Busy day

Okay, what a great day! This morning we went to huge park. Jude went fishing for the first time and caught a goldfish. He wasn't really sure if he liked that or not! There was a big lake at the park and some paddle boats, but he is too unpredictable for that right now. :) I will post a picture of a water attraction, I guess you would say. I don't know what to call it but basically it is a huge clear plastic bubble with a zipped opening. A child gets in and they blow air into it and seal it!!! It floats in the lake with the kid inside!! Can you say "death trap"? That's what Mama called it. Our guide didn't understand why I thought it was so bad. Like sealing your child in plastic and setting them afloat is just a fun day at the park. Uh, okay. Think I'll pass.

But anyway, the park was fun. We saw a puppy and Jude wanted to follow it from a distance. But then the pup (maybe 5 pounds) started to come toward us. Jude completely freaked out and took off running the other direction and screaming. Whipped past me and Grandma, but Grandpa got him. He was beside himself!! This is going to be a problem at home. In case you don't know, Mama has 2 dogs. Definitely need to work on this issue. :) We were very popular at the park. Three times people came up to have their picture taken with me! It is like being a celebrity. But without the $$$$$$.



This afternoon we went to Walmart. It was 3 or 4 stories and jam packed. Our guide said "It isn't very busy today." Imagine the mall on the day after Thanksgiving. Now multiply that by 3. And people stand right up against you. No concept of personal space since there just isn't any space to spare! But Jude got to ride in a cart shaped like a car and he had a blast. He also picked up a couple new toys. ;) We bought 2 carts full of food and stuff and a new copy of the latest Harry Potter book (my ine was in my packpack that was stolen) and it all was only 600 yuan. That is less than $80!!!! And 200 yuan was for the book! (I was only half way through and I need to know how it comes out!) We bought tomato flavoered potato chips, as well as cucumber flavor. But we passed on the Shrimp Flakes.

Jude is simply amazing. He loves to sing and learn new words. He has been refusing to take a nap, although I know he had one every day in the orphanage. Throught the guide, I asked him why he wouldn't nap even though he admits he is tired. He said he is just too excited and happy to sleep! So sweet. And I also asked why he seems afraid of Grandpa. He said he was afraid of his beard! Apparently beards are very uncommon in CHina. So when we got back to the hotel, Grandpa promptly shaved it all off and let Jude feel his smooth face. :)

Jude also told our driver today that he loves us all very much! He is so cute!! Always gives mama a drink from his water bottle and tries to feed me. He eats and eats and eats! He will try most anything and he makes the funniest face when he hates something, such as honey. He is a joy. Just a joy. :) Oh, I think they are closing the computer room so I will post pix in the am.

We got the passport!

Tonight we were able to get Jude's passport! Our guide, Sarah, spent much of the day back in Jude's hometown of Anshan at the police station trying to get the passport finished. We needed it by Tuesday so we can leave this province. So we are ahead of schedule!! That means a nice relaxing weekend of leisure with no worries of a beauacart nature. Tomorrow we are going to visit a park so Jude can spend some of his endless energy supply. Then we get to go to the Walmart!!! I am so excited to see how it is different from. I bet one thing will be exactly the same: I will spend too much! Jude is fast asleep so I can enjoy some computer time. He was so exhausted that he went to sleep in about 30 seconds tonight. He doesn't want to miss a thing so he really fights sleep. But if you can get him to hold still for just a minute, he's a goner. Sleeps from around 7pm or so til around 3am usually. Then off and on til 5am. That's in my vasr experience of 5 days being his mother! :) He eats and eats and eats. I don't know where he puts it all because he is tiny. My fingers can fit around his upper arm with no problem!! He weighs 40 pounds. One strange thing (forgive me if I already told this) is that he loves to wash his hair. Maybe 5 times a day!! Even if it is just with water. Loves it!! OK, something seems to be biting me in this computer room (no doubt because I am so sweet ;) so I'll sign off now. Gotta get some sleep cause 3am comes pretty quickly these days!

Major Meltdown

OK, so this is motherhood. Jude and I had a battle of wills this morning over a nap. Boy, there is a lot of pressure to show who is boss! But there is a new sheriff in town and her name is Mama. :) My little man is sure stubborn, so I guess he takes after his mama already. Today we went to a huge book store across the street. They actually had some children's books with English as well as Chinese. Much cheaper than Barnes and Noble but no airconditioning. Gotta go! Little man is getting restless. Trying to dismantle the printer. Man, he is EXACTLY like his cousin Ian. Good thing he is cute!!!! Just teasing, wouldn't trade him for all the tea in China. And there is a TON of tea here! :)

Glad to be back in Shenyang!!

