Yesterday Catch Up Note

Well it is nap time here in the little Fenton household so I have a minute to catch up on yesterdays goings on. The day started off with a bang, our little guy slept OK, not as great as the night before but still OK. He is VERY restless in his sleep. He tosses and turns and flips all over his tiny little bed. We were wide awake at 4 am watching him sleep and he managed to somehow get half his body through the slits on the bed.(i think i posted a pic of this crib, so you scroll down if you don't remember) He had his head and trunk on the mattress and was standing on the floor - sound asleep. We thought it was so funny so we laughed and lunged for the camera but about that time, he wiggled some more and got his head stuck! Yes his head stuck in between the bars. Panic mode kicked in, it was not so funny anymore. Needless to say he now has padding around his crib, much like the seizure precautions we use in the PICU, pillows and blankets. Yikes! I guess China has no regulations about this kinda stuff. This bed for sure would be on the re-call list at home. We tried him in bed with us last noc, just for safety measures. But since he is so restless we put him between the 2 of us on one of the twin beds. A little snug! But he was still too restless, it was awful. At one point he had his feet on Jasons neck, his torso directly on my head, and his head on the bedside table. Still sound asleep! I think we may have a sleep walker on our hands some day. I think this guy is gonna need a king size bed!!!!!!! Needless to say mama and baba did not sleep last noc, so it is back to the tiny crib with padding for Tai tonight.
After breakfast we met Jenny for our shopping trip. She immediately ran to us in the lobby and checked to see how many layers we had on Tai. Apparantly the girls at the desk in the lobby "tattled" on us. They told her we had him out with not enough clothes on. She told us he needs 3 layers! Granted, it is cold and rainy here, but 3 layers! Yikes. While out in the town, several people scolded us b/c he was not bundled properly. She says they were all very nice about it though. Needless to say, today he is properly bundled. You can not see any of the adorable clothes I brought for him, b/c they are the bottom layers but oh well. Atleast no one scolded us today.
We went to 2 different dept stores yesterday. The first was similar to JCPenny. The make up counters were very nice just like at dillards only they were selling LOREAL and Mabelline and oil of olay. I thought it was really funny. Jenny was shocked when I told her that is what they sell at Wal-mart at home. But I quickly told her we think it is very good, it is what I wear. She was happy to hear that! She thinks it is very nice stuff, top of the line! So Tai got 3 pairs of VERY NICE shoes there for only $30 total. I was quite happy with my purchase b/c they were on sale!!! You know me, gotta love a good sale. I couldn't find any clothes I liked for him, we were shopping for a pair of jeans, and a pair of khaki pants. Most of the clothes I brought him are a little big. So we headed for the other dept store. IT was more like Nordstoms. The make up was chanel & shishedo and some other european brands. I managed to find some pants for Tai and some thinner pants for layering!!!! The stores here are so funny. There are about 10 sales ladies to one shopper. They swarm around you. I just let Jenny do most of the shopping and talking for me. She was shoooing the ladies away, it was funny. You don't just browse like at home, there are not racks with different sizes. You just find what you want and the ladies pull out big tubs and find the size, all wrapped in plastic packaging. Then they fill out a ticket, you take it to another area to the cashier, you pay, then you go back and collect your stuff. If you find things in differnt dept. too bad, you pay seperatley. We had 2 different trasactions just for 4 pairs of kids pants. We wanted to use our credit card which apparently was not the norm. After much back and forth with Jenny and the sales clerk, she went and got the "top lady" after more back and forth, it was determined that we could use the credit card. But boy it was a hassle. I said if I can use my credit card I will buy more!!!!! hee hee
After shopping it was Pizza Hut for lunch. Jenny is so funny everywhere we go she pulls out a coupon for me. She carries a wod of coupons with her. The funny thing is they are the size of a postage stamp! Anyway, we got a free chocolate cake with our pizza - with the coupon. OH yeah, and she had a "frequent shopper" card for the dept store so I got a discount there too. Needless to say Jenny and I are getting along great! We are so much alike, I think.
We got to do a little walking around yesterday, but not too much. It has been cold and rainy since we got here. Bummer. We did see one child maybe 2ish in her split pants. She walked right out of a store front walked to the side of the road to a tree, (like at home a tree with a some dirt or flowers around it on a sidewalk), and popped a squat! Right in front of the world, I see the handiness of this now! After she just tottled off and went about her business. While at the dept store, they had a really nice play area. Jason took Tai to walk around in it while the girls shopped. He said they had a little bucket in the corner. After he saw one little girl do her thing, he decided against letting Tai play!!!!!!! Something about letting Tai play around in the pool of balls (like at Mcdonalds) just didn't seem like a good idea after that. Those kids are stinking adorable though!
Everywhere we go, people are always talking about us according to Jenny. She says they say things like he is going to go to paradise. hmmm not sure if they have ever actually seen Kansas????????
Jenny had an ephiphany today about Tai's name. It just came to her out of nowhere. She said that his nickname Rou Rou (chubby) sounds different with the nanchang dialect. The pronunciation in mandarin sounds just like you think Roo Roo. But in the nanchang dialect it sounds like New New. But it really does mean chubby and not lil girl. So there you have it he is not a little girl after all! So we do call him New New Tai. Apparantly she has lived here her whole life but doesn't speak the nanchang dialect. intersting to me......
At dinner we ordered Tai some noodles, but apparantly we were not feeding him correctly. The waitress came up and took the bowl and put it right up to his face and spoon fed him the noodle soup. This went on for about 15 minutes. Jason and I just sat there in silence we did not know what to say. When she was done, she was very proud of herself, smiling from ear to ear. I think I put a picure up last night of her.
The people here are so friendly. They all love Tai! Everyone wants to say hello to us. Yesterday we were on the elevator with about 15 people all crammed in. It was silent and after about 30 seconds we hear this HELLO, very loud coming from the back. I turned around and there is this guy with the bigges grin on his face, he was so proud of himself! Another thing about elevators. Smoking I think might be mandatory. You hope on and there are 5 or 6 men smoking. You just pray that it doesn't get stuck. Also, if you are in the back you have to push your way out. At home people in the front usually step off and let you out. Not here, you have to push and nudge people out of your way.
So this morning we went to a Pagoday, the oldest in the Jiangxi province, very famous. It was so interesting. We learned so much about Tai's city and the history. We very much enjoyed ourselves today. While there we saw a short traditional show with dancing and chinese musical instruments. The girls dancing were beautiful! Like porcelin dolls. The costumes were so neat. Miki, I couldn't stop thinking about Cameron, she would have looooooved it! These girls were like princesses! They had all these sparkles on their dresses. We really liked the music too. Jenny is going to help us buy some of it for Tai's bedtime lullibys.
We took tons of pics this morning. Today was "mommy day" FINALLY!!!!!!! Tai and I are starting to make some real progress as far as that goes. He still wants his daddy when he is tired or upset. Actually still prefers him over me, but we are getting there. I just feel bad for Jason, b/c he is getting so tired. It has been really hard to be the primary caretaker. But I think it is really good that he is bonding with atleast one of us. For my friends out there that have been down this road before, is this normal? Will it get better? I would by lying if I didn't tell you in hurts my feelings sometimes.
Well gotta get off now, my munchkin is awake, gotta get some noodles in him and then we are off to the orphange! I am sure this will be very emotional, I have lots of tissue packed. I told Jenny I was going to pack a large bag and stuff as many kids as possible in there!!!! Can't wait to meet Tai's foster parents. Mary and Anne, I promise to look for your babies. I have the names written down, and I have Baileys picure and package. I will have on my spy goggles for you!
WOW! That was a long post. If it doesn't post I will scream!!!!!!!!! More pictures and stories later. gotta go, baby needs me! sorry not going to proof this...