From Nanchang to Guangzhou! Day 8

We woke up to a "sunny" day with "blue" sky.  Honestly, even with the smog we thought we saw a hint of blue up there!

View from our room on a "sunny" day!

We had breakfast and went back to the room for a nap for T and a pack for us.  Brandon went down to the lobby for some photos.  He ended up talking with a worker for quite some time.  I kept telling myself that must be the case, but I was getting pretty worried.  I think he was probably happy to receive my royal welcome of hugging and not letting go and saying how glad I was he had returned :)

Entrance to our hotel

Outdoor signage

View of hotel from street.  Yes, Brandon did take this from the middle of the street... guess I had reason to worry!

Lobby, decorated for Chinese New Year, February 10th.

Our bathroom.

Inside our room.

From the other direction.

T's favorite toy while I was packing.  I have not used it here so glad it didn't travel over for nothing!

She won't be eating this in America so she better enjoy now!

We were packed and ready to go by the time we had to be downstairs at 1:00pm.  We went to the airport and got all checked in.  We said good bye to our wonderful guide Claire (Yan).   She was so incredible and we could have done it without her.  We also could not have learned so much about China without our constant questions of her, so if you are still waiting to travel, take advantage of your guide's wisdom and stories.  They are a wealth of information.

Saying goodbye to our guide!

T slept until we got to security when a scary (totally not scary in reality) man had to hold her while they patted down mommy. It warmed my heart that she cried in the arms of a stranger.  Does that sound bad?  Maybe, but I am glad she is starting to see us as her people.  Once through security we took turns walking around with T.  There was a nursery room where I could change T's diaper.  While I was throwing it away I set her on a little padded couch.  She proceeded to scoot to and end and then the arm of the couch automatically fell down causing her to fall to and bop her head on the crib next to the couch.  Not a tear.  Poor girl.  M was the same way when he came home, so I don't have a lot of worries that our constant care and meeting needs will result in many tears down the line :)  Yes, we are strange people... adoptive parents... we want our children to cry when others hold them and we are saddened when they get hurt and don't cry...

We experienced a slight delay at boarding time, but we had been told this is normal.  Once on the plane we experienced a longer (hourish?) delay on the runway.  The kind Nike engineer next to me was really in my space and of course T was in EVERYONE's space so I was very antsy to get in the air. T wanted to grab and pound on everything... if we don't get the bulk head seat ( that we have reserved) for the big flight, the poor person in from of T will have their worst flight ever.  Overall she did well and just cried a little bit at the landing.  She took a bottle on the way up, but none for the way down since the flight was just over an hour.  I finally told Brandon to just have her suck on the empty bottle.  I think that worked pretty well.

Once in GZ our guide met us and took us to a van to head to our hotel.  There were other Americans in it that I had "met" in FB groups so it was fun to talk in person... fun to just have English conversation.

Our hotel is nice.  Very nice.  You might think the photos of our Nanchang hotel above are nice, but you have not seen anything yet.  Our Nanchang hotel was very dirty (the floors were never vacuumed sinks and toilet not clean etc) and everything here is so lovely and clean.  We have two rooms so we are both up in the office area/living room while T is sleeping.  It is great friends!  Seriously, the lobby here is over the top... but it is sort of required for adoptive parents to stay here so folks, we will embrace and treasure it. Because the bathtub is deep and big we bathed T in the sink.  We cranked up the heat and turned on the shower so it would be really warm in the bathroom.  I guess our tricks and much prayer worked, because she splashed away and loved the bath.  The sink is not the safest place for a bath.  It is a two person job for sure.  Not sure what I would have done if Brandon wasn't here.  I guess I could say that 300 times a day. T loved playing with one of the big mirrors last night.  We got some fun photos.

Cute and clean!

In love with the baby in the mirror!

A highlight of the day was staying up to get to talk to M last night!  It was so great to see his sweet face and hear his sweet voice.  I miss him so very very much.  He is having a great time with "the girls" and doing all sorts of fun things.  He got to go to an open gym, play at an indoor play place, have play dates and more.  As I am writing this Brandon's parents are on their way to our town so they can begin watching him tomorrow.  I am so glad to think he is almost on the final family to stay with.  Keep being a good boy and obeying the big people you are with M. We love you very much!