Wednesday in Nanchang, Jiangxi

I will be honest with you, yesterday was a hard day for me.  Not because Ellie had a bad day, she actually had a good day but between the emotions and the severe lack of sleep I was just down and tired the entire day.  Parenting a hurt child in a hotel room in a foreign country is not an optimal environment for me.......who knew?!

Here is another morning shot of The Princess.....seriously can you even take the hilarious hair?

We had a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant before coming back up to our room and relaxing a bit before our meeting our guide.  Ellie took to coloring and stickers right away, she is such a girl!

Together with the Kim family we met our guide and driver at 10:30 and set out on another adventure.  First we went to an ancient Buddhist Temple.  Maggie explained that this was a very popular temple because it was very old and beautiful even if it wasn't the biggest.  It was a bit strange to tour such a sacred place while monks and other people were praying but it was neat to see. 



 

Next we went to a park called People's Park and it was so nice to walk around.  They had multiple playgrounds, vendors, some amusement park rides and many ponds with ducks and koi. 

Feeding the koi in the pond



Our transition is going amazingly well, really it is but when she is having her hard times, it is, well..........HARD.  You know how when a child hurts themselves you can tell if it is a real hurt cry or one for attention?  Well a grieving cry is the saddest thing I have ever heard.  Her sobs overcome her at the strangest times with no apparent trigger.  Sometimes she lets me comfort her and sometimes she pushes me away, it kills me but she doesn't know how much I love her and how long I have wished for her.  She is showing spontaneous affection in grabbing for my hand, putting her hands up for me to pick her up and kissing me without me asking for it and I know this is great progress. 

How about some comic relief? Well in China it is socially acceptable to spit, with abandon in the street, in a store, anywhere.  So while Miss E has learned so quickly most things she still has some quirks in this area.  She LOVES to brush her teeth but will not spit out in the sink, she shakes her head no at me and spits onto the bathroom floor.  Similarly when we were eating lunch yesterday she was eating a clementine and I could tell she had a seed in her mouth.  I put my hand under mouth and asked her to spit it out in my hand.  She pushed my hand away and spit it onto the floor! LOL oh well, we will work on that

We are heading off to breakfast now, we have no big plans today as our guide is taking another family to tour their daughter's orphanage.  I think we will venture out on our own a bit and enjoy our last full day in Nanchang.  Speaking of breakfast, the coffee cups at breakfast are very tiny, literally like 4 sips and Heather and I joke about it every morning and have just gotten around to asking for a second cup.  The breakfast itself is buffet-style so it works out as most of the hotel staff do not speak English.

Oh my word, I had forgotten how exhausting toddlers are! Ellie is always on, never off and as much as I don't want to tell her no during this tenuous bonding period I have had to on a few occasions, "no, please don't hit me with the flashlight" (to my waiting friends or those about to travel, bring a flashlight it has been a big hit with The Princess), "don't put your finger in the outlet" or "please stop hitting the laptop". Seriously exhausting, I think I might ask for 3 cups of coffee at breakfast today!