trace

(pictures are below)
well- before getting trace mother & ventured into fuzhou... we love it here! we were able to purchase everything we need except for a phone card... water & tea (for gifts) and we found our way around the LOVELY park here... it is part botanical garden, part amusement park, part temple/waterfall area. father & trent: they have a water ride in the amusement park: it reminded us of you- you know, the kind of ride you'd ride first, then be wet and miserable for the rest of the day? hopefully we can take trace there to run around...
anyhooo, we managed to buy our tea (including LOTS of samples for mother and i) and water mostly using our chinese vocaulary. although i have taken chinese lanuage classes for 1.5 years, i have NEVER spoken this much chinese in one day! sandy- you have prepared me well! xie xie!
so we got back to the hotel and long story short, the weather in beijing turned bad so the other family here got here late, so they sent the kids late. so we didnt get them till around 5. we watched trace (after having a scare when this other boy walked in... who must be 5, he is so big... but thankfully he was with his family; he would have never fit in trace's clothes) and the other boy who is maybe 2 and cleft lip/palate walk in. we got trace before the other family got their son. he was NOT too pleased... lots of crying and confusion. after mother filled out some basica papers, we took him upstairs. he cried off and on for a while... 1 hour? 2 hours? i honestly don't know. when our guide called on the phone he got the idea he could call foster mama/baba... so we had a fight over that... but he can count as he dials :). he came w/a bag of stuff, and he tried carrying that over to the door... so that = another scene (although i have seen much worse :)...) and another crying fit when we took off his shoes and jacket. trevor (& friends) you would be proud to know that your little brother came in pants that were, well, a bit big around the waist and hence sagging... we changed those without to much ado... then we watched tv. then we got hungry. we weren't sure if leaving the hotel room would be a wise choice, but he did well- he didnt eat anything, but honestly what do you expect? the child is under a bit of stress... but he sat there on my lap... we went to look at fishies while we were waiting for our food (we opted out of the buffet once we saw what was in it: roasted frog, pigeon, all types of sea food... yeah..). and while i ate he asked to visit the bathroom... this child is meticulously potty trained :)... when watching tv, he just gets up and runs into the bathroom. yes! there are lots of fireworks tonite as it is the last nite of the chinese new year festivities: he enjoys watching them, points to them, and tells me all about them.
as for bonding, he is not too keen on mama being mama... i'm fine to fill the jie jie position... just don't tell him he's got a meiguo (american) mama now... doesn't go over to well. forunately, he did not come w/foster parents, so that probably helped to some degree. at any rate, i am the one who carries him about (he is also good about holding my hand) and talks to him... fortunately, he doesn't freak if i leave to go to the bathroom or something. hopefully he did ok when i came down here to type this...
anyhoo, tomarrow we go and finalize the adoption and then to wal*mart. i dont think we'll need to get him any clothes- the ones we brought look good size wise. and he came with light up shoes that i think we'll keep...
hopefully all that is coherent and there arent too many grammar/spelling errors; you know me :)... it's getting late and i am exhausted. and we have to be ready to go at 9:15 in the morning... :)
please leave comments: i am reading them all!!!
best wishes from fuzhou!