Guangzhou's Finest

Today we were supposed to go to the Folk Museum and instead had a late breakfast and hit a park across the street. It is super hot here. The heat is intensified when you are lugging two kids around. We finally stumbled onto a mini-amusement park. As we are pushing the kids onto one of the rides, Ryan asks me, "Well...do you think it's safe?"

Everest decided it was prime time to decide he had to poop and had to poop bad and of course there is nothing in sight. The next forty minutes were dedicated to finding Everest a bathroom. During this time, Everest was picked up for most of the duration. I am not sure why - was the poop going to decide it didn't want to come out if carried? We finally found a squatty potty and Everest went in with Ryan. About 5 minutes later they came out, Ryan about gagging. Apparently it was the squatty potty that made the poop not want to come out. I don't blame it.

We decided it was time to hit the pool. The pool is awesome. We spent a ton of time there today and likely will tomorrow. It's just easy entertainment.

Tonight I went out without underwear on. I didn't have any left. I only felt somewhat less dirty than if I had gone out with dirty underwear on. We went out with our friends again tonight, this time to a Thai restaurant on Shamian Island. I wanted to tell them I wasn't wearing any underwear but decided it was inappropriate. It was only after I was back in the hotel room that I realized I could have worn my bikini bottoms. Oh well. The good news in all of this is that we picked up our laundry and our kids can stop wearing the same socks that they have worn for three days and I can stop being trampy and wear some clean undies.

Ryan headed out to 7-11 tonight to pick up some supplies (Tsingtao and pringles) and was approached numerous times by Guangzhou's finest ladies. He did pick up one of the finer ladies cards. Apparently her name is Anita as her card states and you will get a "Passionate Night" with her.
"You Want beautiful Young Chinese girls for sex? Yes, that's What we have. We are Provig dinProfessional service. Excellent quality Of our girls is guaranteed and fast delivery is our promise. We Will Assign girls according to your special requirements, your comfort, and Pleasure!Do not hesitate, call now! 24h serve the doorstep."

I can't wait until she gets here.

We are on Vacation

We landed in Guangzhou late last night. The kids were amazing for the most part. Kingston took his first airplane ride in stride. There was a lot for him to look at – his own little TV, headphones, magazines, he took it all in. Everest was happy that there was a game console on the TV. I was ok until Everest spilled his whole yogurt on the ground. It was the last straw in an already very stressful day. My eyes physically hurt. We didn’t get to sleep until around 1:00 am and we were up at 6:45. Plus, I had to sleep with Everest and he used me as a scratching post for his dry legs while he was sleeping. It was kind of like being humped by a dog.

We arrived at the China Hotel Marriott in Guangzhou and it was honestly such a relieving experience. We were so over Beijing and were beyond excited to land in warm weather. I was never a fan of the White Swan hotel that most adoptive parents stay at in Guangzhou. It is closed for rennovations and although we are not directly on Shamian Island, we are a short drive away and our hotel is super nice.

The medical exam was today. The term medical exam shall be used loosely as it is a chaotic mess of screaming children and doctors doing the least amount of medical work possible. Wow, you would honestly not believe how crazy it is.

So KTL is not a happy camper today. He is not happy at all. He is in turn making the rest of us not happy. He is a screaming, bratty, typical 3 year old who did not get enough sleep. He is making my head hurt. I want to make his head hurt. He needs to go to sleep, like now.

So the other day I forgot to mention that Kingston got to ride in an elevator all by himself. Yes, we are already teaching the young lad independence. Actually, we are neglectful parents and we all got off the elevator without the poor dear. He rode down to the parking garage by himself while I frantically tried to follow in a separate elevator. Kingston arrived safely back to lobby by his lonesome and I followed shortly after. Everest was bawling his head off because he didn’t want to lose his brother. Meanwhile Ryan and I were cracking up at the debacle. We were wondering if it wouldn’t have been nice to lose him maybe just for an hour or two so that Ryan and I could grab happy hour in peace. Parents of the year.

Today we did some paperwork and we went and “sat” out at the pool. Kingston loves the water, as much as Everest but his body is just so skinny that he gets way too cold. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous and if we didn’t have a three year old crazed maniac with us we might actually say we are on a bit of a vacation for the next couple of days. We may venture out around the hotel tonight to check things out and then it is early to bed. Tomorrow we are supposed to go to a Folk Museum. I think I would rather not. I mean, me, Ryan, a 6 year old caged animal and a 3 year old beaver cannot do a museum without causing total havoc. Ub other news, we were called out today for ordering beer at lunch (I know folks, shocking). Meanwhile, we figure that they are probably hitting the mini-bar hard when they get back to the rooms.

We absolutely love the family we were with in Beijing. They took Everest to the pool today. Love them! They have been wonderful to both us and to Everest.

Packing Up

We're packing up today. We've classified our laundry into categories: #1) Very dirty #2) Dirty and wearable only after washing twice. Makes packing easy. Throw all clothes into suitcases.

My second child is fake crying in the bathtub. He is really good at that. They must do it at the orphanage to get attention. I walk in there and he smiles at me. I walk out and he starts at it again. This blog post has take a half an hour.

