Today our motley crew was BUSY. We started the day with a trip to Old Town Tianjin, where there are traditional Chinese shops that sell clothes, art, bits and baubles. The architecture is ancient and awesome, I could have stayed there all day. Dan Dan on the other hand, no so much. He was full of impatience and wanted to run and reek havoc, typical 3.5 year old stuff. Adding extra layers of strain for the little dude, his life is Upside Down Crazy World this week, and he can't even speak to his new family. He becomes fried in a hurry. We did manage to visit one very cool calligraphy shop and had our son's name painted on a scroll. It was beautiful and we walked up 2 flights of stone steps to watch the artist at work. The whole time Dan Dan had to be restrained, and shouted "are we done here??!" The shop owner, manager, and artist all found him hysterical. Dan Dan was not amused. By some miracle he did not take down the whole store.
We decided Dan Dan and Mama needed to go back to the hotel. Annie wanted to come, too. Our little boy insisted on carrying all of 4 of our large shopping bags himself. He is strong, and he is stubborn. I'm giving in a lot more than my nature usually calls for. Because he is struggling to adjust to so much newness and huge transition, I feel he needs a lot of extra acceptance and wiggle room these days. When things become more normal, I will teach him about "structure" and "boundaries", concepts he is not such a fan of at the moment. Annie is handling this SO WELL, and I know it's not easy for her! So, back to the van. Kids in China do not ride in carseats, and hardly anyone wears a seatbelt. Annie cannot get over this. On the way to the hotel, Dan Dan decided to open the van door while we were en route. Our driver nearly passed out. I think he will be very glad when we leave. We managed to survive, I'm still not sure how.
This afternoon we did something super fun and special, which I will write about in the next blog! Later, we hung out at the hotel. My little boy, who is still not making eye contact with anyone, and wants to either a.) run and jump and roll on the floor and tackle big sister, or b.) watch cartoon dvds given to him by his nanny 24/7, melted my heart by sitting next to me for the first time and falling asleep on my shoulder. Progress, for sure. It's official, I think he's swell. :)
After a nap, Dan Dan was raring to go. Another bit of progress, tonight Dan Dan took a bath! He has been very against bathing of any kind so far, but tonight, through very broken Mandarin, we talked to him about it again. At the mere mention of the word "shower", he ran to the bathroom and ripped off his clothes and pointed to the tub! Although he was used to only showers at the orphanage, we filled up the bathtub with bubbles and he had a blast. He was so excited after, he raced around the room naked, laughing and squealing non-stop, and threw a plate of fried rice into the air and all over the carpet. People, please pray for us.
LG, I was having flashbacks to Connor again. When we went to a place in Nanjing that looks very much like this, we thought he was going to run into traffic. And if he dropped a goldfish on the ground, he would try to eat it. We had to stomp them into smithereens while at the same time handing him a fresh one. But unlike you, we had no idea what Connor was saying to us, and I think I am glad! I am praying for you daily, my dear friend, and am so glad Annie is doing well. Love ya! (and I do not know how to sign my name so somehow it looks like it's from my kids!)
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