trace

about the name: it is from the orphanage... the doctor who looked at him upon his arrival chose it. an (which is what we still call him) means peace, hou is the orphanage surname.
has trace taught us any words?? ha! 'automan' is his favorite action series dvd... they are very similar to power rangers, only all in chinese. we're pretty sure he has them memorized. the more relaxed he gets, the more AUTOMAN we hear and see! he has picked up 'uh-oh' and 'ok' and stuff like that which is general slang here in china, too. nothing huge. and today mama was back to ayi :(... oh well- our demeanor was much improved over all, so no complaints here. i'm able to understand some of what he says... far from all, but i can pick out enough words to usually know what he's trying to communicate- him and store vendors and parents at mcdonalds :).
yesterday afternoon we took a walk in the pouring rain. we went shopping- first stopping in at a bakery. we took trace around to see what he wanted. he wanted the biggest cake in the store- about the size of your normal birthday cake. the store clerk tried to persuade him that buying a piece of the dangao (cake) would be ok, but he wouldnt budge. we bought the smaller portion, but i ended up eating it all; he didnt want anything to do with it. then we went next door to a grocery store where he picked out what he wanted: yogurt and fruit snacks to go with his stash of chips and gatoraid.
last nite we went to mcdonalds (hanbao! as he calls it. hanbao = hamburger, although all he'll eat are french fries) and ended up staying for no less than an hour and a half... there were many other children there and they all played in the playplace together... trace loved playing with the other kids! there was a boy a little older than he and they had an excellent time. lots of automan moves were performed by one and all- even these tiny little girls :).
this morning at breakfast we met an american couple- they are older; he is a retired animator from california... you can see the micky mouse picture he drew trace below. they have been in korea for a while, and now are in fuzhou.
for whatever reason trace has been mr. happiness today... we played guns in the room for the longest time (it's funny- he's NOT a morning person, so he watches dvds after breakfast... and slowly gets inspired and starts copying their moves... before long he's jumping all over and had mother and i cowering behind various funrnishings.). then we went on a little walk. it rained all day yesterday, so today there were puddles. he splashed every puddle. it came to the point where mother would pick him up and run down the street yelling 'bu!!' (no!) to keep him out :). we got lots of looks, but he was having a great time. he was also karate chopping and kicking trees, lightposts and the like (think: automan). first we stopped at an antique store we've been eyeing. lets just say that when we walked back by a few hours later it was closed. the man had made enough money this morning to take the rest of the day (or week) off :). trace found these stairs outside the antique store which he would jump off: he counts yi, er, san! (1, 2, 3!) and jumps.
then we went back to the shop by the park to buy a new gun since his old one broke (too much enthusiasm on his part). to whoever asked: i was reading about airline restrictions before i left and toy guns are ok, as long as their obviously not real. his are obviously not real, plus we will not be carrying them on, except one that he came with (the most unrealistic of them all) that he sleeps with (forget the soft fuzzy whatever we all had- he sleeps with a nice pointly plastic firearm!). we then walked thru the park shooting at the innocent passerby. some got a kick out of it, some seemed underwhelmed. at least they have something to tell their spouce tonite at dinner.
we then returned to the hotel and ate some room service and retired for the afternoon nap. we leave in a half hour or so for the airport so we will be in guangzhou probably by the time you read this (unless you wake at the crack of dawn to devour what i have written 'during the nite').
i guess that is about it... hopefully i will continue to be able to stay faithful to the blog and upload pictures without difficulty from guangzhou. i have been very impressed with the internet here!
father- i think trace would ADORE any gun trevor & wade pick out. oh! i dont know if eric is following this, but trace says this one word that sounds like 'toi' in french... ha ha ha :).
best wishes :).