My Little Sweeties

My Little Sweeties

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Day 7: Aquarium & Play!


After the past few days being spent with many appointments and so intense, today was the perfect day to play and just enjoy one another. And boy did we ever!

The day started with a bath for Christian.  I was expecting lots of resistance after our bath two days ago, but I needed to give him one – as cute and cuddly as he is – he can be STINKY!  So, I started the water and let him play with the water as it came out of the faucet.  He LOVED it, so I seized the moment and undressed him and put him in with about two inches of water on the bottom.  AJ and Abby love playing in water, but I don’t think I have ever seen a child enjoy splashing in the water as much as this kid.  He splashed so hard and as a result his face and my face were dripping with water.  Boy did he laugh.  Belly laughing, cheeks hurting laughing.  He also likes to stand up in the water, which about gives me a heart attack each time because this kid is wriggly in general, but slimy + wriggly = trip to the ER, and we don’t want that!  We practiced sitting about three hundred seventy-nine times, and eventually, for the most part, he sat and played.  We brought a few little floaty boats from target and he loves to throw these in the water and watch them splash, then slide around on his butt to get the boats.  Very fun.  I also snuck in a packet of Aveeno’s oatmeal powder for skin problems, which is good because poor guy has a rash all over his head, forehead, and neck.  Most likely this is from the heat and his non-stop sweating, but he needed something on his skin and I had read it suggested to pack something for this (along with about 200 lbs of other items). Once he started to get cold it was time to get out, get dressed, and head to the good ol’ buffet. 

People are very friendly here.  As uncomfortable as it can be at times getting stared at nonstop by passerby’s, it really is pretty special. Most people look with true excitement and wonder when the see a foreign family adopting one of their own.  Maybe it is because they know that most children who are adopted have special needs.  Maybe it is because they are happy for the child thinking they will have more opportunities than they had.  Maybe it is because he is so cute they just want to look and smile.  Maybe they wonder our story.  Maybe they don’t really care and we are being overly-sensitive J 

We met our guide at 9:30 and took a taxi ride to the aquarium, which is about a thirty minute drive away.  When we pulled up, before we were even out the door, a lady was trying to sell us a light-up toy.  It was only 10 yuan, which equates to less than $2, and was super cute, but we didn’t even have time to think before she put it in my hand.  I said “No thank you” and tried to give it back.  I asked my guide if it was free for coming here, and she said, “No, you have to pay or give it back”.  So I tried to give it back to her and she didn’t take it.  I was about ready to set it on the ground when she took it and put it in Christian’s hand.  This made us upset and we told her “No” more firmly and gave it back to her (we ended up caving and bought one for him on the way out from a different lady).  I did not care at all for that level of pushiness.  Fortunately he was so confused by the whole thing I don’t think he realized he had a super cool flashy toy in his hands. 

The aquarium was awesome.  It was very clean and well kept.  We were able to feed the coi fish and could have fed sea turtles lettuce.  We saw a great sea lion show and on the way out watched a Mermaid show where three people were dressed in costumes and danced/ swam under the water.  It was beautiful and was done to music.  There were a ton of fish.  The gift shop was cute and very reasonably priced.  I couldn’t believe it, but they had tons of little turtles in plastic containers that you could buy.  If only I could have gotten some of those babies in through customs, I totally would have bought a baker’s dozen!  We got a little ice cream.  We were going to give Christian some, but Vivian told us that Chinese do not eat anything cold with a tummy ache.  I don’t know if I believe this or not, but I have appreciated all she has done so much I wouldn’t want to disrespect her by trying otherwise.  So, Adam and I ate ice cream and Christian got a cookie snack from our diaper bag.  We were all happy J 

We came home pretty beat.  Christian took a three hour nap, which was awesome, but it also meant he couldn’t fall asleep until about 10:00 at night – oops J  When he woke up he was in such a wonderful mood!  We laughed and played so hard, it was really just a perfectly marvelous day.  We played hide and seek (usually he hid in the same spot and would call, “Mama!” so I could find him), Peek-a-boo (with anything covering his eyes), daddy protect me from mama, blow the balloon and let the air out, spin mama in the chair, spin the bottle in the chair, and see how fun it is when mom and dad both kiss me at the same time!  Even with all this fun Christian also showed us what that twinkle in his eye means – mischief!  It is very appropriate for his age, and adding in our language barrier and the fact that he can only utter a few sounds due to his cleft palate, it makes sense that we are going to see some behaviors.  One thing he did a few times when he was frustrated was pinch or hit.  Once we were cuddling in the rocking chair and out of the blue he pinched me.  I told him “nice” and rubbed his face with my hand.  He pinched me again – kind of laughing, kind of frustrated.  I made a sad face and said, “no hit.  Nice.” And rubbed him again.  When he did it again right away he got his first time out with me.  I set him down on the floor and ignored him for about a minute.  He cried so hard I wondered for a second if he was going to remember to breath.  I then picked him up and we cuddled.  He seemed so sad, and as bad as I felt about putting him down and making him sad, this is one thing I will be firm on.  He snuggled close and didn’t pinch me again (for a few hours at least).  The next time when he pinched and I said nice he gently rubbed my face.  Smart little bugger!

In the middle of our play we did go back to the Small Restaurant for dinner.  This time we didn’t have Vivian at our side to help us order, so we were on our own.  We started off by asking for a coca cola, but our waiter wasn’t sure what we were asking and we didn’t know how else to describe it.  I think maybe he knew the whole time but got a kick out of our efforts trying to demonstrate what we wanted.  Finally he flagged over a waitress who must have known the most about English, which was more than we knew in Chinese, but not much more.  We did get two cokes.  She tried to show us in the menu what she thought what we would like, which happens to be the same thing we had the time before.  It was really good, but we were looking to try something else.  Adam asked if we could look in the menu for a minute before we decide.  She looked at him very seriously, smiled politely, and said, “No.”.  I think something was lost in translation, but nonetheless, she was not moving from that spot until we ordered.  We ended up ordering a few things and I couldn’t get enough – it really was all so delicious (plus we had skipped lunch and just had protein bars for lunch).  So good!  Adam did better with his chopsticks tonight too.  Christian continued to shovel food into his mouth from the time food was served until we pulled him out of his chair.  We lovingly call him the Buddha because his tummy gets so big after meals!

On the walk home we passed a lady walking her two dogs.  Christian LOVES dogs.  We have passed several dogs over the past few days and every time he tries to bark and points and laughs.  Good thing since I had no idea how he would feel about Molly and Buddy.  He is going to love them (I think) and they will love him (I hope).  She stopped and started talking to us in Chinese – so I said, “English” and pointed to us.  She smiled and said said, “Oh!  English.  Dogs! J” It was only a few words, but it was a great conversation.  Plus it bought some more time for Christian to see dogs.  I wonder if he ever saw dogs while at the orphanage and if he had a positive experience with them or if he has never seen anything like it. 

When we came back to the room Christian walked over to the tub and started pointing excitedly, so it was time for bath #2 J  He did better with sitting, but still makes me nervous!  We played until about 9:00 and then tried to settle him down for bed.  It took about an hour, but at 10:00 I laid him in his crib and he rolled over and went to sleep.  Crazy, right?  He slept like a baby, our baby J

No comments:

Post a Comment