from Chongqing to Guangzhou

Sheeeesh! I take off one measly day and get flamed for it -- even by my own parents!! Hahaha :) Actually, i'm really happy that so many of you are enjoying our adoption adventure. We feel good knowing we have so much support from home :)

Yesterday (Friday), we had breakfast with Kejing, Weifen and Vivian -- our last at the Hilton Hotel in Chongqing. Then the six of us went for a walk to buy some produce (Maelin loves bananas). We also invested in two bibs; probably the best 25 Yuan we've spent so far!! And, along with the bibs, voila!! A mystery solved . . . if you scroll down to the very first entry here, you'll see a picture of Maelin (at about age 2 years) wearing an apron and some unidentifiable things on her arms. A set of them came in the package with each of the bibs i purchased, and the light bulb came on -- they are to put on each arm during eating so the shirt sleeves stay clean!! Lemme tell ya, it's the best invention we've discovered in a long time!! Mae is a MESSY eater, and the bib and arm thingies are a savior to the clothing! I think i'll market them in the states...!

We spent our last day in Chongqing visiting a park which contains the highest point in the city. I'm not sure of the elevation, but there was an overlook from which we could see much of the beautiful city. Maelin has no fear of heights whatsoever; she wanted us to hold her so that she could stand on the rails and look over! (That probably makes Aunt Shelli sick just thinking about it!) We also visited a shop in Chongqing where they showed us how they make silk from cocoons. It was a lovely shop with some very expensive things, and Maelin was like a bull in a China shop! She was SO wound up ... she and Vivian were literally running around the place. I would've liked to buy something, but i didn't want it to be a 'you-break-it-you-bought-it' kind of purchase, so we left.

Then we came back to our room to pack and organize for the next leg of the journey. Our guide and driver picked us up at 4pm, and we were checked in and ready to go at 5pm. Our flight left at 6:40pm, and Maelin was rare form. She ran around the airport from window to window, from chair to chair, laughing and testing every limit set before her. After not obeying one of the rules (stay on this side of the rail near the window), she had a time-out on mommy's lap. When she realized that struggling to get down wasn't going to work, she tapped me and said, "Mama, mama..." and when i looked at her, she gave me a huge cheesy grin, as if to say, "How can you put THIS face in a time-out?" It was hilarious! Finally we got on the plane; Jim and i were both in awe at how brave and trusting she was to just get on a plane with people she met less than a week ago. She did fairly well (one brief meltdown when we wouldn't let her take off her seat belt, but she got over it), but it was only an hour and a half flight ... we are DREADING the 12-hour marathon from Tokyo to Detroit on Wednesday!!!

We arrived in Guangzhou at 10pm and met our newest guide, Crystal. She and the driver took us directly to the airport so we could get checked in and get to our rooms. This morning we ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant buffet and met our party at 9:30am. We walked about five or ten minutes down the street (where Maelin got her first ride on Baba's shoulders) to the place where they take the children's visa photos. When that was done, we went next door to the place where they do the medical exams. The place was incredibly crowded, but we got through things fairly quickly. One doctor examined Maelin's physical health, and then we went in to a different room to see an ENT. That doctor thinks that Maelin may have some hearing loss, but, in his words, "It's not so bad." Haha :) They reminded us that their exam was very informal, and that we need to take her to get more testing at home. We will. :)

That's all for now. MaeMae is waking up from her nap, so it's time for Mama to go.

Love to you all,

Shonda, Jim and Maelin