Whew! Just got back to Shenyang, the capital city of the province, Liaoning, and man are we glad to be back. The last two days we were in Jude's home town of Anshan. No bueno. Hotel and the town in general were like the twilight zone and not in a good way. The hotel was an OVEN. Sorry, but we could not post from there. We did however get to go to Jude's orphanage yesterday. That was a very hard thing to see. All those precious angels with out homes. It was clean and the kids were well cared for, but very austere. I never saw the nannies hug the children at all. When we took out a sack of little beanie babies, we were swarmed!! The kids were every where, pushing, taking things from each other, mass hysteria. The nannies didn't react at all. That explained a lot to us about JUde's behavior. He has not concept of social graces. He was never taught how to be out in the world. We took him to a gocery store (huge, by the way) and he had never seen so much food. Today he had ice cream for the first time. LOVED IT! He is like a toddler in that all this is completely new to him. But he is simply amazing. So sweet and so very in love with his mama. My parents took him for a walk about 5am today so I could maybe finally get some rest. He had a melt down, screaming for mama. So now he will rarely let me out of his sight for even 2 minutes. He had to sit in the bathroom while I showered! Just not completely sure this whole thing is for keeps yet. Even though has had absolutely nothing of his own his whole life, he is extremely generous. Brings mama water and food very often. Sleeps with mama. Eventually :) The hotel here is very very nice and the staff is great. There is a jumbo store right across the street and also a street market right outside. One thing we don't do is cross the street. You just cannot imagine how people drive here! Dude, seriously. It is just unreal. There are soooooo many people!!! This country has ONE BILLION MORE people that the USA. Yeah I said MORE. Packed and stacked everywhere. And humid. Much more that even Missouri! ;)
Jude is picking up english already. He loves to sing. We sing Jesus LOves Me, ABCs, and The Muffin Man over and over. He already knows the tunes and some of the words. And he can say his #s up to 6. Just learned that today! I taught him to rub his tummy and say "yummy" when he eats somethin he likes. So Smart. Grandma is running out of tricks to entertain the little prince so I better get on with it. I will be able to post everyday from now on as long as he can give me a few minutes away!! :)

We got my boy!!!

Yesterday was "gotcha" day! My boy is simply awesome. He took a few minutes to warm up to me but the bubbles broke the ice. Already very attached to his Mama. :) Took a trick or 2 to get him to sleep last night, but then he slept most of the night. Has to wake up Mama if a sock comes off so I can put it back on his little tootsie. Today we are off to his home city of Anshan for more paperwork. We'll see how the 1.5 hour van trip goes. He needs to be "busy" all the time!! My Jude is perfect and I am so very blessed! Hopefully I will post more tonight! :)

Today is the day!!

Today is "Gotcha" Day!!! We will be leaving the hotel with our guide, Sarah, at 10 am. The drive to the Civil Affairs Office is about 30 minutes and then we will meet Jude at 10:30 am!!! Back home that will be 9:30pm. We arrived in Shenyang yesterday and it is BIG!!!! About 4.3 million residents, a bit larger than the entire population of Ireland! It is the capital of Liaoning Province, which is right above North Korea. Our hotel is very nice with a capital nice. I will try to post some photos now so later we can post what everyone really wants to see. (My boy!) :)

Leaving Beijing!

Awesome awesome awesome time here in Beijing. Yesterday we climbed the Great Wall!!!! Man, was it hot. But awesome!!!! We also visited the Summer Palace and walked the longest corridor in the world. (My feet can attest to that!) We learned how cloisonne is made and toured a jade factory. The food is excellent. We had Peking Duck last night. Tons of construction everywhere to get ready for the Olmpics next summer. The CHinese people are very friendly and surprised when I smile and speak to them on the street. Hey, folks, I gotta be me!! Never met a stranger, even in China! :) Flying to Jude's province, Liaoning, this morning. We will likely not see many Americans there. All ready I am a novelty it seems, lots of looks and one lady wanted her picture with me!! We are all so happy to be here and cannot wait to get Jude tomorrow! Time to go check out. Missing home a bit already. (Again, please kiss my puppies for me!)