A White Swan at the White Swan

Each day we get to know Louis a little better and he gets to know us a little better. He continues to love playing Peekaboo. He puts his little hand over my face and then pulls it off. We are hoping that buys us some time on the airplane flights! We have been buying little quiet toys for the planes, but we'll see how we do. We have done almost all the shopping we are going to do (I hope), though we still have to get Louis a few more things as longterm gifts. We haven't bought him a chop (a stamp) with his name on it, and we would like to do that. His father loves bargaining, and Louis loves flirting with the shopkeepers, so shopping is a win-win situation.

Louis slept nearly 12 hours last night, all in the crib, and we were stomping around the room this morning trying to wake him up. I was afraid he wouldn't nap. But he just went down for a nap without any real effort on our part, so maybe he was still tired from the shots. This morning we had to go fill out a form for the U.S. Consulate that I have filled out twice before. They complained to our agency that it wasn't right. Let's hope the third time's the charm! One of the shopkeepers tried to sell John a U.S. Consulate T-shirt today. We laughed really hard. It would almost be worth owning.

Tomorrow we go to take the oath for/with Louis. Then Friday we get his visa to enter the U.S. and when we land in Chicago on Saturday, he will be a U.S. citizen! We can't wait. Actually, we will be even more excited to have the last flight behind us, but it will be good to be back on American soil. We are enjoying Guangzhou and I do think the way the trip is planned helps Louis make the transition. But starting life as parents of a 2-year-old in childsafe hotel rooms, eating every meal either at a restaurant or on a hotel bed is challenging. Louis doesn't mind--he thinks it's all terrific fun! But it is starting to wear us down, and you can see it in the other parents' eyes. We are ready to come home!

Last night we tried to go out to dinner, but the menu was so intimidating we came back to the hotel and ordered Papa John's. We had another picnic with our friends Scott and Cherie and their daughter, Melanie. The children loved it. Louis showed interest in reading books right-side-up for the first time, maybe because he saw Melanie looking at them. :) He has started doing something completely hilarious and quite adorable, but I have not been able to capture it on film. John gives him this jokingly serious look with a kind of sideways glance and Louis gives it back to him. It's really cute, but I think you'd have to see it in person. He is quite a mimic, which should make learning English easier. His favorite thing to say is "Buh-bye." Somehow with the language barrier, it's easy to understand what he wants and needs. It's harder for us to communicate to him that he should share, etc. But he is a good-hearted little boy who wants so badly to please us, especially his Baba.

If I can get the photos off the camera and send them to Treasa successfully, you'll see that his Baba managed to blow up the inflatable swan I brought for Louis to play with at the White Swan Hotel, where we are staying. He shows no interest in actual animals (we see dogs on the street and he pays not the slightest attention), but he loves stuffed animals and he likes the inflatable swan. He enjoyed putting it into his crib after he finally woke up this morning.

We have just two more days here and then we'll be on our way to the airport early Saturday! I'll try to post again a time or two before we go. I've given up on posting vast numbers of photos to Shutterfly, which I can't access from the business center computers, but I'll post plenty once we are back home.