A little bit of everything

Today started off rather well for Baba and Jin Bei. At breakfast, she actually let him feed her for most of the meal. We were floored. It was a nice change. When Patrick and Caleb excused themselves to use the bathroom, she went looking for them. She was none too please with me when I made her return to our table, after bringing her all the way to the bathroom to explain it to her. If she could get anything in her hands, she was throwing it. Oh, it was not fun. She finally stopped her fit when the boys returned, as if nothing ever happened. This was when she decided she would finally give in to Baba and let him hold her. It was quite a break through.

Then we headed off to the medical clinic to have Jin Bei's TB test read. As we suspected, it was negative. But as soon as we walked over to the room where the shots were administered, she began bawling. Her TB test was actually read even before the hysterics started, but that didn't matter.

After the medical clinic, we headed over to Jordon's to buy a few toys for Caleb. The Drewes came with us, so that was fun for Caleb. We decided to head over to Lucy's for lunch because we were right there. Unfortunately, Jing Jing was out of sorts. So the Drewes headed back to the hotel. We actually ran into a family that sat on the plane near us on the long flight over from LA. So it was nice to see them. We also saw a few of our Wuhan families; it was nice to catch up with them. Since it was raining when we finished lunch, we got a taxi back to the hotel. Actually Caleb did a fantastic job hailing our taxi again. Too bad our taxi driver didn't look closely at the room key we showed him, as he started driving us to the other Holiday Inn in Guang*zhou. We had to tell him to turn around. Thankfully, he returned us to our hotel without too much delay.

We met up with the Drewes and our guide, Helen, at 2pm and headed over to the pearl market. On our way, Helen took us to a vendor to indulge in some fried Ch*inese specialties: fried scorpion and fried beetles. We tried the little ones first. Well, actually I had Patrick try first. Helen explained that it tasted like chips. But I wanted to hear it from Patrick. Sure enough, that's what he said. So I ate one. And it wasn't bad at all, just crunchy like a chip. Even the Drewes got in on the action. Patrick decided to try the really big scorpion, and so did Mike. It just seemed like it would be "juicy" to me. But I later found out from Patrick that it was just as crunchy and the spices weren't too spicy. Patrick also tried fried beetle and said it tasted the same.

After enjoying our local treats, we went to the mall to a DVD store. We bought Caleb and Madeline a "Pleasant Goat and Big Bad Wolf" DVD for $3USD. It's all in Ch*inese with Ch*inese subtitles. And although Caleb doesn't understand it, he really enjoys it! We quickly finished up at the DVD store and made our way over to the pearl market. We bought Madeline some pearls that she can wear now as a little girl and some to give her when she is older.

Since Madeline had yet to take a nap, we decided we should try dim sum another day. We headed back to the hotel to chill out. Madeline really let Patrick play with her, and the two of them had their first great day of bonding. She let him swing her upside down and cuddle. It was really so sweet to see. FINALLY, I was able to get some photos of the two of them together. At one point, Jin Bei told me she had to go potty. But she didn't quite make it in time. Instead she peed all over the bottom of her dress and the floor. Then she refused to put clothes on. So she toddled around without them for a little while, quite contently.

After a while and no nap, we headed up to the pool so Patrick and Caleb could swim. Madeline was very intrigued and laughed a lot as Caleb swam. She really wanted to get in, but we decided to hold off on that for another day.

Then Patrick headed out to pick up some snacks for us, as Caleb tried to watch his new DVD and his sister tried to throw some nice hissy fits. She has certainly gotten quite comfortable with us, although one word she's not quite comfortable with is boo (no, in Ch*inese). Yup. That's something we gotta work on with our precious little girl. She is quite different from Caleb in that respect. We never even had to use the word "no" with him. He was/is easily directed and doesn't throw tantrums. I guess his sister is trying to make up for that lack of exposure for mommy and daddy. LOL.

Anyway, Patrick made it back from the convenience store with snacks galore. And he also made it to a pharmacy to get some cough drops for me. Both types of cough drops tasted great. However, this liquid herbal medicine he brought back smelled awful. He gave me water to chase it with, and I laughed. It was so awful smelling and tasting, I had to chase it with coke. And even that was tough. Hopefully this stuff works because I am dog tired of blowing my nose and coughing. We decided to order Pizza Hut and have it delivered to the room. It wasn't that bad. We all ate it, but Jin Bei only made it throug a few bites before she could admit she didn't like it.

We all finished up our pizza and decided to try to get to bed. Jin Bei has become quite fascinated with the bathroom. She is constantly wanting to sit on the potty to pee, so she can wipe herself and flush the toliet. She is far too enamoured with the toliet paper and is constantly ripping pieces off to throw in the potty. If they don't quite make it to the bottom of the bowl, she reaches right down in there to move it. So we are constantly having to wash her little hand. She really didn't want to come out of the bathroom at bedtime, even after I let her pee one more time and wash her hand. Oh boy, it was as if the world was going to end. She came to the bed crying hysterically. But again, she laid there on my chest without protest. She eventually cried herself to sleep, all the while with Caleb and Patrick channel surfing on the TV in the bedroom. I couldn't believe it. But I guess she was just that tired.

Tomorrow morning, we will head out to the Buddist temple. And in the afternoon, we will attempt dim sum. Enjoy the photos from today.

My lens was so fogged up from the humidity. Patrick ate the big scorpion you see in the middle. We got some photos of the actually consumption with his iphone. We'll have to post those at a later date.
Happy with her pringles

Our guide Helen explaining the DVD to Jing Jing, Jin Bei, and Caleb

Caleb is none too pleased to take a photo with his sister

Sophia and Jin Bei


Madeline enjoying her chocolate chip cookie and time with Baba

Caleb enjoying his DVD, while his sister gives us her sassy look