Banshu Day

Today I found a local toy store and BoBo picked out a toy from his favorite action figure, you guessed it, Ultraman! He already had one but this set has 8 figures, all the planes, and some weird flying object as well. Once we got back to the room he just played and played, no DVDs! He also does this funny thing where he takes them out of the packaging, plays with them, then puts them each back in their original spot and closes up the box. Little does he know the box isn't going to fit in our suitcase so he will have to leave that part behind. Hopefully all of his action figures will make the pain of that scenario go away. Here are some photos of the happy little guy.

Baba Leaves :(

Today started with a trip to the train station to drop off Baba. Our guide, Michael, translated for me that Baba was flying home to our house today and that Bo and I were going to one more hotel before we fly home to see him at his new house (fahng-zuh means house). He seemed OK with this and the only bad behavior we saw was that he didn't want to hold Ryan's hand at the train station. I guess he isn't really big on good-byes. After the train station we took a taxi to the local hospital. Bo had another very low blood sugar Sunday evening/ Monday morning and I was determined to get another glucagon kit. The hospital experience was interesting to say the least. First of all, Bo knew exactly what it was and he tensed up and made me carry him the whole time we were there. He was actually found in a hospital so who knows if he remembers the feeling of being alone and scared or if he's just been to the hospital on etime too many due to his illness. We made our way past two different triage desks (young women in nurses uniforms basically directing you where to go) and then we were in the internal medicine hallway. Next stop was the endocrinologist, a nice middle aged woman in a white coat who presumably has some sort of training, albeit maybe not an MD. She was with another older woman and since there is no privacy in China we just stood there and listened to their conversation while waiting our turn. Three other older ladies showed up while we were waiting and each pushed their way to the front and deposited a registration book on the desk, somehow signaling that they were eligible for treatment. They were all sort of pushing infron tof us until they realized that Bo was the patient. Then they asked Michael a million questions about him and about me and they smiled approvingly that I was taking him to the US for better medical care. They let us go next and the doctor studied the used glucagon kit I had for a few minutes, asked a few questions, then said they don't have this. She said they just give sugar water. When I asked what do do if the patient refused or was unconsious she said they put them on an IV. I politely told her they should investigate getting some of these and then we left. So no glucagon kit for the rest of the trip. After Michael dropped us off at the hotel I took Bo to KFC for lunch (dragon wraps, very yummy: a flour tortilla with a chicken tender, cucumber sticks, and some sort of sweet brown asian sauce). We of course ate a few french fries and ketchup too, he loves ketchup! Then we went to the grocery store and I stocked up on sweet beverages that I know he will drink in the case of low blood sugar. Now I get to fight him off and say no about a jillion times until that occasion happens, fun for me. He was generally much better at the store and I made a few compromises (bought him some gum) but he gave up easier when he wanted something and I said no so I would call that progress in the mother-child dynamic. Late in the afternoon we went back to the park and the children's rides were open again. I bought us more bubbles and he got to go on the airplane ride. He has this airplane toy that he takes on walks now that has bells on it and stuff. He pointed to it a few times and mimicked that it was Baba flying the plane so I guess he understands the whole plane thing. We had dinner in our room and a nice quiet evening, in bed by 8! He wouldn't let me sleep in the other bed, I had to sleep with him. We'll see if after a few more nights that is possible. It is Tuesday AM now and we are due to visit the Hebei Museum today, our last scheduled outing in Shijiazhuang. Thursday morning we leave for Guangzhou and it couldn't come sooner. I'm missing my palm trees and humid weather, plus the air quality is better there and there are more Great Wall families to meet.

Oh, I almost forgot hte biggest story of the day. Ryan will have to fill you all in on this in more detail but I guess the guide who was supposed to meet him at the train station in Beijing and take him to the airport never showed. He ended up taking a taxi, with a driver who didn't speak English, and only $35 US to pay (he didn't want to take a lot of yuan home with him). Needless to say it is quite a story and our agency has some explaining to do but at least he did make it to the airport as he called me after checking in while he was still waiting for his flight. To ther GW families, this is screw-up #2 for us. #1 was not haviing our brown envelopes in province! Our guide here has been a little less than desirable at times and it is frustrating to read the other families stories who all love their guides. He has helped a bit with Bo but he doesn't always tell us what is going on or ask us if we need anything. It's kind of like pulling teeth to get him to do anything for us. Hopefully Kelley in Guangzhou will be abit more accomodating.

Bumper Car Video

Ryan's Last Day in China

Tomorrow morning we take Ryan to the train station and he is off to Beijing for his flight home. Part of me wishes I was on that plane too. It's great spending so much time getting to know Bo's home region but I miss my comfy bed and I am itching to get us to a more stable environment. Living in a hotel with a 4 yr old has its highs and lows. I think Bo thinks we live here all the time. I'm a bit worried about how well he takes Ryan's leaving tomorrow but hopefully our guide will be able to translate a conversation for us. Bo has gotten a lot more attached to Ryan over the past two days as I have tried to be a bit more of a disciplinarian. I am going to need him to listen to me when we are alone so hopefully I have made a little headway. In adopting older kids there is a concept called "family age" and we have seen a lot of it recently. Family age means that the child will sometimes act younger than their chronological age due to the shorter length of time that they have been a part of the family. Some of this we have seen in Bo is his constantly wanting to be carried, his tantrums where his whole body goes limp and he kicks and yells (more like 2 yr old) and today at the park he was more into the little kid games than the rides that were more his speed. He did warm up to the older kid stuff but he spent a lot of time on these silly scooters that were almost too small for him and he played on rocking toys that were definitely more 2 yr old appropriate.

