Monday, January 12, 2009

Medical Exam, Couch, and Pearls

This morning Flora had her medical exam. She is 17.6 pounds and 28 inches. She is healthy and there are no problems.

On the walk back we finally stopped at Starbucks. I had my first coffee in nearly two weeks. I also made my souvenir purchases. I hope I got it right (T and R). FYI, the Starbucks which was located at the Forbidden City is not longer there. Apparently, while gearing up for the Olympics, it closed where the Chinese government opted for a more traditional caffeine stop, a tea house.

We then returned to the hotel where Flora napped. We had to wake her to dress her in her traditional Chinese attire for the obligatory red couch photo. Unfortunately, not all children were represented. With 13 babies (including 1 toddler) it is very hard to coordinate the photo. Michael, the other group's guide, instructed us to count to 3, put the babies on the couch and RUN! We did it. Flora never cried. She did look for me behind her so most pictures were of her looking behind the couch. She also took a nose dive onto another baby only a few ounces bigger than her.



Several other parents talked the guides into taking us to a real pearl market. It was great! I was shocked at the prices! I was also shocked that they string the pearls for you right there!!!! I bought a few things, most specifically for Flora when she is older!
Dinner was at a local Cantonese restaurant. We enjoyed it tremendously as it was the first time we have eaten Chinese food in several days.

8 comments:

FinsUp said...

I get the feeling the "red couch" pictures were started as some sort of ironic game by some early APs as a joke on the rest of us!

Flora looks properly regal in her solo shot, though.

Mmmmmmmm. Starbucks.

Tiffany said...

Thanks for thinking of us....it will be a long time until I get back to the Starbucks in Guangzhou!:)

DBW said...

What a wonderful shot--those red couch photos are always a riot.

rubyiscoming said...

yup - there's my big body dealing with a squirmy unhappy Miss Ruby for the red couch! :)

you up for the open air market today? my friends say there are no birds!!!

Rebecca said...

I can't believe your trip is starting to wind down already! But again, I guess it's really just the beginning :)

Enjoy your last few days in China!

R :)

Shannon said...

How cool you got a red couch photo, even minus a few girls. We were all quarantined at the time. Flora looks LOVELY! =)

Alyson and Ford said...

My AA would not leave my baby carrier (my tired body) so any attempt at the red couch photo was a screaming, hysterical moment. No pictures for AA back then!! Now, 15 weeks later, she will pose and say "cheese" on command!!
Love your updates. Glad you bought some pearls; you will not regret.

Alyzabeth's Mommy

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