. And I can definitely bring some money in to show you, along with some other interesting things that we might find in Guangzhou.

P.S. We come back on the 20th, so we are halfway through our trip and missing all of you like crazy!

Message from Abby to Mrs. Schmid's class 3

Dear Mrs. Schmid's class,

I am having a great time in China. I saw the ribbon dance yesterday. I saw a lake in China. I tasted a candied crab apple. It tasted sweet on the outside and sour on the inside. We have Matthew now. I love my brother.

Love,

Abby

A Walk in the Park

Apparently I must have done a good job picking pictures and posting yesterday, because I got the duty again tonight. And according to the comments and some emails we have been getting we have some devout followers and self-claimed stalkers :) - so I don't dare miss a night.

Today was the perfect day. This morning we had a different guide (TingTing) who took us to Xuanwu Lake Park. We walked along the City Wall and although it was not as amazing as the Great Wall - it was quite a sight to see - it is over 600 years old. And it overlooks a beautiful lake. Then we walked along the lake for a couple of hours. Matthew fell asleep, but Abby walked the whole way! It feels like she is growing up so much on this trip. We are so glad that we brought her along on this trip - she is experiencing so much. At the park she got to see women doing the fan dance, which is a dance that the older kids do at Cricket Academy (the Saturday Chinese class that she goes to ). When we were in Beijing she saw the ribbon dance which is the dance that she does and they were even playing the exact same song that she dances too. That was pretty cool. She has also been using some of her Chinese (hello, thank you, you're welcome, good-bye, numbers, some animal names, etc.). A few times people have assumed that she could speak Chinese fluently and started asking her questions and then she got a little bewildered. But Helen, our main guide said that her pronunciation is very good. I am including a few pictures from the park because my mom has been our main photographer since our hands are a little full. She has done an outstanding job and has taken most of the pictures we have posted.

Then Ting Ting took us to a Western restaurant. Matthew was hamming it up the whole time. He truly is quite the character and a meatball just like Abby! The waitress brought us three plastic dishes for him to play with and he was putting the cup in his mouth without using his hands and putting the plate on his head. He has a great sense of humor and thinks that he is riot. He even snorted once and Rob teased that maybe he was related to me! We think he probably already has our number because the orphanage said that he could feed himself his own bottle and we have yet to see him do that - I try by putting the bottle down and making him pick it up and he will grab my hands and put them on the bottle. If I don't - then he cries. And you know how moms are about that - and Grandma Buettner would say, "Oh no, real tears." Also if you stop feeding him with a spoon or stop doing something such as rubbing his back or patting his tummy, he will grab your hand and put it back where he wants it to be. Seems pretty smart to me.

After lunch Rob was brave and agreed to keep Abby and Matthew back at the hotel while TingTing took us "shopping". Oh my gosh - I don't even know if I can describe the "supermarket" that she took us to. It was like several supermarkets put together, part of it was underground and then another part was seven stories of stores. Mom and I were completely overwhelmed. There was no way we could have found this place by ourselves. Ting Ting said she even gets lost in the market sometimes. It was like nothing I have ever seen before!

Okay last piece of news and this is really for Grandma and the aunties (read ahead at your own risk): Matthew is eating great! We get a free breakfast buffet at our hotel and it has both Western and Chinese food. He LOVES rice congee and sweet corn congee. (It's like a watery soup. The rice congee is really bland and the corn congee is a little salty.) But I don't think he has really even spit out anything that we have tried to give him: pineapple, ham, muffins, bread, chicken, etc. Oh and he had his first (and second) BM today. Hey, I warned you that it was for the relatives - but that is huge news in our world!

Video of Matthew and Abby

Boy, I hope this works. Here is some video we took of Abby and Matthew yesterday.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y2HL25FZp8

Day 2 with Matthew

After our morning at Civil Affairs and Wal-Mart it was nice to just spend time back at the hotel. So here are some pictures we got this afternoon after Matthew's nap. Abby has found that she can be a big help and has discovered that she can be tolerant of Matthew pulling her hair and putting his feet on her shoulders because as she stated: "He doesn't know any better." She has been repeatedly telling us that if she shows Matthew how to treat others than he will learn how to treat others. Abby is enjoying her time here, but is experiencing some feelings of homesick as we all are. She says she misses Grandma and Grandpa Buettner, her two cats and her friends.

Matthew was much more vocal today with some shrieks and squealing mixed in with babbling. When he cries, it is only for a second and then he stops - he likes to suck either thumb to calm himself. He is laid back yet persistent if he wants to accomplish something. He is already showing more signs of wanting to walk today - walked all around Grandma's room and then made me (Mom) walk him up and down the hallway. He shows signs that he wants you to let go, but he is not quite steady enough yet.

I know this picture cuts off part of Matthew - but the look on Abby's face is priceless.

Message from Abby to Mrs. Schmid's class 2

Dear Mrs. Schmid's class,
I got Matthew! I love him very much. Sometimes I make him giggle. I'm having a lot of fun with him. Are you thinking I'm having a lot of fun in China?

Love,

Abby