"Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

The Puppet Show

So I bought these little finger puppets a few days before we left, hoping they might provide entertainment on the plane.  Yesterday, Ben was crying and crying after waking up from a nap, so Tom said, "Puppet show time!"    In my head I thought, "No way-crying babies are not interested in puppet shows."  Tom took the two little guys above and began moving them on the end table- and Ben was quiet!  But then it got even more humorous and Tom had no idea how to talk in a puppet voice, or make up a story, without laughing.  So I was laughing too and we were practically in tears laughing at this little mouse and pig.  Ben ended up laughing too, so it was a success!  Since then, we can hardly play with the puppets for a second without cracking up.

The Passport

Ben's passport arrived today (Friday), so we are all set to use it when we fly home.  If it was not ready, our guide was going to have to go back in the evening to wait, and if it still was not ready, she was going to have to mail it to us in Guangzhou, so we were all glad it was ready. Ben will fly home on this, and enter the U.S. as a U.S. citizen.  At that time, he will sever his Chinese citizenship.

Tom and Ben

Today, Tom and Ben had lots of fun playing together.  We realized that if I am not around, Ben will happily play with Tom for hours, and is actually less fussy with Tom than me-looks like he figured out mama is a softie!  So today (Friday) I was packing up our things, and he and Tom played in the bathroom. sliding mini shampoo bottle down the bathtub like a slide.  They must have played for 30 minutes-pretty long for a teething toddler!  Later on, I was so beat (I think I am catching something too) I laid down on the bed and Tom and Ben played happily for quite a bit longer.  Tom had him belly laughing and he said he got a few head touches and snuggles too (when Ben is really happy, he will touch his head to you and stare you in the eyes- you just melt).  And the ultimate sign of success (and what a great dad Tom is) tonight Ben woke up while were packing our bags for our early morning plane ride-  I laid with him for a bit, but he was awake and happy as a clam to just hang out.  After 20 minutes, I called Tom (who had been hiding in the bathroom eating his cup of noodles) and told him to take over.  He asked me what to do, and I just said, "get him to go to sleep!"  I will admit, I kind of expected some crying, but instead I peaked my head out of the bathroom 15 minutes later to find them both sleeping!  It was so sweet.

So we are off to Guangzhou where the current temp is 72 degrees~can't wait!!!

Finally someone does not cry when we have a bath! He does NOT like the tub.