Day 13: Shopping, screaming & swimming!

We're back at the room for the night. BenBen is ready for bed....after no nap today. But, he slept 16 hours last night! This kid LOVES to sleep.

Greg went exploring the island early this a.m. while we slept -- and his camera stopped working due to the moisture. Not good. We have a back up camera but Greg is a camera "snob" and the pictures certainly won't be worthy but they'll have to do. :)

We started the morning at 7:30 a.m. with Ben an inch from my face saying, "Mama...Mama". It's such a great way to start each morning!! Sam slept on the sofa vs. the inflatable mattress (something about the room being too cold). We headed down to breakfast and Benjamin can eat!!! He tells anyone that speaks to him in Mandarin that he's hungry. Cracks us up! He was working the wait staff again. They love seeing him each morning.

Sam usually finishes breakfast before us (well, BenBen)....he was touring the amazing lobby and a Chinese lady approached him and said, "beautiful, beautiful"...Sam said thank you and ran away....and she followed him! She kept saying, "beautiful"....LOL!

We had about 30 minutes to kill so we walked around the island. The weather was beautiful and sunny (finally!) and we strolled to Jordan's (a very famous souvenir shop on the island)...the owner, Jordan, is "Christian" and happy and proud to share this with you. He also has a wonderful reputation and will write your adoptive child's name in Chinese calligraphy / scroll for free. We loved his little store and he's so friendly and knows English very well. His prices seemed very reasonable compared to other touristy stores. He's also "no pressure sales" as his sign outside indicates. We had to leave to meet Ann so we'll head back tomorrow for some shopping. Highly recommend a visit to meet Jordan! He's quite a character!!!

Next, we were off to meet Ann (our personal shopping guide!) at 10:30 a.m. at the hotel. We took a taxi to a shopping district in Guangzhou, off the island. It was an 8 story building and tons of tiny shops selling anything imaginable. Ann is able to get "wholesale prices at a discount"....and it's definitely true!!! We then visited the pearl and jade market. Without divulging all of our secret purchases, it was a very successful excursion!!! We paid Ann $30 for 3 hours plus taxi fairs of $6. We completed nearly all of our souvenir shopping with tremendous savings over the island and/or Beijing prices. TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! I would highly recommend her services if you're visiting Guangzhou!! Plus, she's super nice, a great negotiator and great with the kids....she said we are VERY decisive and efficient shoppers and she enjoyed that! :)  

We came back to the hotel and decided to head out for lunch (after Ann said BenBen was hungry for rice!). We decided on a local Shamian Island staple -- Lucy's. It's super convenient....and served PB&J (Sam)!!! We knew it was a risk though...Ben was overly tired and had been schlepped all over Guangzhou for the past 3 hours of shopping, in a stroller in the heat. Well, Ben decided he did not want to share the menus....so we couldn't order. We finally pulled a menu away and meltdown city. Head on the table, screaming. Time to go. I ordered a quick take out meal of noodles and chicken for BenBen and wheeled him out of the restaurant to wait outside for our takeout....meltdown still in process. Chinese people were coming out of stores and homes staring at us....shaking their heads and yelling at me. Hmmm....not so good. Greg ran the food outside and I pushed Ben back to the hotel room. The meltdown (aka screaming) continued nonstop thru the lobby, elevator and into our room....something like I've never experienced. BenBen has a set of lungs on him!!!

I tried speaking to Ben a few times to no avail. When he's in the "zone" it's futile. After about 15 minutes he finally stopped crying, looked at me, and waved his hands "finished"....and smiled. Like nothing ever happened. Mama needed a TsingTao!!!

BenBen ate his lunch and by then Sam and Greg had returned. We decided to forgo nap because BenBen seemed in a great mood, it was beautiful out and we hadn't taken BenBen swimming yet. Ben was very apprehensive about swimming at first. Greg sat with him in the baby pool and he wanted no part of it. After about 30 minutes he started walking in the pool while holding Greg's hand...and then finally by himself! He loved playing with Sam and splashing and didn't mind when he fell under the water.

We decided take out for dinner would be our best option considering Ben's absence of a nap. We changed out of suits and were off to search for dinner. Ben did NOT want to be in the stroller (or something...we're not really sure) but we got outside of the hotel and he started the meltdown. This time I let Greg push the stroller! Sam and I went into Subway. I looked outside and a shop worker came out of her store and gave Ben a sucker.....when she asked Greg why Ben was crying Greg said, "because he wants out of the stroller". So, SHE TOOK HIM OUT. What?! Well, BenBen couldn't have been happier....exactly as he wanted. We're calling him the "Little Emperor"....whatever "LE" wants, "LE" gets. SO sad. Greg, I and Ben ended up with takeout from a deli next to the hotel that serves "Chinese" takeout. Hmmm.....we got some kind of soup with a head in it and the "chicken" I had was not edible. I ate white rice, a beer and Greg ran out later for ice cream while Sam and I watched movies on our iPads. Ahhhh.....

We think the recipe for BenBen is lotso food and sleep!!! We'll need to work some exercise in the regimen or he'll be a sumo wrestler!!

Tomorrow is another free day. Our other FTIA families should be here tonight and they'll have their child's medical exams tomorrow. Hopefully we can meet up with them tomorrow afternoon. We don't have any plans...a day of just hanging out around the hotel sounds great! We haven't taken our red couch photos yet or many shots around the hotel. We also need to return to Jordan's to pick up Benjamin's scroll and a few other souvenirs. I'm sure we'll be swimming at some point and napping too! :)

Missing home and can't wait for Ellie and Jack (and everyone!!!) to finally meet our BenBen! Only 4 more nights!!!