Zoo, Kisses and Hugs

Today was another really good day. We went to the zoo, which was good, but we had a lot of fun as a family. Thatcher said he wanted to be the "best big brother in the world" and he's doing a good job so far. All four of us got in the bed tonight and he thanked God for lots of things and the last thing was how much he loves his "baby sister"--he doesn't call her by name so much yet. Also...wait for it...Thatcher learned to blow a bubble with bubble gum. His Mimi taught him. Smart, talented kid. Maybe the smartest and talentedest 5 year in the world...maybe universe.

Also, Kristi's mom is being a dear. She is being great, helping us with Thatcher and giving us a chance to let him experience this big change and new addition to our family from the beginning, but also letting us have some time to bond with the baby. Last night she kept Thatcher while we went to dinner with the Kents. Thanks Mimi for helping us out.

Today we had lots of kisses, lots of laughing, lots of hugs and shouting at us to get our attention (you can see on the video above), as well as some two-year-old coming out in Amelia Belle. She wants to feed herself and probably did so for the most part in the orphanage, so when we try to help she doesn't like it. She went to bed by 8pm in the orphanage. Our routine is a little different. She gets pretty wound up after a bath, at least over the last few days she has played afterwards, and tonight she would not settle down. We put her in her bed and she fussed really loudly, so we got her out, all four of us lay in the bed together, and Thatcher finally had to go next door with Mimi because he couldn't be still. We turned off all the lights and She kicked her legs, put them in my face, grabbed my hands, sat up, stood up, fell down, laughed and made noises for a long time. Finally Kristi put her back in her bed and while she did not fuss this time, she tossed and turned for a lot longer before eventually falling asleep. Wild.

Everybody is asleep now and as I reflect on almost a week with Amelia Belle, we have come a long way. She still does not like for me to hold her, but if I do I can keep her from fussing by feeding her or bouncing her around...for a while anyway. We're getting there.

When they gave her to us, we were asked if we had any questions and we really couldn't think of any. Next week many of our new friends will go to the orphanages to see where their babies lived. We will not be able to because our orphanage is 5-6 hours away. It is a shame, because I really want to go. I want to know what my little girl's life was life before she came to us. Zhou says to bring her back when she is older, but I want to know now. She really likes being held, she seems affectionate and she loves attention. From what I understand, babies don't get that kind of one-on-one attention, and caregivers are not affectionate with the babies. But I want to know. I may go to another orphanage, just to see what it is like, but I don't know. I'll have to talk to Zhou.

It is Sunday night a little after 10pm. We have been gone from home for 12 days now. We have pretty much seen all the sights and now we are just waiting for Amelia Belle's Chinese passport and our Visa appointment on the 11th at the U.S. Embassy. We are pretty ready to come home. I am absolutely stir crazy in the hotel room. The island of Shamian is only so big and I at this point I am pretty bored, so I am going to try to go back over into the main part of Guangzhou tomorrow if the weather is better. Food is starting to be an issue. We ate Thai food tonight. Since we have been in Guangzhou, we have eaten Thai twice, Italian twice, American at Lucy's 3 times, McDonald's and Papa John's twice. Not much Chinese, and it might sound like we are eating things not different from what we eat at home, but we are craving some of our fave's. When we get back, we are already talking about some Mexicano on our way home.

I posted a few short videos at www.picasaweb.google.com/gellender03. Check them out and we love hearing from our family and friends. Thank you for the posts and we love y'all.