Today was another easy, laid back day in Guangzhou. We had breakfast at the hotel buffet. As always, Lollipop enjoys any food presented to her. She seems to always eat the crispy tater tots first. Carbing up, I guess. She is also big on feeding herself, but still needs a bit of practice. At most, she’ll let us fill up her spoon, but then she’ll pick it up and hopefully get it to her mouth. Quite a few bananas, though, end up on the ground as gravity is still a concept Mia’s working on learning. She just has to figure out to not turn the spoon upside down before it gets in her mouth.
We’ve been taking little walks around Shamain Island, scoping out the prices at all the different little shops. There is certainly not a lack of shopping on Shamain Island, though others have told us that there are fewer shops here than there used to be in the hay-day of Chi*ese adoptions. Yesterday we bought L.P. some squeaky shoes. They are little leather shoes that squeak when you walk in them. They are very popular here. We’ll see how she likes walking in them today. The squeaky components are removable which is a good option for parents after awhile. We’re still looking around to buy some silk traditional Chi*ese dresses for Lollipop too. We’ll buy them in multiple sizes so she has them for many years. These dresses are readily available back home, but I’m sure they are much cheaper here.
We took L.P. swimming for the first time today. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take any pictures because cameras aren’t allowed at the pool. We’re told it is because there is some type of military establishment on the island nearby. It’s kind of weird, though, because you appear to be able to take pictures anywhere else, just not by the pools. She enjoyed sitting in the shallow baby pool on the step. We brought her stacking cups which are also her bath toys. It even sprinkled a bit on us while we were in the pool. We’ll go again today the next two days, and I expect she’ll be ready for swimming pools by the time we’re home.
For dinner we ate at Lucy’s for the second night. It is a little café: inexpensive and with a large variety of foods. Lollipop can have chicken congee (rice made with a lot of water so it is mushy for babies). Today she wanted to feed herself completely on her own. At lunch she fed herself the rice cereal and did pretty well with it. During dinner, I’d say about 75% of the congee made it to her mouth. Not a bad average.
Lollipop had her TB test read today, no reaction. The other little girl in our group did have a reaction and had to have a chest X-ray. The doctors then cleared her with the chest X-ray. We were a bit worried about this process as it a new requirement from the US government. Even with the chest X-ray, though, it went quite smoothly. It was just another hurdle that we had to jump before we can fly home.
Tomorrow is our appointment at the U.S. Consulate. Our guide actually goes and does the work for us. She has all our paperwork, and we will just wait in the hotel room for her to finish. We hope that all our paperwork is accounted for and filed correctly.
Eating a blue lollipop after the TB appointment
Feeding myself chicken congee at Lucy's 