Retreats and Routines

Pan Pan, I, and Davis (in that order) got colds and we are just coming back to normal now. That's why it was good we had a retreat today. But we got a little behind in merging our photos. These are being sent via Joan since we still can only post to the blog from my iPhone, not our computers.

Here are me and Pan Pan playing with her new toy. I decided to buy only Chinese-speaking toys, because anything else we can get at home. But after carrying her and the toys back from the mall with both of us coughing and sneezing, I barely had the energy to play. I don't know where she got hers. Then we went for the group photo in which all the girls wore traditional Chinese dresses. The one we bought was for when she is older so was quite oversize, plus in the group picture, only about 5 of the 11 girls were looking remotely in the direction of the camera. Pan Pan likes to look backwards when we are carrying her, so here's our favorite shot from the shoot.

Today, miraculously, we were able to get Pan Pan to nap in our retreat hotel, and then she did some dancing for us...

Tomorrow we will join up with our group again and do some sightseeing then Sunday we may be on our own, and Monday is the big day - our consulate visa appointment. That will be fairly uneventful, since the agency actually goes to the appointment for us. Apparently the U.S. consulate got tired of having people coming in changing diapers, feeding babies, taking naps, etc. We just have to go the next day - Tuesday - to take an oath, and then receive her visa on Wednesday.

We really can't wait to get home. We haven't seen Olive for more than two weeks, and Guangzhou isn't where we would pick to spend this much time. But other than that, the living is okay. We've figured out how to use the washer/dryer (though not the dishwasher, since the hotel didn't supply dishwashing fluid, and requires us to spend $20 for a whole package) and have gotten into something of a routine. It's easier when we don't go on the group tours, because then she can eat and sleep at the right times. Plus I hate riding on buses.

Every morning Pan Pan gets her bath and bottle (and usually a walk with Davis to the nearby market to buy bottled water) before breakfast. I usually take her out for a while so Davis can work. He tries to work out in the gym, which is very nice, and now that I'm feeling better, I will resume working out as well My back was faring really poorly the first few days after Pan Pan came to us, but I seem to have adjusted. (I am still doing my exercises, thanks to those of you who've helped me along the way....)