Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Today has been quite fun. Leila slept well last night (about 9-10 hours), and woke up ready to go. She constantly picks up her backpack and says the Chinese word for 'go.' She's ready for adventure---none of this hanging out in the hotel room stuff. We had a little breakfast and met the rest of our group for our sightseeing.

Chengdu's weather is a lot like Seattle's---cloudy almost all the time, intermittent rain, with only 1/3 days of sunshine in the winter months. We did get a little sunshine yesterday, but today we're back to cloud city. Not a big deal though as we headed to the People's Park today in the middle of Chengdu. This place was absolutely beautiful. There were mostly older people, but also moms with children on what looked like playdates, and couples strolling around admiring all the flowers and open air tea houses. We had mid-morning tea at one of these tea houses and were surprised at the immediate offers of massages (for $4, um yes, I'll take one) and (I'm not kidding), ear cleaning. Our friend Kyle was brave enough to take one of the men up on this offer, but no matter how many times the men told us "very comfortable" --- none of the rest of us could muster up enough courage for that one. Later Kyle swore they were touching his eardrum with one their many instruments---seriously? NOT OK. It was entertaining, though---for the rest of us. We all loved this outing with Laura, our sightseeing guide. We were all tired of being in the hotel and walking around the city unsure of where we were or what we were doing. Leila loved the outing most of all---she could walk on her own, hold our hands, run in the grass, listen to music---she was one happy camper.

After the park, we went to a large department store to buy a stroller. Leila is almost 30 lbs and still won't let anyone hold her but me. Needless to say, my back is hurting and I'm worn out, so the stroller was a necessity. Based on our experience thus far with the crib and the high chair, I should have known she would hate the stroller as well. However, this one was non-negotiable for my back's sake, and she eventually calmed down and got used to it. She remains calm as long as a) Mommy puts her in the stroller, and b) Mommy pushes her, and/or c)Mommy holds her hand the entire time we're walking while Daddy pushes the stroller. Whatever. I'm willing to compromise at this point just to be able to set her down for a little while!

Following our little grocery store outing, we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a nap. Jason and Karen had lunch at a hotel down the street from us, while Leila and I had Ramen and fruit back in the room. She needed a nap and I needed a break from Chinese food! Leila slept for 2 hours and when she woke up, I was down the hall in Karen's room blogging! She let Jason carry her down the hall to me with the promise that he was taking her to Mama.

For dinner, we went to a Korean restaurant. I have been much more adventurous in my eating---probably due to my very adventurous husband and sister. Leila takes the cake, though. She'll try anything and likes almost anything. Tonight, I was reaching into her backpack to grab her cute little American plasticware, quite pleased with my mommy skills in remembering to bring a fork and spoon. Imagine my surprise when I looked up and caught my sweet girl eating noodles with her own set of chopsticks! I had no idea 2 year olds could use chopsticks! She looked at me like, "Really mom? 'Cause you know I've lived here all my life. Maybe you should work on your chopstick skills."


After dinner, we returned to the hotel for a bath and a movie night. Leila and Emma (our new friend from Kentucky), watched "Finding Nemo" together in their jammies while eating popcorn and M&M's. Leila didn't pay too much attention to the movie on account of the aforementioned snacks that were distracting her. Bedtime was a little bit late, but she was good and went right to bed. I did forget to take her potty---how long have I been a mom, really---and she helped me remember by promptly wetting the bed. Oh well...I won't forget from now on!
Good night!

Love,
Alissa