Travel Journal - Day 8
Day 8: I am not sure who likes bath time better, Christopher or Lucy. Every time I turn around he has her in the sink splashing around. She LOVES her bath! She likes to play with the bubbles and she likes having water poured over her head. It is a riot watching her and Christopher play together. Last night she got so interested in watching the bubbles in the palm of her hand that she did not notice that Chris had left the room. I got a full 3 minutes of bath play time all to myself. It was awesome!
Today was our first full day in Guangzhou. As promised, the breakfast buffet was awesome. Lucy is such a good eater. She will eat just about anything. She even eats broccoli. She had McDonald's french fries for the first time at lunch. She could not shove them in her mouth fast enough. I used them to bribe her so that I could get a couple minutes of lap time.
At breakfast we were reunited with the other half of the families. We were all together in
Beijing but then split up to get our babies in separate provinces. It was so great to see all the other couples with their new babies. They are all so beautiful. Lucy enjoyed making new friends.
Today's outing was to the medical center. The babies had to go through a series of 3 quick examinations. Lucy did so well! She did not cry at all during the ENT exam. She let the doctors weigh her and measure her without complaining. She is 17 pounds and some ounces. I did not hear the exact number of ounces because we were in a small room with many screaming babies. The sign on the wall said "quiet please." Yeah, right. She did get a little annoyed at the physical exam but at least there was no screaming.
She is getting more and more relaxed around us. She will now sit in her stroller and let us push her around. We have had 3 meals where she sat in her high chair. This is huge progress. For the first 3 days she had to be in Daddy's arms all the time. She sat in her crib today and played with her toys. I think this is a sign that she is feeling more secure and confident.
Watching her laugh and smile is so amazing. She is very quick to smile. She smiles at strangers and has no problem going to other people. At a department store today she let 2 sales ladies hold her while Chris used the bathroom. She would not let me hold her at all. (How embarrassing. I could not explain to the sales clerks why this beautiful baby screamed every time I tried to hold her.) Even though I wish she would come to me more often, it is clear that she knows I am "someone special." Just by the fact that she will go to others but not to me says that she recognizes me as different from everyone else. Eventually she is going to get tired of rejecting me. In the meantime I am pretty happy with the few minutes that she gives me.
She wants to walk so badly! She and daddy have been walking their way around the bed. Lucy puts one hand on the bed and holds Daddy with the others. She is so close to taking off on her own. I bought her a very special pair of "Hello Kitty" shoes today because she does not have any others that fit.
This afternoon I met with all the other Moms (and a couple of Dads ) to do paperwork for our consulate appointment. It is surprising how tiring paperwork can be. It took nearly 2 hours to get through it. Chris stayed in the room and taught Lucy how to drink a juice box.
So far I have managed to not discuss baby bathroom habits. However, I cannot resist sharing one story. Most of the babies did not wear diapers before we got them. In China the babies wear split pants. Eventually they are held over the potty (a "squatty potty," not a toilet like we are used to) and they will do their thing. Some of the other couples have tried a technique where they get behind the baby and put one of their hands underneath each baby thigh. Then they back over the toilet and hold the baby over the opening. Well, we tried it tonight and had success! It was the funniest thing! I was very excited. If we can master this technique we can save hundreds in diapers. (Can you say "college fund?") I don't really anticipate doing this but it may be a sign of early potty training. We will have to wait and see!
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