The Rest of the Time in Shandong Province

Jan 19th

Today is a sight-seeing day. We make a short outing to Daming Lake Park. It is a beautiful walk with amusement rides. It is a large park. Even though very few people are in the park, all off the rides are fully staffed. This is amazing to me because in the US, nothing is ever open in the off season. We ride some bumper cars, a small ferris wheel and a few other things. We feed some white pigeons and it is the boys' favorite. We feed the pigeons at the beginning and end of the trip. We stop in a snack shop and get a hot dog on a stick (a favorite of both boys) and some hot tea and instant coffee. Since this is an outside activity and it's still cold, we make this a pretty short visit.

Our Chinese friend and Rob's colleague, Sunny, is able to join us for the next three days. She is very helpful in the hotel since she can speak Chinese. She also finds a lot of food that Ethan likes that I wouldn't think to try. She has a son almost the exact same age, so she sings and plays games. I notice that Ethan will clap after she sings to him. He loves to clap and cheer, something that he continues to do when he is pleased. Sunny is Ethan's Chinese aunt. She can translate his 2 year-old Chinese for us and tell us when he's just babbling. She is making everything easier. Yay!

We go back to the expensive mall. Sunny buys Ethan a coat because Chinese coats are heavier, usually filled with down, and our "heavy coat" is not warm enough for these cold outdoor adventures. She also buys him some shoes; we choose insulated Crocs because his foot is hard to fit. For lunch, we have Korean barbeque. You grill your food in the middle of the table.

We have dinner at the restaurant that night.

Jan 20th
The next day, Rob and Sunny are going to tour a plant who is a supplier. I decide to spend the day in the room with the boys. Ethan is still clinging to Rob and I think some time alone will help him get used to me. Jackson is also tired so I'm ready for a slower day. It ends up being just wonderful. Ethan watches Jackson interact with me and follows along. When Jackson climbs on my lap, Ethan sits there, too. When Jackson gave me a kiss on the cheek, Ethan did, too! He made a loud "MMMHHH." Ooh! It was great! He can blow kisses, too. It is a very happy day to just play and be together.

For lunch, we eat left-overs. Jackson has a bowl of insant noodles and discovers it's a favorite. He eats this often for the rest of the trip. Anytime we would go to a convenience store, he would pick up a bowl for "later." He is clearly tired of the Chinese fare we are getting in the restaurants. It's like he's on overload with the food. We have a nice nap in the afteroon and Rob returns before dinner. Once BaBa is back, he's still preferred, but I have a lot of hope that I will be just as comforting to Ethan in the future.

Jan 21st--Flying to Guangzhou

This is our last day in Shandong. We have to pick up Ethan's passport and head to the airport. Sunny has watched the video from Gotcha Day and given us really important information. Ethan has a nickname. His Chinese name is GuoQiang, meaning strong country. The nannies called him Qiangze. It's like Kwanza but with Ch in the front. We've been calling him GuoQiang over and over, trying to get him to recognize it. We thought we just couldn't pronounce it correctly. Once we started calling him Qiangze, he responds! This makes a huge difference. So it's Qiangze or Qiangze-Ethan for most of the trip and about week after we get home.

At lunch in the restaurant, the manager wants to take our picture. He especially loves Jackson. For the entire trip people come up to Jackson, touch his face and say, "He's so handsome." Jackson doesn't know what to make of it. Finally, on this day, we explain that they admire him and want to practice English, especially the children who meet him. He feels more comfortable with it and smiles warmly. He's better with it the rest of the trip because it happens over and over.

We say goodbye to Sunny and head to pick up the passport and on to the airport. Once we are on the flight, there are about 5 adopting families flying to GZ. It's beautiful to see all of these children with their parents. One boy was really memorable. He is 10 and deaf. His dad is deaf and mom is fluent in sign. He was not taught to sign in the orphanage. His eyes just had this wonder because he was with people who were speaking to him. He was already signing and had picked up a lot of language the first week. I can't imagine being trapped with a wordless world for ten years. It was just so beautiful. Ethan is happy with Rob for the flight. He sits on his lap and snacks or plays. He falls asleep towards the end of the flight. Jackson has found a friend his age adn they watch movies during the flight.

Finally, we land in GZ! We get to shed some of our layers. Hooray!