Everest and Ryan are "working out" in the gym. I am not sure how much "working out" Ryan is getting out of the experience.

Littlest man just got out of the bathtub and every time he is walking around naked I am reminded of just how small he is. There is a two and a half old with us (6 months younger than Mr. Tao) and he is 5 lbs heavier and shorter.

He just broke the clock in the room. I'm ok with it. It'll probably cost us $60 and is worth about $1.50.

The shaved hair on his forehead is growing back in little chunks and it looks like he has hairy growths on his forehead.

If he does not have a diaper on he tells us he has to neyo-neyo (pee). If the diaper is on he pees in it. I suppose I would too. I think he is scared of doing the lash in the toilet. He screams when we put him on it. He wants to sit on my lap as I am typing it (with his bare butt). As cute as it is, I am not having it.

I just noticed that he is really dry. Probably because of his love of the bathtub. I just introduced him to lotion. Of course we had to use the whole bottle - just as with food and drink we have to use all of it. Every last drop.

The Balloons are Deflating and the Wine is Depleting

We have no less than 5 balloons in our room. They are deflating. It is time to leave Beijing. The clothes are all dirty three (or five) times over. We are ready to be done. My wine is gone. We are ready to be done.

Today we went to the Summer Palace, which was quite beautiful. Things are hard to see when you are constantly wrangling and corralling two boys, one of which does not understand you and one of which pretends he doesn’t.

I don’t think Kingston really had any major outbursts today. The boys got 14 hours of sleep last night. They definitely needed it and we definitely needed them to have it. It did improve Everest’s disposition a little bit, Kingston’s was a ton better.

My back is killing me.

I am so tired of this hotel. There are dried noodles and crumbs all over because they don’t vacuum. I make the boys take off their shoes immediately upon entering the room. Why? It’s not like anyone else ever has.

Beebs is Kingston’s new nickname for the time being. A little like Beaver but just a twist that makes Everest giggle uncontrollably. Hopefully we will think of a more suitable nickname soon.

Had braised tofu for dinner. Really good but now my stomach really hurts. I was supposed to have lost weight on this trip but of course I am gaining as I think I tend to eat when stressed and when the only safe choice is chocolate pocky sticks, pringles or mcdonalds. It is rather TBD on the braised tofu being safe.

Tomorrow we are off to Guangzhou. Our flight is at 6:00 at night and we are set to arrive at 9:00. It will be a late night for tweedle dee and tweedle dumb (I don’t know which is which). We join up with the other families and we are looking forward to seeing their children. We have really enjoyed our time with our Beijing travel partners. Nancy and Tom adopted Eli, a little guy who will likely need a portion of his leg amputated. They also brought Nancy’s twin sister, Betty with them. Last night when we were going to sleep Ryan said, “Melissa, it would hate it if you had a twin sister.” Thinking that was rather harsh I asked him why and said I thought it would be cool. He came back with the fact that he would be unable to fart in our hotel room. Very true. And I will leave you with that.

Zoo Day

My first born is driving me nuts. Completely nuts. I WANT TO SCREAM but my second born does enough of that for all of us. I am going to give Mr. E-V the benefit of the doubt for today's actions and will leave it out of this blog post because this should be more about door #2 than #1.

I have not lost it yet. But I am close.

Today I walked to the grocery store and back and I did not cry. It was two years ago where walking to the grocery store put me into tears. Our lives were forever altered and we came through stronger than we were before, stronger as a family and stronger than our individual parts. Our lives have changed yet again and this a scary thing for all of us, even those of us who don't choose to wear Spiderman shirts.

Mr. Kingston Tao is becoming quite the interesting little man. We can't quite figure him out. He keeps us on our toes as we are never quite sure when a fit will start but the fits are not too out of control. However, the poor little dear gets all red in the face, the screaming starts and he about hyperventilates. The first few times I thought he would puke.

Today we put Kingston on the scale and he weighed in at a whopping 24 lbs with all of his clothes and shoes on. This makes me so sad. There is no way a three year old should weigh 23 lbs. That is just sick. Hopefully it will not take long for Mr. Tao to put on the pounds as he is eating more than all of us put together. The only issue is that he likes to put it all in his mouth at once, realizes he cannot swallow or chew it all up and ends up looking for me to grab something to spit it out in. Classy little guy. Fits in well with us.

I think that the best part of the days are when we get back to our hotel room and we all run around, jump on the beds and wrestle. Kingston is a bit of a brute. He will fall and will get right back up to jump onto my unsuspecting back. He is a character and I am looking forward to introducing you all to him. He has a cute little smile and he knows how to charm like his brother. He is a tad shy around strangers and I think we are already seeing him shy away from Mandarin speakers. We are his safety net now, we are his food supply, his survival, his fun, his family.

We finally put them to bed around 5:00 this evening. Could turn out to be a very bad idea tomorrow morning around 5:00 am. Kingston is as Ryan just put it, "totally beavered out."

