Day 5 - Free Day

Another decent night sleep.  For Claire :)

Today is a free day.  Went to breakfast and tried all kinds of new things.  I’m still digging the fried rice with lots of toppings.  This must be a fairly international hotel because there is a section that is clearly british breakfast food.  Baked beans, grilled tomatoes, etc.  So I’m adding a grilled tomato now on all the fried rice toppings.  So international I am!  And the pan fried pot stickers are so delicious.  Couldn’t tell you what’s in them. Haven’t had the guts to try the jellyfish bar, yet.

Really amazing restaurant here - clearly 5-star quality.  There is a pancake/ french toast/ waffle bar with so many toppings.  A Coffee bar.  A made-to-order sushi bar.  A made-to-order noodle soup bar.  A fresh fruit stand.  A dessert bar (super fancy desserts and all so good!).  And so many more.  I’m going to try it all!  

Tried something called sausage (Chinese) that had the texture of a root vegetable.  So gross.  Dragon fruit which was OK (I’ve had it before), but Claire really seemed to like it.  We are all experimenting with food for the kids.  There is another little boy who is a month older than Claire, and it seems neither of them has likely had solid food.  They don’t really seem to chew stuff.  So mush it is.  

Claire is getting busy.  She is definitely more wiggly and can stand.  Although she can’t get up on her own and she can’t actually stand on her own.  She likes to be held, and she likes to try to grab everything off the buffet.  And she seems to really like food.  Fits right in with this family.  

She has a pair of shoes but doesn’t seem to know what to do with them.  Not sure she has ever worn a pair of shoes before.  

One thing from yesterday that I forgot.  We walked down to the grocery store to get a case of water bottles.  (Bought two cases of water bottles, a 6 pack of beer, a large bottle of soda, and a couple specialty beers.  Cost us $15 American dollars.)  Anyway.  It was like a Walmart.  Only not as nice.  (Not kidding)  Clothes, eye glass counter, etc.  When we got to the grocery section I could smell it a mile away.  Have you ever opened a package of uncooked chicken and you just knew it had gone bad?  That’s exactly what the grocery part of the store smelled like.  So so disgusting.  There are a hundred different smells in this country, and it’s all gross.  New smell #101.  (As as aside, we have smelled pot really strongly twice.  Once in the Beijing neighborhood and the second time at the orphanage.  Keep meaning to ask John about that.)

And - I’m not sure who started the “men’s fashion choice” of pulling their shirts up to their armpits and showing your gut to the world.  But seriously?!  So many men do it here.  Dude - I know it’s hot.  But seriously.  Just wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt.  

Trying to get Claire to crawl a bit.  If Kyle picks her up and takes her about 3 feet away from me she will crawl right to me.  She absolutely loves mirrors.  So we spend a lot of time in front of mirrors.  Makes her smile her crooked smile.  Had a really amazing lunch again in the hotel.  The buffet is just insane.  I may just gain back the weight I’ve lost over the past few days! 

As aside - seems all of the kids have the crud.  To be expected.  

This afternoon has actually been quite good.  Claire has alternated climbing on me and snuggling me.  We have been playing games - she is super sharp at finding something we hide.  Good news!  And she is already way more mobile than she was yesterday.  She definitely is not a fan of Kyle and we are working on that.  She loves to bite him, but she cries when she thinks he is getting too close.  She has no idea yet that she scored the best daddy.  She will know one day.  Cool moment today - she and I were playing “hide the toy”, and she kept finding it.  At one point she laid down on her back, and I tickled her stomach and she laughed out loud.  So we did that a few times, and she kept laughing!  That has to be good to get her cortisol levels down, right?!  We watched a bunch of videos of the boys today so she can start to get used to them.  Got that idea from another family here.  

I keep looking out the window and thinking we should go outside and explore.  I’m really trying to fully participate in this country.  But.  It is SUPER smoggy and about 100 degrees outside.  We will explore tomorrow on our touring.  For now I’ll stay in the comfort of my really fabulous room.  (We need to anyway - Kyle brushed his teeth yesterday with the water from the faucet in the bathroom.  UGH.  He just took one of the antibiotics and he should be fine pretty soon.  Amazing how much medicine we brought with us.) 

Random Observations - 

The Chinese take our pictures ALL.THE.TIME.  Literally.  And we’ve had multiple people ask us to take pictures with them.  It happens with Molly the most (really pretty 6-foot blond).  

The Chinese will butt in line everywhere.  No one says “after you”.  And during the acrobatic show in Beijing, if people couldn’t see from their seats they just stood up.  And blocked it for everyone else.