The Chongqing Zoo, sucking fingers, and more

No "tissue alert" for this post! Maelin has tested the limits a few times (come on kid, i teach preschool!), but no grieving meltdowns since Tuesday night. Jim is extra careful not to let her hurt herself, because he doesn't want her to start crying again - ha!!

Isn't the restaurant picture hilarious?!? Now we know why Maelin is off the charts for height and weight for her age -- GIRLFRIEND CAN EAT!!! She was literally shoveling food into her mouth at the restaurant last night. We've got some work to do on manners when we get home, but for now, we're just trying to keep her fed - ha :)

On Wednesday afternoon, we went to the Chongqing Zoo and saw the infamous pandas. I think we saw about six total. They were beautiful ... our guide helped us with saying the names of the animals in Chinese, and panda bear is 'shung mao.' ('Shung mao' literally translates to 'bear cat' - our guide said that when pandas were first discovered in China, the people didn't know if they were in the bear family or cat family, so they named them both.) Maelin really enjoyed seeing all of the animals. We don't know if she's ever been to a zoo or not, but she certainly liked this one. She kept saying a couple of phrases over and over: one was 'wo-pah-ah,' which our guide told us means 'i'm scared' ... but she laughed while saying it, so it was just for drama! The other thing she kept saying was 'locked in!,' referring to the animals all being in cages. At the end of the zoo, there's an art gallery where visitors can buy things. Chongqing's claim to fame in the art world is their "leaf vein paintings." They take large leaves from the Banyan tree (with is the city tree of Chongqing) and soak them in a special acid until all that is left is the veins. Then they apply a lacquer on the veins so they last a long time. After that, they hand-paint a scene or picture on the front of the leaf. Very unique and very interesting!

We have been doing a lot of signing with her. It's hard to tell what she can hear and what she can't. Most times that she doesn't respond, i'm not sure if she's ignoring us (because she can't understand what we're saying) or really can't hear it. She talks a lot in Chinese; sometimes our guide can understand her, and sometimes she can't. We, of course, can't understand much of anything, so i don't know how well she talks or how developed her language is. We will know more when we have her hearing tested at home. Either way, the signing has helped to 'bridge' the communication for us. We sign lots of everyday words as we say them in English, and we've also watched the first Signing Time DVD. She copies many signs, and it is soooo adorable to see her little hands signing!!

We knew that locals would look at us because we are somewhat of an oddity - an American couple with a Chinese daughter. What we did not expect is for people to be upset when they see Maelin sucking her fingers. MANY Chinese people (mostly older women, but not always) come up to us on the street and in stores and tell us not to let her do that. When we just nod and shrug our shoulders, they try telling her to stop. One old woman told us to slap her hand when she sucks her fingers!! Listen, lady...we just got this kid a couple of days ago...we're not going to slap her hand now!!

Well, this is getting long, so i'll stop for now. This afternoon we're going to the tallest point in Chongqing, and tomorrow it's on to Guangzhou!

Oh, before i forget ... could someone at home remember to water the hermit crab at our house?? I put the tank on the kitchen table ... i'm pretty sure that his sponge is dryyyyy by now. Thank you!! :)

Love you all,

Shonda, Jim, and Maelin