Heading to the Summer Palace tomorrow. Looking forward to it as we did not get a chance to see it last year. Hoping to also document some areas around the hotel for both Everest and Kingston's benefit as they grow older. As I walked to the grocery store today it hit me more than ever that this was their first home. This is their heritage before there was a family. This is the land of their first language, familiar food and like faces. Although I would not choose to live here, my children did not choose to leave here and I must respect the home they once knew. I must respect the chaos, the clutter, the beauty, the tradition. I also must not let them forget.

Another Day is Another Day is Another Day

Today was one of those "free days," which I think are designed to torture new parents. Luckily slim mcgee #1 and #2 woke up late. Success. We even relaxed in the room for awhile until King Tut decided that he needed to unleash one of his ear surgery temper tantrums, which I think was a result of Ryan or I doing something he deemed to be close to the end of the world.

I took Everest out of the room and the maid looked at me and stuck her fingers in her ears and shook her head. I nodded at her and made a motion like I was drinking as a result. Whatever.

We went back to the Temple of Heaven again today and ran the kids. Ran and ran and ran the kids. And ran them yet some more. We also went to the Pearl Market again - the Pearl Market has pearls I think but we never make it past the second floor where all of the knock-off merchandise is. We promised Everest a spiderman t-shirt and we picked up Mr. Crazy #2 a pair of pants and a couple of "polo" shirts. Kid will be decked out tomorrow. We got Kingston a pair of pants the other day out of desperation because he only fits into one of the pairs we got him. We couldn't find him anything that resembled normal. We finally found one pair of pants that has writing all over it. Jibberish English. One of the phrases is, "eye ohio." Again, whatever.

We were ripped off by a rickshaw driver today. I wanted to punch him in the face but I did not. Everest afterwards said, "Ma, what does putting the smack down mean?"

We had a new family come into Beijing today. They adopted a little guy from a neighboring province. We went to the Chinese restaurant with them tonight and ate way too much yet again.

Things about China that I like:
My children (well at least one of them so far)
Scales in bathrooms - why doesn't the US do this?
Noodles, rice, noodles, rice oh and dumplings
Tsingtao
Cheap Coke and water
Pocky sticks and Pretz
The Great Wall
The kindness of people

Things I can do without:
Squatty potties
Can't find hand sanitizers to buy
Can't drink the water or eat raw veggies (no salads)
Feeling dirty but not necessarily all China's fault. No clean clothes has something to do with it.
No time to put on makeup or workout.
Hard beds (but that is growing on me)
Rickshaw drivers
Pollution
Why do they only give us two towels every morning although they know there are four of us?
Why are they not changing our bed sheets - again feeling really dirty.
Need to wear swim caps in pool even with shaved heads - but good for a laugh

Tomorrow it is off to the zoo with our new travel partners. I am nervous that they will think the beaver is one of the animals. In all honesty, the resemblence between the two kids is striking to me at times and strangers and our travel partners alike have made the call without our prompting that the two look like brothers. There are times when their actions are startling similar. Their laugh is a key indicator - in addition Everest does this fake cry that sounds very, very real. He had not done it in front of Kingston and today Kingston started to do it. It sounded just like Everest complete with a laugh afterwards, very proud of himself. Then Everest started to do it and we had two fake crying and then giggling boys who thought very highly of themselves. Both boys also have a bluish mark between their eyes. Although very similar, Kingston is coming into his own.

He is officially ours (we think)

Yesterday we went to the notary, the civil affairs office and to get passport pictures taken (I think but really I have no idea). We put our red fingerprints on our signatures and I think that means that what they call our "harmonious period" is over. Ha, harmonious period my ass. At what I think was the notary Kingston decided to have his first full on fit. Screaming at the top of his lungs like I have never heard screaming before. Ear piercing. Pinching (I have a welt), a few spits, kicks and hits. I think we just went with it. I know I did. I sat there and said, "We handled Everest, we can handle this fit." Our guide who has obviously seen it all in terms of adoptions said that it was a good thing that he was acting out. It shows personality. I don't know what kind of personality. Jeesh. It was good though to see that he wasn't the happy go lucky kid that he seems to be and that he has some spunk and fight in him like his brother.

The rest of the day was great. We actually hung out in our room quite a bit, which is nice to be able to do. With Everest we could only go to sleep in our room. Now mind you, our room is not nice. It is littered with cracker crumbs, and an ever-growing mountain of dirty clothes that I cannot bear to put on my body after knowing what it has been through. Poor Everest has not had clean pants in three days. Underwear is clean though. Brought a lot of super heroes.

Kingston's clothes don't fit so we have been buying him a few odds and ends to get us by. Hoping to get some laundry done in our bathtub tonight. Seriously.

We went out for dinner at Tim's BBQ again and they had a Halloween party. It was great for Everest because they gave him candy. They took their picture with him and then took one of our table. We figure we'll be on their wall. It was pretty good.

I had to take a break because there was some diaper issues. Kid tells you as he is going poop, not before. He yells Momma and get this look on his face that can only be describes as, well, like he is going poop.

Heading down for breakfast as the crew is getting antsy.

More later tonight.