Emily is napping as we pack up our room to wait for the van to arrive to drive us to Hong Kong this afternoon. We will spend one night at a hotel near the Hong Kong airport and then our flight leaves at 8:30 a.m. local time. We'll fly through Tokyo and then on to Atlanta. LONG flight and we pray that Emily does better on this one than on the short one a few days ago. We can't wait to be home and to start our "new" life as a family of five. We are so excited to see the boys. Our upstairs air conditioner at home broke two nights ago, so that is not good news. It's not likely to be fixed before we get home, so we may have to do some creative arrangements to get everyone to sleep on a level of the house that is still cool. While this trip has been amazing in a lot of ways, I hope never to be away from the boys this long again (or for a very long time anyway). We do think it was the best choice for all of us. Some of the trip has been boring (or would seem that way to boys anyway) and being alone with Emily has allowed us the opportunity to focus on her in a way we could not have done if the boys were here too.
We spent our last morning in Guangzhou at Yuexiu Park. It's the largest park in Guangzhou and is very lovely. There is a famous "five goats" statute there and you climb several levels of steps to get to the statue. We attempted to do it without Emily and to leave her in the stroller with Judy (our guide), but she was not content to sit back while we climbed. I wonder if she might be the only 18-month-old in history to have climbed all the way up under her own steam. This girl loves steps!
Instead of just being hot and sunny today, it was VERY humid (like our week in Nanchang) in Guangzhou today. We were literally dripping with sweat and poor Emily was soaked by the time we left the park. She loves to drink from water bottles, so we didn't have to worry that she would be dehydrated. There was a children's play area at the park with rides and a playground. We paid for the playground park to see how Emily would do. She loved it and was giggling so loudly! She does great with steps and loved a little play structure with a bridge going across. She also tried the low slides and a bounce house (of sorts). I was a little nervous about her being in there with bigger kids, so I hovered near the door (to the displeasure of the "guard") and held onto her arm. She loved bouncing and was laughing really loudly - even when she tumped over. I can't even imagine how she must be feeling as she sees and does so many new things. She has had some trouble going to sleep at night (winding down) and spends a lot of time rolling around or giggling or talking to me and trying to get me to play. The cribs in China are small and shallow (suitable for an infant, but not for a big, mobile girl). I worry that she could climb/fall out, so I stay right beside the crib until I know she is deeply asleep. That makes for a LONG nighttime routine, but I know this is still all brand new to her and I'm just grateful that she's happy. She is also really doing well with Justin the past few days - kissing his cheek and letting him hold her more.
This is probably our last post from this trip. I hope Emily will want to look back, one day, and read about our journey to be "matched" with her, to plan and prepare for her, to travel to her country to adopt her, and to LOVE and ADORE her!
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