Thursday, December 14, 2006

She loves to shop!

It's about 5pm (China Time) on Thursday December 14. Maia Isabelle Xuna turned one today! She slept last night from about 9:30 until almost 5am. She woke up, had a few ounces of juice and we went to breakfast with Anne, Gunther and Alexandra. Have I mentioned how fabulous this breakfast is? Well, today, Maia fell asleep at the beginning of breakfast and slept for almost 2 hours. During breakfast Maia's friend Madrin (the one who prompted her first smile) gave her her first birthday present.

Then we went out for a group shopping trip in downtown Guangzhou. Sounds fascinating, huh? Well, when you've been cooped up in a hotel with a fussy baby for 3 days, it felt like Disney World! We took a life threatening taxi ride with another couple, Michelle, Preston and Kara. I held Maia in the carrier while shopping and she did great! She loved walking around and looking at everything. Everyone is so happy to see Maia doing so well. She was so content and affectionate today. She loves kisses and has let me kiss her for a few days now, but Keith was able to lean in and kiss her today in the store. It was so sweet.

Some older lady came up to all of us and started yelling at us (she was really talking but it always sounds like yelling). She was giving us all a thumbs up and pointing to Maia and Kara and saying "China baby to America". She kept nodding at us and giving us thumbs up. It's so odd here to see so many Caucasian families with these babies. The Chinese people stare at us and many will smile, but some just stare. When we walked around in the city the storeworkers would come up to us and yell "Armani! Gucci! Rolex!" wanting us to come in their store. Even when we say no they keep yelling. There are some serious personal space issues here.

We went to McDonalds for lunch and I had fries. Keith braved a few bites of a burger and it was actually pretty good. When we got back to the hotel I brought Maia to the Swan room which is a playroom. It was her first time there and she loved it. She was laughing and throwing her head back and dancing to the elmo music. She can pull up to standing but only can stand for a few seconds. She doesn't crawl very well at all. We think the babies in Xuwen were either in their cribs, in walkers or held all the time. They must not have played on the floor much. She's napping again then we're all going out for a group dinner. We will celebrate Maia's birthday! Our guides, Kathy and grace, just brought us a beautiful birthday cake and candles.

Maia barely ate at all for the past 2 days and we are still waiting for her digestive system to work. Off to dinner!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I knew it would not take long for her to love you both. What a wonderful smile she has.
You can see the joy in her face while she is playing in the Swan Room.
You must be so happy!
Stay well and safe!

Happy Birthday Beautiful Baby!

Anonymous said...

Maia, Happy Birthday from the Stroka/Stanton house. You have the prettiest smile. You are all looking so happy. Like alot of people we are all addicted to coming home and looking for new pictures and updates.
Tricia, Sandy Rudolph says congratulations, and she is excited for you. Taylor says hurry home. The boys are doing good.
We all miss you guys, hurry home.
Love, Karen