Happy Birthday Henry!

Monday, August 9, 2010. I'm not sure Henry appreciates how cool it was to celebrate his birthday in China, but he still managed to have a fun day and loved all the attention it brought him.

In keeping with Chinese tradition, we celebrated by taking him and some friends to McDonalds for lunch (seriously that is what they do)! The Geldreich family, Ryan, Amei, Andrew, Josh and Emily joined in the fun. We took a taxis to their hotel and then headed back to a common area away from the crazy crowdedness of the restaurant to eat. Henry then spent the afternoon swimming and playing Wii at the hotel and had a great time. Andrew and Josh have as much energy as Henry does, so it's a good match. 

He also received some special gifts from some of the families...an Asian root beer, a can of Pringles, a package of Cow Tails and set of Bruce Lee playing cards. Aunt Tammy had sent along a new DS game from home and we had gotten him a New York Yankees cap. Life is good for Henry!

By the way, I was the only one that ordered a grilled chicken sandwich. I tried to eat it, but there is just no way that that was chicken in that sandwich...my guess is pigeon? The fries were delicious and everything else tasted just like home!

Guangzhou Folk Arts Museum

Sunday, August 8, 2010. Today we visited the Guangzhou Folk Art Museum - Chen Clan Academy Ancestral Hall. I loved this place and once again many photo opportunities were hampered by sticky fingers and distracted siblings, but it was still inspirational to visit. 

According to our hostess, the Chen family name is the most dominant in the Guangzhou area and the compound which now serves as the museum was established to assure the quality education of the generations of Chen namesakes, resulting in financial success during the Ching Dynasty. 

The area is famous for it's hand-carved architecture and quality arts and crafts....right up my alley (boring to the kids)!

Our evening was spent in the hotel room bonding, coloring, eating pizza and watching "Cinderella". Henry spent every free moment that he could today playing on an IPad that he borrowed from one of the adoptive dads in the group (Henry's newest hero).  I would like to note, however, that Henry did make the ultimate big brother sacrifice by watching "Cinderella" with his little sister! Pictures were notallowed to record the event. 

Happy Birthday Henry

Monday, August 9, 2010. Happy Birthday Henry. He gets to start celebrating 12 hours early!

Learning to Love a Sister

Saturday, August 7, 2010. Henry is still struggling with his emotions and today was a day of dramatic ups and downs. We take comfort knowing this reaction is normal...on the other hand it's hard to watch Henry struggle and to have to constantly guide him towards loving and appropriate behaviors.

Today we took the shuttle to the "real" commercial shopping area. Didn't buy much, but had a look around. It's difficult to communicate "do not touch" to Stella...the excitement of shopping, seeing so many new things and the language barrier make it all challenging (not to mention the fact that this little girl loves to test the boundaries and then flashes her 

sweetest smile).

Henry isn't the only one struggling. Stella occasionally drifts off in a reflective mood after which she sobs a heart wrenching cry. Once it's over, she seems renewed and ready to jump back into her new life.

The day ended on a real "up" note with lots of laughter and play from Henry and Stella. Henry embraced his role as big brother full of play and nurturing.

Kelly and I are exhausted with all the ups and downs. Neither of us thought that this adjustment would be so difficult!

Ni Hao from China

Friday, August 6. The big event today was that Stella got the result of her TB test which was negative. Yeah!

The Woys-Four headed for the shopping district on foot today only to realize that we missed it by a few blocks. Instead, we found the local Free Market where vendors were selling smelly, unrefrigerated meats and local slaughters. Henry was repulsed by the odors. I was filled with anxiety at all the wonderful missed photo opportunities. (It's hard to shoot when you have one or two hands to hold while maneuvering narrow streets filled with crazy bicycles and impatient truck drivers!)

A group of us ate Thai for dinner where Brian ordered a chicken meal. Little did he know it was presented with head intact. Yum!

We ended the day with a swim at the pool Stella loves the water as much as Henry does and is doing well with learning to keep her mouth closed...at least in the water!

Two of the pictures in this posting are taken from our hotel room. We're on the 19th floor of the White Swan. It's a beautiful hotel with an awesome view of the Pearl River and all it's activity. The hotel is actually on an island called Shamian Island which has an "old south" kind of feel. There is lots of renovation going on in preparation for the Asia Games which will be held here this fall.

Gaungzhou Zoo

Thursday, August 5, 2010. A morning trip to the Gaungzhou Zoo - a sweet little paradise within the city. We all enjoyed the animals even though it was really hot...really hot! The highlight was watching the giant panda play with her blocks of ice. It would have been nice to climb in and join in the fun! Ended the visit with a refreshing ice cream treat...I warned Kelly to chose flavors carefully...I ended up with a red bean ice pop...and actually liked it!

Bonding

Wednesday, August 4, 2010.

Today was a day of progress. Both Kelly and Henry made progress connecting with Stella and convincing her of their charms. We all wish we knew more about her life before coming to live with us and knowing what her thoughts and fears are now.

She loves her backpack and carries her loot with her everywhere she goes. She understands more English than any of us expected, but speaks very little on her own. She is, however, like a parrot repeating everything we say!

Today was a day of medical exams and passport acquisition. Stella was good and brave. It was determined that she's in need of eye glasses with a correction to her right eye. We'll have her re-evaluated when we return home.

We also swam today. Stella loves the water. It doesn't appear that she ever swam before, but as with everything else, catches on quickly and is without fear. With regard to closing her mouth and holding her breath....we need to do some work!