Day 11...The Pearl

The Roberts family took an early morning walk along the Pearl River this morning. All of the sights and sounds were truly amazing. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the people of Guangzhou love to get up early and exercise and age knows no bounds when it comes to working out. We saw small children all the way up to very old men truly "getting after it!" We saw karate, sword training, meditation, yoga, just about everything that you could imagine. There was also an assortment of music being played...all instrumental and very zen like. But, what truly continues to freak me out every single morning are the number of people who swim the Pearl. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer and friends swim the Hudson. Now, the Pearl is filled with every kind of boat you can imagine (fishing vessels, cargo freighters, etc.), so it is not the safest place to swim, but they still do it...every single morning. After our stroll, our guide took us to several open air markets, where they sold just about everything...herbs, nuts, roots, vegetables, fruits, teas and live animals (including dogs and cats and yes...it is true...they do eat dog and cat here in China...Robin was about to go P.E.T.A. on their A$$es, but our guide quickly pointed out that the dogs we were seeing were for human pets...but two blocks down were the eating kind.) Now for some AJ updates. She continues to experiment with food and today she was introduced to broccoli and mashed potatoes...and she loved both. She now allows me to change her diapers and actually taps on the diaper several times when she needs a change. Unreal. Anyway, I finally found something that smells worse then my feet...AJ's poopy diaper. Seriously, it was horrible!!! But I made it through unscathed and she even gave me that look like "hell of a job daddy!!" She has become very difficult at night, and it is getting very hard to get her to sleep. For the last two nights we had to put her in a stroller at 10pm and walk her along the Pearl. It works very well, but it takes at least a mile for her to fall asleep. I can picture Robin and I walking Addison and Jaz every night in the West End of Allentown, trying to get both of them to sleep. AJ is also refusing the high chair...she has to sit in Robin's lap to eat while daddy feeds her. We can't wait to hear the screaming when she gets in the car seat at the Newark airport. We have to wait until Newark because here in China, they do not use car seats...Ever...and these streets are freakin' crowded. Anyway, tonights pictures consist of our walks along the Pearl and in the open market ,Robin and our guide Lucia, and obviously some AJ shots. Until tomorrow...

Day 10

Day 10 began with a trip to Chen's Ancestral Lineage Hall and The Yun Tai Garden Park. If you check out a couple of the pictures, the park actually looks rather freaky in a Johnny Depp Willy Wonka sort of way. Because of the heavy rain, our trip was short lived. We did get back for a most excellent lunch of homemade rice noodles (literally made and cooked right in front of us) with red pepper hot oil sauce (4 out of 5 stars on the so hot my nose is snotting and I can't feel my lips or tongue scale) and sesame cashews with pickled cucumbers (also hot!!!). We were also introduced to our new guide Lucia, who is great and will be with us the rest of the way (Lucia's new van driver looks like Mr. Chow from the Hangover...kind of talks like him to...bet I call him Mr. Chow at least five times before my stay is done here). Elvin had some official duty with the Asian games that he needed to tend to...either that or my Hong Kong feet were just too much for him to handle (Lucia is taking me for baking soda tomorrow and she also knows where to get some good mint!!) AJ has become quite a hit in the hotel. She is making lots of friends with the other adopted children in the hotel (There are a bunch) and the hotel staff cannot get enough of her. I was walking with AJ and Robin at breakfast today, and one of the staff members pointed and said, the poor girl, it will be ok soon. I thought she was talking about AJ's cleft, but in reality, she was talking about Robin's green hair. I have seen small children point at Robin, scream "ahhhh....Godzilla" and run. I have also heard others want her to use her superpowers as the Green Lantern to end crime in Guangzhou. For dinner tonight, we went to Lucy's...again, and ate in the Linen Room (that's right Tony, they named an entire room after you.) After finishing dinner, the waiter kept promoting their homemade apple pie. He was persistent, so we ordered a piece...quite possibly the worst excuse for apple pie EVER!! It tasted like Kugel with apples and raisins (trust me on this, I had a real live jewish girl sample it and she agreed...although when we left I heard some guy in the back room say "honey, don't order the apple pie, look what it did to that girl's hair!) These hair jokes never get old!!!! So, after having an insatiable hunger for apple pie, I went on a mission, and discovered a small slice of heaven at The White Swan deli. As I was devouring it, AJ looked at me with those pathetic "please daddy please, give me some pie" eyes, and I decided that it was time, time to see if she was a real Roberts...time to see if the girl liked the pie of all pies, APPLE Pie. Well, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. She is a true Roberts!!! Until tomorrow...

Day 9 The Panda...and the hair

The much anticipated meeting with Mr. Panda Bear went very well. AJ was very intrigued with his antics and at one point she seemed to be in a total trance, her eyes following him wherever he went. She is getting used to the stuffed panda we got her, so to see the real thing, live and in person, cruising around his pen had to be surreal for her. AJ was also a very big fan of the elephants, the hippo and the monkeys (especially the monkeys with the red rear ends). Being that it was close to 100 today with crazy humidity, AJ fell asleep for the last part of the zoo and the entire van ride home. When we returned to the hotel, AJ was awake and WIRED, so we took her to the pool...AND SHE LOVED IT!!!!! She splashed and giggled the entire time, completely drenching herself in the process. I was worried that she was getting too much chlorinated water in her mouth, so I was not the fan favorite when I made the call to leave the water. She has been pissed at me ever since...the little diva. At our traditional Chinese dinner tonight, complete with traditional Chinese clothing (except for Robin, who is saving hers for later in the week) AJ attempted to eat her cheerios with chopsticks (to no avail). She then proceeded to have the meltdown of the century, which is still happening as I type. (She is probably pissed at us for the shots yesterday!!) So, before I go use some of my school psych tricks to help calm AJ down...a quick Robin story. Robin went to the front desk today to show them her green hair (it is getting worse by the way and yes Linda Z, it is now the color of Jade...Karma is a bitch for the Jade Princess!! :) If you notice in some of the pictures tonight, Robin wore a green dress...to match her hair...that is the main reason she did not wear her traditional blue silk Chinese dress. The manager sent Robin to the salon, where she was met by the manager of the pool, who was apologizing profusely. A team of four (stylist, shampoo lady, color lady etc. approached Robin and wanted to give her a free color job followed by cutting the bottom of her hair (four inches worth) to eliminate the green. After Robin almost ran out of the salon, they decided to give her a free shampoo and drying. She will also get another one this week, on the house. Robin did say it was the BEST shampoo ever...the little Chinese lady who did it had the strongest hands in the world and used those strong mitts to give the worlds greatest scalp massage. Until tomorrow...

