Guangzhou Day Four

Today we were both totally wiped out from walking around in the heat yesterday, fighting our various colds, and from not getting much sleep (J Ro woke up in the middle of the night and didn't want to go back to sleep). So here is what I can recall of our day in a nutshell (disclaimer: R did a lot more than I did):

5 a.m.: get up and hang out with J Ro and R - do the diaper, bottle, and bath thing. Play with the electronic piano toy that J Ro seems to love so much. Try to sing her back to sleep but the only song I could think of was Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen as well as other Bruce songs that are not particularly baby-friendly (mainly the dark stuff like Nebraska or Ghost of Tom Joad). R is not a big fan of my singing dark Bruce tunes to the baby so I'll have to go back to the pooper scooper song I made up yesterday.

7:30 a.m: put J Ro in stroller and roll her around the hotel hallway to try to put her back to sleep. Although it worked yesterday, it doesn't work today. She just wants to play. Figure out that she's a bit of a thrill seeker and likes to go fast in the stroller. Note to self: don't let Jennifer have the car keys until she's well out of high school.

10 a.m: hotel breakfast buffet with Etu and Eugenio and R (and J Ro).
As much as we have really enjoyed the traditional Chinese breakfasts, I am starting to get a little tired of Dim Sum buns and dumplings so I kept it simple: scrambled eggs, french toast, and a bowl of corn flakes. Etu seems to be the only one in our travel group who is not tired of the Dim Sum buns. Major milestone of the day: Eugenio was able to interest J Ro in some of his oatmeal. Until today, she had no interest in anything solid. Although she only had a few spoonsful (or is it spoonfulls?) of oatmeal, we hope this is the beginning of a new eating trend.

11 a.m: go back to room and hear even more of J Ro's electronic piano toy. Get really happy because J Ro takes a bottle from me without fussing (normally, only R has the magic touch with the fuss-free feeding but I have had more trouble getting the bottle angle just right). So I am starting to get the hang of the feeding thing.

12:30 p.m: everyone in our travel group meets for lunch and shopping near the hotel, but I happily stay with the baby in our room and we both sleep for almost 2 hours. It is so relaxing being with her when she's sleeping -- she seem so peaceful and happy. When J Ro finally wakes up, we have a fun time playing with the electronic piano toy and other toys that R has bought on this trip. I also enjoy reading to J Ro the two baby books we brought with us on the trip. One is about a baby catipillar that eats through a variety of foods over the course of a week and J Ro enjoys putting her fingers in the holes in the book where the catipillar ate through each of the food items. I wonder if she has any idea what I'm reading about.

3-5:30 p.m.: Jim H stops by the room and bangs around on the computer posting to his blog and making backup DVDs of his and our photos while R and I play with the baby. At one point while R is playing with the baby, I find a copy of the South China Post and don't miss the fact that the front page has no news on the US Presidential election. A lot of the front page news is about whether China will unload their US dollars (consensus appears to be no) and whether the problems in the US subprime mortgage market will affect Asia (consensus appears to be yes). After scanning these headlines, I go back to playing with the baby and the electronic piano toy. At some point in the afternoon, Anli calls and says that her meetings at the Consulate went well today and it appears that our paperwork is in order (but we will continue to think positive thoughts until everything is finalized tomorrow).

5:30 p.m.: R has her nail appointment at the hotel salon. I take J Ro in the stroller and walk with her to the appointment. This is my first venture out of the room except breakfast. After 5 minutes at the nail appointment, the baby and I both get tired so we head back upstairs to the room and the baby falls asleep on me while I sit in the big cushy chair. I love the fact that she falls alseep on me and I just watch her for most of the time that she is asleep. She's absolutely beautiful -- and looking at her while she is alseep makes me think of numerous cheesy light rock songs that that R usually can't stand. R gets back from her nail appointment and plays with the baby while I lounge some more in the big cushy chair. I then get up and make up three bottles with formula -- all ready to go (just require hot water).

8 p.m: Since Jim and Debbie had gone to dinner earlier, we have dinner with Etu, Eugenio, Scott, & Elaine in hotel restaurant -- again, I opt for a change from the Chinese food that I have been enjoying for most of the trip and I order spagetti bolognaise. R and I both enjoy walking around the hotel restaurant with the baby and looking at big fish in hotel lobby pond. She's so social that she wants to say hello to everyon we meet. After dinner, R and I take the baby back to the room to give her a bottle, bath, and diaper change. While all of this is going on, R humors me as I try to video everything - the bath, the feeding, the playing with the electronic piano toy. Finally, R gets the baby to fall asleep and then puts baby in the crib without waking her up (this is a move I have not yet mastered). R is now crashed out on the couch while I type.

As slow as this day sounds (and it's the total opposite of how we spent our time in Beijing seeing all of the sites), we both have really enjoyed the time we have had in Guangzhou and also Nanchang to play with and hold the baby. I'm getting more proficient at the basic blocking and tackling (ok, sports analogy) of being with the baby -- the diaper changes, the bottles, the putting her to sleep. But I also like the improvisation involved -- the songs, the watching her develop and hit new milestones, reading stories, etc. I'll have to come up with a sports analogy on that later.

I have posted some photos from today. I just love the ones of her sitting on the floor of our room -- the different facial expressions and her beautiful smile. I'll try to post a few the videos later tonight or tomorrow. Tomorrow, we have our appointment with the US Consulate. We're looking forward to it and will keep our fingers crossed that all goes well. More on that later.

J.