More from Guangzhou

Today it is pouring down rain in Guangzhou. There’s thunder, lightening, and lots and lots of rain. Since we’ve been here, it’s rained almost every day, but it’ll typically rain for ten minutes at a time, if that, then dry up. Today’s a different story though… lots of rain is just dumping, so it’s been a good day to stay in, which we have done. This is the first day since we got Kelly that we haven’t had somewhere to go, so it’s been nice. I think all the going and doing has been over stimulating for her, so she’s been pretty fussy the last couple of days, but today she’s been much happier.
I also think her fussiness is due to her grieving over everything. We are so unfamiliar to her- we sound completely different to what she’s used to, and we look completely different too. She surely doesn’t understand what has happened or why, and while she’s getting lots of love and affection from us, we are still strangers really, so it’s a huge adjustment for a baby. She has experienced a great loss of the familiar, so she’s understandably upset.
Yesterday morning, we took a trip as a group to a huge store here in Guangzhou called Caraforre. It’s similar to Wal Mart, so we got to shop for formula and diapers, and water. We had fun just looking around at the differences between American and Chinese groceries. We were the only Americans in the place, and then to have Chinese babies in tow; well, needless to say, we got lots of stares, whispers, smiles, and unfortunately, some frowns too. Then, yesterday afternoon, we had to go down to the police station to apply for Kelly’s passport. It was non-eventful, but took at least an hour and a half, so it tried Kelly’s patience. She was great, but I could tell by the evening that she had had enough.
Today, I watched a “Baby China” video with her that I got for her in the States before we left, and she loved it! It’s a very simple video, with music and simple pictures, and they say simple words in Chinese throughout the video. She listened intently and I pretty sure she recognized some of the words. Then there’s a part at the end of the video where Chinese children sing children’s songs in Chinese, and she absolutely loved that. She clapped and smiled so big while she listened. It must have been so nice for her to hear her native language for the first time in the past 3 days- to hear something familiar like that. It really changed her demeanor. She’s been really happy ever since.
Clint’s been keeping himself entertained by going for runs in different areas each day, and then he goes exploring into different restaurants and shops each day, or down streets I would never go down, just so he can see things he wouldn’t get to see otherwise. I admire his adventurous nature. I should have him write about his adventures on here, but he’s just not the blogging type. Also, I do have to say, he continues to be so great with Kelly, but a guy can only take so much “baby”, right?!

Thanks for keeping all the sweet comments coming! I can’t tell you how much I love to hear from you guys- even though we’re so far from home; it feels a little like you’re with us when we know you’re following along.
BY THE WAY, the Internet service is TERRIBLE here- so I’m sorry for the delayed updates. I’m so glad Jen’s been able to keep posting pictures, because I wouldn’t be able to otherwise. It’s rare I can even get on Blogger, and then when I can, it won’t allow me to add pictures, so I’m just glad I’m able to email them to Jen so she can post them. She’ll be adding some more soon- I already emailed them to her but it’s the middle of the night there so she’ll get them in the morning.