A Day in Pictures

Well, nothing too exciting today, except Ben continues to be such an amazing little guy.  We woke up and had an unexpected Skype session with both sets us grandparents (I hope everyone enjoyed Kara in her bathrobe from the shower) we had breakfast, then went on guided tours to the Six Banyans Temple, then to the Folk Art Museum where we ran into our adoptive friends we met in Beijing (they are with a different agency), now with their little boy,  then we went to do a little more shopping at the Arts and Crafts Center. Ben is just so much fun, so smiley, giggly and loving, he feels just like our angel sent from heaven.  At the Arts and Crafts center, a woman was serving tea (with the intent for you to purchase some), and offered me a cup.  I sat down at little table with Ben where she prepared the tea, then served it in the teeniest little cup made of porcelain so thin it looks like colored glass, like these:  

So of course, little man wanted some, so I held his arms and let him have a sip of the weak jasmine tea.  He gets a taste, looks up and and goes, "ahhh..." as if to say it is delicious. Of course, all salespeople then have to laugh and smile at him and shake his hand, etc.  I am telling you, this little guy is just a charmer!! We also went to dinner as a group to a local restaurant, and again, I was so worried about it, but again, Ben was great and ate A LOT!! 

I realized there was just no way I could carry Ben all week, so we rented a little stroller from the hotel for the week. We weren't sure what he would think of it, having never been in a stroller, but he was OK with it. 

Three more adoptive families have  joined our group of four families, making us a group of 7 adoptive families from CCAI.  It has been great to meet other families and hear their stories.  As one mom said to me today, once you have adopted, there is this automatic connection you have with every adoptive family you meet..it is just so true! 

In addition to CCAI families, we have seen about 8 other families with other agencies at this hotel.  It is a BIG hotel, but all the same, it seems like every time you turn a corner, you run into another family.  Our hotel is not even the most popular for adoptive families, many agencies use a hotel called The Garden Hotel.  If ours looks like this, I can't imagine what The Garden must be like!

Our CCAI guides are great and give us a detailed itinerary each day with optional activities. Tomorrow morning we have Ben's (and all the other kids') medical exam which is required prior to our consulate appointment.  There is an optional Pearl River Cruise at 5:45pm, but seeing as Ben's bedtime is 7:30pm, I think we are going to pass on that.  We may instead head out to a park in the afternoon or to Shamian Island for a look around.  We heard there is a Catholic church there, so we may see if we can get a little blessing over our Ben before we leave is homeland.  

Here are some photos from today:

The famous pagoda at the temple

 I have tried every teether we brought, but he prefers a blanket in his mouth. Thanks Grandma for my pretty antique cotton blanket with the blue bunny, it tastes delicious!

I love this face he makes, like, "You guys are nuts!"

He loves to grab his feet and un-velcro his shoes..then take them off... then take off his socks...

Thank you Aunt Kristy for my Nantucket shirt!

We have been co-sleeping with Ben, but we accepted the crib figuring it would block one side of the bed-today he wanted to play in the crib- he acted like it was a bouncy house-it was pretty funny. 

And for tonight, Tom has just one question, "where are WE sleeping??"