We had a free day so we spent the morning in the room, then went to the children's park in the afternoon. Since it was a nice day (probably mid-50s and sunny) and it was the weekend they actually had the amusement park area open. Ryan and Bo rode bumper cars and then Bo rode a bunch of kids rides: cars, merry go round, and jungle gym area. For dinner we met up with the Smith family and went to the nice Chinese restaurant in our hotel. They had a very extensive menu and Bo especially liked the cucumbers I ordered, which were served with crushed ginger and soy sauce. He didn't eat much of his noodles though so I had to give him a sweet milk when we got back to the room. He was probably full from the pint of milk he drank before the food came. Ryan and I had hot chili chicken, stir fried rice noodles with beef, and I ordered a roast chicken in salt and it came out cold and fatty, not a good combo for chicken. You win some you lose some. Last night we had amazing wontons from a street cafe that Ryan brought back to the room so it was pretty hard to top that. Bo still needs a lot of work on table manners but the waitresses all love to come over and talk to him and he loves the attention. I wish we knew what they were saying. All I could gather tonight was that one of the waitresses was also from Baoding and she asked him some things about where in Baoding he lived. After dinner we played with a sticker game where you put numbered stickers on a grid and it forms a picture. Bo does very well matching up the numbers and placing the stickers close together. Not bad for a 4 yr old. Preschool, here we come!

Alison's Birthday

Saturday was Alison's birthday, and we spent it in the metropolis of Shijiazhuang. We started the day off with everyone able to function and get out of bed, which is already better than we were on Friday. We have not run into any morning extreme blood sugar low's since that first morning with Bo, as we are now able to monitor his food intake and shots much more than we were able to on gotcha day.

Saturday was originally scheduled as a free-day, but was rotated with Sunday for one reason or other, and we got a trip to the mountains instead of a museum excursion (which the 3 children would have hated). These mountains held a portion of what was once the Great Wall (which Alison and I had previously done), and looked like a heckuva long climb (especially when carrying a 41-pound child) - so we opted to take the Gondola to the top. Safe isn't a word that I would use to describe the gondolas, as our return trip was filled to the brim with passengers and many of the drop-off points didn't have sufficient barricades. Other than that the views were outstanding and Bo was overall OK during this trip. Bo let us know when he was ready to go by explaining that he wanted to eat noodles. We hoped that he would actually walk a bit during this excursion, but he was primarily held (Michael even lent a hand during a particularly steep portion of the trail on our return trip).

We returned back to the room and Bo got his noodles while Alison was able to catch some much needed zzzz's. Bo and I stayed entertained during this by playing with Lego's and watching Pokemon (much less violent than Ultraman). After about an hour and a half, Bo decided that it was time to go outside and made it his mission to wake up Alison and hit the road, IMMEDIATELY. Inevitably, he threw a tantrum because neither Alison nor I were prepared to go outside when he was ready. We did end up going outside, but not before he stopped his crying, etc. We ended up going to a grocery store down the street that had a sign at the top of the building which says 'Aquarium' on it. After negotiating a bit with the girl at the bottom of the stairs, we were allowed to enter and we walked around looking at all of the fish that they had for sale. We did not find any clown fish (like Nemo), but did find a turtle and a few cool looking fish - so mission was accomplished. We did pick up a few knick knacks that have a local theme that can be placed in Bo's aquarium or fish tank should we go that route.

We scheduled with the Smith family for one of us to run errands and grab dinner to bring back for everyone, and that worked out well. We were unable to find a component for the Nintendo DS that both families need, and I was unsuccessful in finding a place to get film developed, but we came back in the nick of time as Bo was very worried about when he would be eating (the sun was setting, etc). I suppose I am lucky that Alison (who Bo has accepted as his caregiver) was here with him to deal with that rather than myself, as he threw a tantrum with me for about 45 minutes a few days prior when we had a similar circumstance.

Last night was relatively easy as I gave him his bath and Alison was able to get to sleep a bit earlier than us as Bo and I watched Nemo together than fell asleep.

Overall it was a good day of much-needed bonding for myself and Bo, and Alison had a few opportunities for some needed rest.

I fly back to the states tomorrow. I am not looking forward to leaving Alison alone with Bo, as I know that he can be trying and he has a habit of pulling on people (which is really bothering Alison with her hand problems).

Today I would like to find a kite if possible and go out to the park with Bo (hopefully one small enough that we can travel with), or a nerf ball to toss around. Alison and I have also discussed possibly going to the hotel pool once again in an attempt to coax Bo in (maybe not yet, but another time on the trip possibly).

Ryan

Friday activities

Today started off on the not so good side because Ryan is sick. We've both had sore throats the past few days, assuming the air quality has something to do with that. However, last night he got a fever and chills and it was no better this morning. He decided to stay in the room while Bo and I went witht the group on a little excursion. Today we went to the botanical gardens. I tried to get some more video clips but it was hard filiming and chasing after him all by myself. After lunch at the hotel I took him to the little park across the street to use the bubbles that our guide bought him at the gardens. There were a few other young children with their moms there so if that video loads you will see a bunch of little Chinese kids in split pants. They don't wear diapers here. The pants are just split down the back and everything hangs out. I assume that's how Bo was raised because I haven't seen a kid here yet who wasn't wearing them. Today he is just as energetic and food motivated so I assume whatever Ryan has isn't affecting him. Oh, and last night we ate at Pizza Hut and he devoured the pizza and a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce. We bought a Chinese/ English "Finding Nemo" yesterday and it plays on my computer so we watched that last night before bed. It's still cute even if I don't understand what they are saying. Off for now, got to finish up so I can put Nemo back on.

Photos from Wednesday and Thursday