Day 8: A Day to Relax (and Shop)

Posted by: mae12 | August 7, 2008

Day 8: A Day to Relax (and Shop)

We didn’t have any appointments or planned tours for today so we just relaxed and spent time near the hotel.

Alyssa was exhausted this morning and slept in until about 8:00, waking up a bit disoriented as she had yesterday. Her regimented orphanage schedule has definitely been thrown out of whack. She ate a good breakfast of congee, scrambled eggs and fruit (watermelon and banana). She is a fairly serious eater when she is hungry. I have been spoon feeding her myself. She doesn’t try to grab the spoon to feed herself which is just fine right now since we want her to rely on us for getting her food as part of the bonding process. She usually grips the edge of the table with both hands as I feed her. I’m guessing that she was taught this at the orphanage since, this way, she stays out of the way of the person doing the feeding and actually ends the meal with clean hands… something Linnea rarely did

After breakfast we hung out for a while in the room. At about 11:00 (right on schedule) Alyssa got tired and took a nap. I took the opportunity to give Linnea some individual time and we played with a sticker picture that her grandmother back home (Dave’s mom) sent along as one of many treats to open along the way. Linnea and I and my parents then went out shopping for a little while. We found some nice, colorful folk art paintings. some of which I may use to decorate Alyssa’s room when we get back home. We also bought a couple of outfits for her to round out the small selection that we brought from home. She is smaller than we thought she might be at this time, still only 20 lbs., so she fits better into 12 month size clothes than some of the 18 month size items that we brought with us.

We headed back to the hotel room and found that Alyssa had woken up and was now playing with Dave and having a good time. She had cried a bit when she woke up but otherwise seemed okay. My parents headed out to take a taxi across town to meet with some friends from the medical center (people my dad used to meet with before he retired). They ended up going out for a wonderful dinner at a restaurant at the base of White Cloud Mountain. Dave, Linnea and I did some more wandering and shopping. We first went to the local Starbucks for a quick sandwich snack and a cold drink (the ice is safe to consume at Starbucks) then we walked over to a local park where Linnea tried out most of the equipment generally used by adults to get exercise. Alyssa walked around a lot in her squeaky shoes and seemed to have a good time. She is more solemn when we are out than she is when we are in our room… there is so much new for her to take in.

We visited one of the local shops, “Susan’s Place,” and sat and had tea with the owner’s husband, Dong, who is from Wuchuan, the city where Alyssa’s orphanage is located. I had learned about him from other families who adopted children from Wuchuan. He was quite friendly and also a good salesman We ended up buying several traditional chinese outfits for Alyssa and a chinese dress for Linnea, as well as a few books and a DVD. He gave us what seemed to be good prices for everything.

After a short break back in our room, we headed out to dinner at the Cow and Bridge, a Thai resturant just a few blocks from the hotel. The food was very good. We had satay followed by ‘hot pots’ of ‘mixed seafood with vegetables’ and ‘beef brisket and potatoes in a curry sauce.’ Alyssa had chicken congee (rice gruel). Most of the restaurants around her have congee on the menu to accommodate the many families with children who stay her on Shamian Island. It is much appreciated. The restaurant we were at tonight even provided an extra small bowl and spoon to make feeding easier.

We stopped in a couple of shops on the way back “home” and then decided we’d had enough for one day. The shopkeepers love Linnea since she is so talkative and is generally interested in so many things in the shops. If we bought everything that she wanted us to buy we would have to get several more suitcases to carry everything home.

Alyssa went to sleep fairly well tonight. I put on the Chinese lullabies again and held/rocked her until she seemed asleep. However, two times when I tried to put her in her crib she woke up and screamed. I waited longer the third time around and she was finally out enough to only rouse a little bit when I put her down.

To this point we have been calling Alyssa “Ah Hui” or “Hui-Hui” but she doesn’t seem to be responding to either of those names very much at all. We aren’t sure if we are misprouncing the name or she just wasn’t called by her name enough to know that it belongs to her. In any case, we have started calling her Alyssa more often although we still like the name Chun Hui and want her to know that is also an important name for her.

Some things we have learned about Alyssa Chunhui so far. She:

• loves to play games, stack cups and roll/throw balls.

• does not like it one bit if anyone takes a toy or item that she does not want taken and will scream or hit if this happens.

• kicks her right leg when she is stressed. Her left leg gets added if the stress increases.

• pouts her lower lip and her lower teeth get exposed before she starts to cry.

• loves congee, eggs, fruit, bread, Cheerios and anything else we have given her to eat.

• looks around for me if she can’t see me.

• does not like to walk on the tile floor by the bathroom in bare feet.

• laughs when her big sister is acting very goofy such as rough-housing with Dave or pretending to be a dog.

• is quite animated when we are in our hotel room but gets quite solemn when outside.

• likes being carried in the hip carrier we brought with us (like a Baby Bjorn for bigger kids) and she will often fall asleep if carried for a long time.

I’ve been writing these posts late at night after everyone else is asleep so I haven’t had Linnea or Dave add their own perspectives recently. I’ll try to add more from them in the next couple of days. Dave is having fun learning some more of the language and has purchased a couple of books that teach about chinese characters. Linnea is managing very well with the demands that are put on her as we eat out at nice restaurants and visit places where she is expected to behave like a “big kid.” She has been allowed extra down time watching cartoons on TV, playing with new toys or swimming when it fits in the schedule. I’m so proud of her efforts to be a good big sister even when she is rejected at times by her little sister who sometimes (okay, often!) doesn’t want to share me or her toys with anyone.