Chicken anyone?

(Guest Blogger posting a recent email...and more photos!) 
Ahh, another day in Guangzhou.  Apparently, even with the 5-star status of our hotel, the air conditioning is off for several hours each day.  So we open the windows and listen to the clatter from 14 stories.  Lots of construction and the traffic is SO loud... 

Chloe Yun-Yun had her first teething biscuit this evening, and she has just had a bath, which I think she will like one day, but not now; mainly because she has to sit and not be held. She gives us this "eh, ehhh, ehh" cry, the kind that isn't loud screaming, just quite put out with us. Yun-Yun is an absolute treasure.  She is full of personality and has an amazing smile, especially when she sees her self in the mirror! The last couple of days she loves to stand up (on our thighs while we are holding her, not on the floor!) as if she will be ready to walk soon. We haven't seen her crawl because as you keep hearing, she prefers to be held, so we comply. We joke alot about how we think she is going to give us a calculus lesson next week right after we give her an erector set to play with. Karen swears she can probably crawl and keeps threatening to buy her a cupcake and put across the room from her to make her crawl. We tried to think of something that would be a big enough reward to attract her! :) Of course, we thought of food because that brings out the party girl. She danced at dinner when she finally got to eat potatoes and watermelon!
Last night she kept playing with the blanket right before she went to sleep, kinda kept feeling the edges of the blanket and all of sudden she held it up in front of her and then put it down, turns out she knows how to play peek-a-boo on her own! We haven't seen her do it again but each day we wonder what else she really knows that will just take time for her to feel comfortable enough to show us.

For todays adventure we went to a local "village," which was an extremely humbling experience. I have to admit thought that it was more like going to the south side of a very poor town.  I had hoped we were going to actually go out of the city more to the country near rice fields and agricultural settings. It was an interesting experience amongst the poverty, the chickens running around, the meat drying to hang near the laundry, and the water spigots outside the doors (since there was no indoor plumbing)...  What we found most special was the elderly people who stay home to care for the children, and who love the children so much. I asked an elderly woman if I could take her grandson's photo by motioning with the camera.  She smiled and immediately used her sleeve to wipe across his face. Their pride and love for children really show through.

Afterwards we stopped by a beautiful park. The city is full of huge apartment buildings, so the government builds magnificent parks for the people to enjoy.  It is common to see people exercising, couples walking, and elderly people with small children. Whenever we go out we make sure to have a hat or hoodie on Chloe as well as keeping her bundled up because the elderly women (aka the "clothing police") love to check our babies to see if they think they are warm enough. Trust me, it had to be about 60 and lovely today and it seems quite warm to us. Chloe was in a onesie, a sweatshirt hoodie, tights, jeans, socks and her coat. Karen was wearing a sweater and holding Chloe when a granny came up and checked on Chloe.  She approved of Chloe,  but pointed to Karen's arm wanting to know where Karen's coat was! That was cute as it was a big thumbs up to pass a nanny check. Oh, walking through the village earlier a woman did come up and pull Chloe's coat around her more though! Every moment is an adventure.
We came back to the hotel and after feeding Chloe a bottle (she sucks it down at lightening speed), we took a cab to McDonalds! Crazy, huh?  Who would have thought last week that a Big Mac could taste so good? Then for more of an adventure we walked back the 8-10 or so blocks or so winding down the busy sidewalks with pedestrians and mopeds on the sidewalk. (Karen says it's further with a heavy baby!) The hair raising part was crossing the street, there were no traffic lights and these cars, mopeds and buses don't stop for anyone.
This evening we've been chilling in our room and watching Chloe's expressions to entertain us. She does a lot of baby babble. I asked her to say "mama" since her paperwork said she could, Karen likes to respond with "they lied about that too on the paper" (the papers said she was a sound sleeper!  Sure she is, as long as you are holding her in your arms!  We got her down for about 6 hours one night in the crib, but only the one night!) 

Since pictures say it best, here's a few latest faves. We've had fun using the large photo of my neice's elementary class.  We take pictures with the photo in it, so it is like the kids are along on our grand adventure!
The photos are:

At the Tengweng Pavilion - one of three most famous pavillions in China.
At the Tengweng Pavillion and Chloe and one of her adopted buddies holding hands
Looking at the dried meat in the local Walmart - along with a close-up so you can appreciate the dried chickens. They use the whole chicken here and it's common to see the chicken feet either on the buffets or elsewhere. (Actually the hotel buffets are awesome and we are eating good because of the variety of foods)
We also got some awesome photos from a park today, but I haven't downloaded them. We are so looking forward to getting to Guanghzhou. Nanchang has been an adventure, but we are ready to be able to be out on our own more and walk the streets more. It's too crazy with the traffic to do it here! I also can't wait to update the blog with all the sights, sounds and experiences. Send our love to everybody and we will see you in a week.
Love,

Sandra, Karen, Mom and baby Yun-Yun