Rite of Passage....

My little bit had a big day today...well it was very big for her. She got her library card today : )  I told her once she learned to read she could get her own library card. Well, we finished school on Thursday and little Miss has been taking every opportunity to remind me that she can read and she can READ very well. So proud of her. My big five year old girl signed her name on her card and strutted right out of the library after checking out 13 books today : ) It drove her crazy that her big sister had a library card and she didn't. It didn't matter that Izzy checked out any book that Mari wanted. It mattered that when we checked out Izzy would reach into her purse and whip out her very own library card. Well no more...Marianna Jiang Braniff is a library card carrying girl now. Love this girl...love that spunky attitude....love it all : )

Three days left..... : )

Here are some more pictures of their time in Guangzhou. They ventured out to the pedestrian mall today. The pedestrian mall is crazy. It reminded me of a Chinese Time Square. Lots and lots of shops. There's a jade and pearl market which is pretty cool. There's also a spice and pet market. Not so cool in my opinion. Well the spices are ok. An interesting way to buy spices, but the pet market was too much for me. I wonder what Josiah thought of all of that. We have two very large (25lb) Maine Coon cats at home. I'm praying he's not afraid of them. 

Rob said that he loved being in the stroller.  He was so quiet. Kind of mesmerized by it all. Sometimes I forget that he hasn't done this yet. This was probably his first time in a stroller at almost three years old. All of these firsts in his little life are all happening at one time. That's a lot for him to experience. I've already started praying for the 24 hours of travel. I know a 15 hour plane ride is going to be one heck of a first for him :o

They came across a photographer doing a photo shoot for children's clothing. Some kind of a way Rob had another person that spoke both languages ask him if he would photograph He and Josiah. He agreed and tomorrow at 10 a.m. they're having their pictures taken on the island. The White Swan is closed for renovations so instead of the traditional adoption pictures on the red couch in Chinese silks I guess this is what we'll do. There's been a lot of things about this trip that are different...what's one more. Can't wait to see him in his little Emperor outfit. Three more days and two more nights..... : )

Shamian Island

Shamian Island is one of my favorite things about China. It's not an island at all but is mostly surrounded by water so you very much feel like you're on an island. It's so tranquil and relaxing and after a week of the chaos of adoption craziness it's a welcoming place to be. There's lots of other families there in the same boat as you. It's has lots of European influence in the architecture and food.  There's a Starbucks...Let's just say my husband is very happy right now. Sipping his cappuccino there while Jos plays with his cars.

I love this place. It's one of my favorite places in the world. Such fond memories of our time there....

My favorite statue.....



More of Guangzhou...4 days left

Sunday was a day off for them so they spent the day on Shamian Island. They went to the Christian church there. Both of our girls have a bible in Mandarin with their names on it so he had to get one for Jos. They had a great day exploring the island. They eat lunch everyday at Subway and dinner at Lucy's. I wonder if Lucy knows what her restaurant has meant to every family adopting from China. Sweet tea with simple syrup, hamburgers and french fries....after a week of strange food it's always a wonderful thing...

He loves the rocking horses in the hotel playroom and he's feeling comfortable enough with his Daddy to pitch a fit when Rob makes him leave the playroom : )

They came across this little boy yesterday. His mom is one of the gift shop owners on the island. Check out his hair : ) and I thought Josiah's haircut was crazy :o They've had lots of elderly people coming up to them commenting in Chinese about Josiah's hair. Rob at first thought they didn't like it. Chinese people are not the least bit afraid to voice their opinions about anything....what a different culture. In a strange way it's refreshing. Like if you don't have enough clothes on your child someone might come up to you and rub their legs and say a bunch of stuff that you don't understand but it's clear that they are telling you to put more clothes on them. On the plane ride home with Izzy we had bad turbulence and she started throwing up. So at some point I had to change her clothes. So while I was looking for more clothes Rob walked around a little bit on the plane trying to calm her down in just a diaper (she was 2)...you should've heard the fussing going on. People actually gasped and pointed at us. For goodness sakes : ) Anyway, his guide explained that they were saying that his haircut was honorable. It's apparently a lost tradition in China. Along time ago when a man would go away to fight in a battle his son would get the same "warrior" hair cut in honor of his father....They thought it was really cool that Jos and his Daddy had "warrior" cuts. Rob loved that of course : )

My guess is he's probably tired of having to pose in front of these statues : )  He's love the island though. He gets to be outside a lot and he really enjoys it.

4 more days.... : )

 

Medical Clinic Day...5 days left

Izzy's Gotcha Day Anniversary has had me going back through pictures and I came across the post about Izzy's medical clinic day. Then I went and read through Mari's and oh my goodness what a different experience Josiah had. Reading my post about Mari's made me upset all over again. She had to have seven immunizations all at once...it was awful. For Josiah we were able to get a vaccination waiver from the US.  Can you imagine your child is just getting to know and trust you and then you have to hold him down for seven shots. No thank you. I'm so relieved Rob didn't have to do that to him. He did great at the clinic. He didn't even cry for the TB test. What a big boy ! Talk about God's grace...don't think my husband could have handled that. He's never done the shots with the girls. It's too much for him.  Even in China with Mari I had to take her back in the room and hold her...well me and three other nurses. She may be just 34 lbs but she's one strong little girl. Anyway, so happy that it all went well. They met another family from our agency and had dinner at Lucy's with them. The medical clinic day ended up being a great day.  That's a first for us : )

So long Wuhan:

Hello Guangzhou and The Victory :

At the medical clinic...amazed at how well he did.