Day 8 The Medical Clinic

Day eight began with an early morning visit to the medical clinic. AJ was weighed (22 lbs) and measured (30.25" body),(47cm head), poked and prodded by the ENT (ears, nose, throat) doctor (all good, no infections)and had her temperature taken (98.2). The doctors were very happy with her health and stated that her caretakers at the orphanage must have taken good care of her. AJ was a trooper throughout the check-up and she was very intrigued with all the medical equipment. She was also quite social with the doctors and nurses. After the medical check-up, AJ had to get FIVE vaccination shots. FIVE in a row!!! She was a trooper through the first three, and began crying after #4 and #5 (As did her mommy). The crying lasted about thirty seconds, then she went back to focusing on her all natural strawberry lolly pop. About five minutes later, the pain of the shots kicked in, and she cried for about ten minutes. Afert that, she was alllll gooood! We proceeded to breakfast, and she ate like a champ. I introduced her to yogurt, and she LOVES it! In other AJ news, she has become quite the copycat. She imitates her mommy often. If mommy kisses the stuffed panda, AJ kisses the stuffed panda (with mmmaaaaa sound effect). She also throws things, points at them, and expects them to be picked up. This drives Robin crazy, but I love it. Nice arm on the kid and I believe that she is a lefty!! She also loves to share and has taken to feeding Robin and I cheerios and fruit ('bout time I had a woman feed me!!!.) She also has been feeding herself and wiping her own drool...thank God!! AJ also loves to visit Leena's Place, a Chinese store next door to the hotel. In turn for doing some of our laundry (even my stinky socks!!! btw...the Hong Kong feet are still in effect...have not had a chance to pick up baking soda or mint yet, so I am masking the smell with Robin's Clinical Strength Secret!! (I will probably get smacked for that one!!), Leena gave us a free stroller to use for our entire time here in GZ. Leena's place is staffed by Chinese women in their twenties who LOVE AJ. They scoop her up, sing to her, give her toys. It is very cool. They are also teaching Robin and I many Chinese words and phrases. Speaking of Robin, when AJ went down for her three hour nap today, Miss Robin decided to swim some laps in the highly chlorinated hotel swimming pool. Instead of showering when finished, Robin took a nap, thus allowing the chlorine to set in. Bottom line, Robin showered, looked in the mirror and screamed!!! Her hair had turned green(see pictures). I laughed, AJ snorted, and Robin almost cried. Classic Robin. The Green Lantern lives!!! So, on a final note, every night Robin sings to AJ, helps her try to form words, etc. I, on the other hand, tell her about all of the good food she will be tasting in the Lehigh Valley. Today, she came up with a list of food she would like when we return to the states. The list is as follows, and it is coming straight from Addison Jade Huilin Roberts (aka: Mao Mao): Barb Ginsburg's Apple Crisp and Rice Pudding, Terri Geisel's cookies, Mee Maw's chocolate cake, Grandma's Apple Pie (with the caramel crunch top), Pop Pop's Rhubarb pie, vegetables from Pap Pap's garden and Grandma Fran's whoopie pies, Susie Harris' matzah ball soup, Aunt Linda's brisket and Michelle Sniscak's homemade chocolate!!! I am sure that there is more, but she cannot remember everything, she is only 19 months old. She also would love a sheet cake from Wegmans (with chocolate pudding filling), which she would like to enjoy poolside at Aunt Linda's while hanging with the Yentas. Speaking of the pool, we still have not had the chance to take her...hopefully tomorrow after seeing the Panda's at the zoo. Oh, one more quick thing, I turned on the TV today and they were showing the 1970's classic, "Ultra Man!" So freakin" cool!!!!!!!!!!! Until tomorrow...

Day Seven

So, I spent the last twenty minutes typing, and our computer decided to update itself, thus resulting in me losing all of the text...as well as my writing mojo, so you will now get the abbreviated version of our day. We started the day at Liuhua Park, which was gorgeous. They had three types of toilets there...Nice, Excellent and Best (see photo of nice bathroom). I could not believe they named their toilets (and each one was better than the previous bathroom!!)We then came home, had some spicy Mongolian Beef noodle soup, and AJ took one of her patented 3 hour naps (She rocks!!). Speaking of AJ, she has gone from giggling to straight up laughing. Problem is, she snorts when she laughs...just like her mommy (The more AJ snorted and laughed, the more Robin snorted and laughed). After nap time, we took a boat tour of the Pearl river. It was like being in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Incredible! Final AJ update, we added Watermelon and peaches to her diet today. She loved it! Some of the other pictures today include me and our tour guide, Elvin as well as the Chinese version of Robin's uncle Martin (old man with fan..he is 86 and walks five miles a day) as well as various pictures from throughout the day. Tomorrow morning we have to go to the medical center to get AJ her immunization shots --she needs about four of them. Not looking forward to that one. I will be back tomorrow, with writing mojo intact!!