Peanut and PopTart: If there is one word…..

that new adoptive parents of a child from China need to learn, it is
shuìjiào, the word whose translation into Mandarin is “Sleep, Sleep”, the
first a verb and the second a noun. This one has come in handy with Aiden
who at almost 3 and knows a lot of Mandarin and can really follow these
directions….when he wants too!

This will be a short post as we leave for the Guangzhou Airport and our
flight to Beijing at 6:20 in the morning and it’s getting close to midnight
now! Thursday was a free day and Ann Marie and I had Lilly, our guides
friend take us out for pearl shopping in the market. Ann Marie had a blast
and the kids and I played on the elevators and escalators for free, while
Mommy shopped which sadly was not! After shopping we grabbed the kids a bite
at McDonalds and hurried back to the hotel to meet our guide Judy to pick up
Aiden’s Chinese Passport and Visa as well as the infamous “Brown Envelope”
that must not be opened until you get to the United States Immigration
Office upon landing. We signed all the papers, made all the transfer
arrangements, settled all the financials, exchanged hugs with Judy and then
we were off for a nap.

We overslept due to a lack of sleep the night before (long story for another
time) and missed our friends Tim, Shelly and Caleb who we wanted to meet in
the playroom here at the hotel before they left. Sorry guys! We promise to
keep in touch through emails! What a great family! We started packing for
home a short time later and then took a break for some last minute shopping
at Sherry’s and Jordan’s, grabbed the laundry and dropped off the stroller
at Jennifer’s, picked up some take out at Lucy’s (mmmm, beer!) and then
headed back to the room to finish off the night. After dinner we did take
time to get some photos of the kids on the also infamous “Red Couch” here at
the White Swan Hotel. I will post a couple for your enjoyment! We then came
back in, finished the majority of the packing, started the kids to bed, then
I headed downstairs to get some travel Yuan and snap some last photos of the
hotel at night. That brings us to the Mandarin word shuìjiào, which
phonetically sounds like “Shree-Jowu”.

Aiden has the tendency to play while getting to sleep and this word is a big
reinforcement to what he should be doing instead. We have found that this
word, combined with me standing at the end of the bed as the enforcer will
bring about a little more compliance at naptime as well as bedtime. I think
he knows I mean business when he pops back up and sees I am still there. I
kind of giggle under my breath when he does it, but it works!

Tomorrow we leave for Beijing and the beginning of the journey home!! We
have enjoyed our stay in China, but even so two weeks is a long time to be
away from home and our puppies, family and friends so we are very happy to
be on our way! I will let you all know how Aiden’s trip to Beijing goes
tomorrow night! So, till then……

Michael (Did you say wake up at 5:00 am?), Ann Marie (Please let me have one
nights sleep greater than 4 hours!), Savannah (What do you mean he copies
everything I do?) and Aiden (Did anyone pack some of those White Swan
Chocolate Chip Muffins?) Kennedy