Hello from Guangzhou!

Gracie is ready to go to the zoo! Hi Everyone...just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the kind words for all of us. We are doing better. Gracie was quite sick--very congested--when we first received her, but luckily we had an antibiotic our pediatrician had given us, so we gave her a round of that and it seems to have cleared most of the congestion up. She still has a little cough. On Sunday I started feeling achy and stuffy. We flew to Guangzhou from Nanchang on Sunday and Gracie was great. She slept most of the way, thankfully. By Monday night I was really ill, so I went to the doctor here at our hotel (it was the lady doctor, Traci:) She didn't speak any English, but the nurse translated. She said it was an upper respiratory infection--yuck! So I am hopped up on several things that I have not a clue what they are--the packaging is in Chinese, but the nurse wrote instructions for me in English. I just follow orders-lol. I am on the mend and we have plans later today to do some shopping around Shamian Island, where our hotel is located. Last night we ate at Lucy's and it was good. It is an American restaurant right down the street from our hotel. Tonight we are going on a boat tour around the island. Tomorrow is Gracie's swearing in at the U.S. Consulate. I am not sure what that involves. We leave Friday at 8 am from Guangzhou airport to Hong Kong. Our flight from Hong Kong leaves at 12:50pm. and arrives at 8:30am in San Francisco--yep, back in time! We arrive at DFW at 4:04m. on United 478. We would love to see everyone, but we understand if you can't make it out there. Honestly, we will probably be so tired--it is only a 17 hour trip and it will feel like 2 am to us. Lol--I am sure our hair will be poking out every which way! I will take pics today and post them tomorrow or tonight.

So some info. about our girl? For those who have BTDT--congee-out, squeeky shoes-definitely in:) Congee is a mashed rice with soy sauce that many babies are fed. She ate it the first breakfast, but when she discovered all of the other foods, she won't go back to congee. She loved the steamed egg until she threw it up all over me. Yeah, at the Gloria Hotel in Nanchang. Not pretty. She can eat like a linebacker. She loves fruit and scambled eggs for breakfast, and noodles with soy sauce--I had to feed her this with chopsticks-he, he. So not the best diet, but we get what we can. She had a ham and cheese sandwich and fries last night. As one father said, who is here for his second daughter from China, "your goal is to get them home in one piece, so do what you have to do"...we like that thought. During the day, she is happy and smiling. She walks around well and is very curious. She likes to organize her toys and does not share well. She can be a bit dramatic, though. If she wants something we won't let her have--oh, say--the tissue from the trash can---she will throw her hands up and head back, then cross her arms and put her forehead on them. Poor child! She is a fitfull sleeper. She wakes up 2-3 times per night. We can't figure out what the problem is. Sometimes she wants a bottle--so maybe we aren't feeding her enough? and sometimes we think it is night terrors. She stays asleep but screams to the world. If you try to comfort her, she screams louder. Eventually she falls back asleep. Then when she wakes in the morning she is fine and smiling. She does say some words. She says mama and baba (father in Chinese) and meimei (little sister). She loves her foster sister, Chloe (Xiao Xiao) and always smiles when she sees her. She was saying ba bao in the doctors office and we thought it was baby babble, but the nurse said it was a term of endearment for babies--like honey bear. So that is what we call her now--our little ba bao. Take care and we will post more pics soon! Love, Jen