We had a much-needed free day today. On one hand, I wish we could have eliminated all the days with nothing adoption-related to shorten the trip, but since the length of time all these steps in the adoption process take is what it is, it’s nice to catch our breath with a day we can do whatever we want. Our priority was for the kids to take a good nap and get to bed on time. We didn’t set an alarm, (but have two alarms sleeping in bed with us) lingered over breakfast and Skyped with the kids back home before meeting our guide at 9:30 a.m.
She took us to Yuexiu Park, a beautiful park here in central Guangzhou. We walked along the old city wall and walked with the kids up was probably over 100 steps to a famous statue on the hilltop. They made it the whole way without a single complaint. All over the park the maintenance staff had planted flowers that looked like they were going to burst into bloom in another week. Our guide explained that one of the things they do in preparations for Chinese New Year is plant tons of flowers, so those flowers will likely bloom in time for the February 19th start of the lunar new year. Unlike in Minnesota, that’s something you can do when you live in a sub-tropical climate. They were also setting up lots of decorations in the traditional red and gold.
We also enjoyed people-watching and parks in China are good locations for that. We saw multiple groups of people dancing (ballroom, Chinese line dancing and even some Samba) and doing Tai Chi. We had no intention of joining in, but our guide said we would have been welcomed to. She also explained that parks are popular gathering spots for these activities because they have the space and they don’t have to worry about disturbing their neighbors since everyone lives in apartment complexes.
Parks are also social gathering spots for the elderly. The older people we have seen do one of two things – take care of their grandchildren or hang out in parks. Grandparents are the main providers of childcare in China and because the kids are out on their six-week winter break right now, we see school-age kids everywhere accompanied by their grandparents. The grandparents not minding their grandchildren can be found in a park dancing, doing Tai Chi or playing board games or cards.
Our guide wanted to take us to another park, but we opted to go back to the hotel to make the kids noodles and get them down for their nap. The latter has gotten a lot harder as the kids have gotten more comfortable with us. Chris and I took turns going into the bedroom to quash their party plans, because that’s what it sounded like they were planning in there. Miraculously they eventually did fall asleep and they got the nap we knew they so desperately needed.
By the time Kiera and Matteo woke up, it was already late in the afternoon, so unsure of how to kill time before dinner, we plopped them in their strollers and took a walk to a park with a playground near our hotel. They have a blast playing there and it’s so cute how much Matteo likes having his sister there to play with him. (Even though I’m not convinced they get that they’re siblings now and together forever.) He would sit down on the double slide and motion for Kiera to come over and slide down the one next to his.
When I thought about what travel would be like adopting two children at once, I worried about how the kids would react to each other. Would they like each other? Would Matteo attach to us and then be jealous when Kiera came to us? Would both kids attach to one over-burdened parent? Thankfully none of these fears have come true. Instead, Matteo and Kiera seem happier that they have each other. At least for now!
We stopped at what has become our favorite restaurant here in Guangzhou, a Thai place that has something to please both me, the vegetarian, and the meat-lovers in our family. That would be Chris, as well as Kiera and Matteo. Chris ordered chicken and beef kabobs and they chowed down. At this point, the kids eat pretty much anything. They both like traditional Chinese foods like noodles, dumplings, rice and steamed buns, but Kiera does not appear to be a fan of tofu. Of the western foods they’ve eaten, Kiera was not a fan of the pasta in red sauce and Matteo did not like ice cream at all. I don’t think he’s ever eaten anything that cold and almost cried when he ate a bite. Kiera is a different story. I ordered myself a small cup of Haagen Dazs ice cream as a treat and gave her a bit to try thinking that she’d have the same reaction as Matteo. But she clearly wanted more and I ended up splitting it with her.
We’ve established a good routine at bedtime where the kids get a bath and then we cuddle in bed and read books before lights out. Neither kid has ever been read to or probably even held a kids book before, so familiarizing them with books has been eye-opening. Just as babies do who want to touch and hold everything, for the first week it was hard to even read Matteo a book because he kept grabbing at it, so we’d have to read holding the book high up out of his reach. What’s amazing though is that in just a short time, he’s getting the routine of sitting and having someone read from a book. He doesn’t grab as much at the book and is excited to get into bed with his pile of books and have one read to him. Because he’s still learning English, he can’t follow the story line and when he loses interest in the book, I think it’s more because he doesn’t understand what’s going on. Kiera sits quietly during story time, but so far, doesn’t seem super interested. We bought some picture books on Shamian Island that have a picture of an object on each page with the English and Chinese words and the pinyin spelling of the Chinese characters. Both kids really like those because they can page through them and look at the pictures. They’re “written” at their level and even Chris and I are learning some Chinese words, so it’s fun for everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment