Play date and other stuff

Hello everyone,

On Wednesday, we went for a brief outing to an old part of the city. This is a part of town where the old architecture is preserved. It is a very ancient market and I could have spent all day there! There were lots of shops and just all around fascinating people watching. The Chinese people are very curious about this group of Americans with Chinese babies and our guide has prepared an explanation in Chinese that we wear in a lanyard. This has been very helpful when people approach out of curiousity. We have received a very positive response from the Chinese people when they read that we are adopting these children. The area that these children are from is a very poor area. I wish that we could have visited Xiushan, but it is about seven hours away by train.

We made a few small purchases - Allen found a Chinese yoyo and was delighted! I think he likes it better than his old one. (This is for the yoyo enthusiasts at Science Museum Oklahoma!) That made his day! We also bought a little bracelet with a bell for the baby and a few other things. There will be more shopping in Guangzhou!

In the afternoon, we had a playdate with all the babies. Nearly all the babies in this group are from the same orphanage and are roughly the same age. At the orphanage, they are divided according to age and so these babies all know each other very well. It was interesting watching them play.

Just as the nanny said, Maya is reserved and plays by herself most of the time. In one of the reports it was mentioned that she is not a trouble maker. I can see this - she plays quietly and thoughtfully. She is very interested in things but not at all pushy. So far, she is cautious and very happy to sit and examine a toy. We are trying to encourage her to crawl by putting things out of her reach.

We all had a great time watching the babies. They all are doing so well and it is amazing to see how they have changed in just a few days. More later!

Love, Karen, Allen, and Maya (Zhen Zhen)