Monday, January 12, 2009

Guangzhou

We are enjoying Guangzhou. We arrived Saturday morning. We have a beautiful suite on the 27th floor at the White Swan. Where the Wharton tried to be a nice hotel the White Swan is a nice hotel. Flora had a phenomenal first flight. She was awake then right at take off she crashed. I am starting to think that if she "gets overwhelmed" she shuts down. Who wouldn't with all the changes she has experienced. I have noticed that she will become shy in large groups. However, I don't think that is an alarming behavior. We see more of her personality everyday. Anytime Joe or the girls take her picture, she does a cheesy smile for the camera. It is hysterical! Our days seem to be busier here. We started with lunch at Lucy's(typical Western food). We then had dinner with the group at the Cow and Bridge (Thai). We purchased some coin necklaces and silk blankets on day one. Yesterday, we strated with breakfast at he White Swan (it is all that and a bag of chips!). Then, we went jade and pearl shopping. The store was nice. We visited a Buddhist temple, where there was a ceremony blessing the babies. It was very nice, however the smell of the incense was strong. We then visited the Chen Academy. It was a sprawling museum. But the most striking thing about this place was the roof on each building. I have never seen anything like it. For lunch we had "sandwiches" from the deli outside the White Swan. Dinner was with new friends at La Dolce Vita. The food was very good. We enjoyed a bottle of wine. Flora and the other two girls did an amazing job sitting through a longer meal. The juice at LDV was FRESH!! They used a juicer. It was incredible! Joe and I are feeling a bit stuffy, as if a cold is coming on. We are trying to ward off any illnesses!
Flora:
~ she is almost crawling, knees get tucked up under body and then she falls back down.
~ she can slurp noodles (all of the girls can)
~ she leans in to you to give you a kiss, and now she makes a sound (Emily was the first to receive a kiss)
~ she has yet to turn away any morsel of food offered to her!
~ she loves everyone, but is starting to prefer me (just a bit)
~ she is a bit of a ham
~ she had a foster brother and a foster sister
~ she had the dirtiest belly button I have ever seen, but the rest of her was extremely clean and trimmed
~ she has already brought us so much joy. We are all totally in love with her and we look forward to having her in our family forever!!!
Now for some pics......




6 comments:

FinsUp said...

She really does have the "cheese-smile!" (as Fin used to say) down pat! You have already hit all of the highlights in Guangzhou and you have only been there a day and a half! I am glad things are going so well. Enjoy your last days, but I hope you are looking forward to getting back, too. We can't wait!

Linda said...

Wonderful to see your family all together.. Flora has the cutest cheese smile!!! Lnda

XiaoXiao said...

Sucking her thumb ... too precious! She is adorable and you all look complete. Congrats!

tori (roundabout by way of RQ)

Tiffany said...

She is too cute...glad all is well and you are having a good trip...have fun shopping!

dagurlzrmine said...

Love the cheesy smile! She seems to be so happy with her new forever family and you all seem complete with her. Can't wait until you get home. Have fun your last few days there!

Shannon said...

Your girls smiling warms my heart! Glad things are going well in GZ. I'm sure it will be wonderful to be home soon though! =)