3/16/11 - Day 7: Sightseeing & Shopping

Carter started getting restless about 10p last night. Lisa was out cold so I attempted a diaper change myself. Carter is very cooperative so all went well. I figured if I needed any assistance she would be woken up quickly by the vocal sounds from Carter.

Carter started moving around about 5:15 a.m. We moved him to our bed and cuddled while he gradually woke up.

Today food boy, anka [also now known as] "Sir Stinky Pants", decided to finally poop. 30 minutes later he was crouching outside the bathroom while Lisa took a shower. "Lisa, he is waiting for you." "No, he is pooping." "No, he misses you." ... 15 minutes later of holding him in my lap ... "Okay, you may have a point." ... hence the new name. We just handled the 5th time today. On the glass half full POV, we don't need to test out the laxatives we brought along.

April needed some mommy time (i.e. was not behaving) this morning so Daddy took Carter and Bennett to breakfast by himself. Carter tried to leap out of my arms as we walked past the buffet spread to our table. He calmed down a bit as I filled a bowl with honey nut cheerios and put him in a chair with a spoon. Lisa showed up in time to have a fried egg ready for him when the bowl was empty. He excitedly dug in to the 2nd course. Grandma came back to breakfast to help us so Lisa and I could eat, given the delays caused by unplanned kid constitutionals & meltdowns.

We toured the brocade museum this morning. Watching the people work on the looms and hearing how the looms work and how little they produce in 8 hours (4-5 cm if I remember) was very interesting for the adults but not so much for the kids. The items for sale in the government store were beautiful but ridiculously expensive so we passed. Our driver took us back to the hotel while our guide Michael took Grandma & Grandpa to the Nanjing Massacre museum (not a good place for kids to see), which they found to be somber but very well done.

We went back to the hotel, played, had lunch in the room (ramen noodles for the kids) and walked to the Confucious Temple shopping area to browse. Bennett promptly decided he now had to go potty and we visited our first McDonalds in China. Of course April then had to go "super bad" and joined mommy as she took Bennett inside. Daddy stayed outside with Carter asleep in the stroller (1st successful stroller placement), and proceeded to be stared at by friendly passers by for 20 minutes while waiting (long bathroom line).

Browsing the stalls and small stores made for a fun and interesting afternoon. We finally found a small stall that sold kids sweaters so we could buy Carter a clean sweater for our visit to Xuzhou tomorrow (he has totally trashed the one we brought that fits and the other one is too tight). He came with a pretty but dirty Chinese fabric winter jacket that is not as warm as the jacket we sent him, but the kids in the orphanage need it more then him, so no worries.

The enthusiastic two fisted eating approach quickly trashes anything we put on him, even with a bib (thankfully we did bring one). As soon as he starts eating he is a VERY happy camper. Unfortunately, he is hungry a lot and quickly starts crying loudly if he does not receive food NOW.

It was a lot funnier joking about the emperor syndrome before our adorable 2 year old showed he will scream when hungry and will start screaming again if cut off before he thinks he is done, or a refill is a tad slow. It is hard to get good servants ... er, help ... er, parents these days, but we would like to get a bite or a sip ourselves in between keeping the trough filled. All is good though. Even though it is rough to deal with, he quickly calms down and we would be more worried if he was not crying or screaming some during the next few weeks. We keep repeating this mantra as the napkin is thrown at the lame servants or if any morsel is slow to be provided or a dish is slow to arrive. It's not like he had unlimited food at the baby home. The kids in his play group must be loving meals now - "Wow, we get a lot more to eat now dudes, where did all of our food go before?"

The napkin was thrown constantly at us before dinner tonight whenever our pre-appetizer snacks ran out on his napkin. Before his meal arrived, he devoured part of Grandma's spring roll appetizer and some of April & Bennett's dumplings.

It is a big change for us to let Carter sit on his own and feed himself. We always put Bennett and April in our laps at first and hand fed them. They loved it and it is great for attachment and bonding. Carter wants to sit on his own and feed himself with supplemental feeding by us.

Carter did pull April's old trick of "I want to sit Daddy's lap" tonight (when she really just wanted to eat what was on your plate after she was done with her dinner). When he finished his bowl he started getting out of his high chair on his own. Luckily Grandpa spotted this and I grabbed him as he was attempting to stand on the back of his chair. Oh, how sweet, he wants to sit in my lap ... no, he just wants to eat what is left on my plate ... as pointed out by looking at me and tapping my plate with his fingers.

Carter is once again finding it hard to go to sleep. Stomach seems to be upset again. This could be due to the massive amounts of food he shoveled in for dinner. Part of it was he also did not have "Sippy", his sippy cup, aka "pacifier". He is starting to drop it so we may look into a tether like they have for regular pacifiers. We may also need to reconsider letting him eat until he reaches his food coma stage, even though he is not eating to the point of throwing up. It appears his stomach is upset shortly after his dinner repast again.

April is again sleeping with Grandma & Grandpa (you rock guys!). Bennett had some listening challenges and management opted to deny him this treat. Somehow he has managed to stay asleep throughout the screaming.

I would have Lisa edit this posting but she is now passed out on the bed with Carter sprawled on top of her. You can see her right eye starting to open as I took the picture. Also notice the magic sippy "pacifier" cup cuddled in his arms.

10 minutes after the picture, Carter snapped awake crying. Mommy went potty and Daddy determined that the sippy cup being banged on his shoulder meant "please fill my cup with more water". Once this "request" was handled, and after more guzzling, he went right into the crib without complaint and started snoring away.