the latest from china

this just in.....

ok, ton is trying to get lucy to crash for the night i am real happy that once she is tired, it takes about 2 minutes for her to drop, 10 more mins to reach REM and then she is out for the entire night. she is like an alarm clock. there are no clocks in this room, but she is awake at 6:30 - on the nose. like a rooster.

we are back in guangzhou for the last leg in this race. cant believe we are flying home later this week. it seems like we have been gone i think i signed the final documents today, 8 pages of US forms for the consulate. and $400. not bad. that is supposed to be the end of the money train, but we will see. there always seems to be one more thing. it is real humid here still. less heat, only in the 80's, but with a very high dew point and humidity, i soak thru clothes in 10 mins. i full body change twice a day, and i am not spending that much time outside.

some of the latest. we had out dr's appt today. that was a riot. she was good until we had to lay her flat. what is it about that position that freaks her out? the ENT was not fun.. when she put the popsicle stick in her throat... wow. even i, with a decent amount of force, could not hold her head in place for the ear check. i apologize now to our pediatrician for what coming. you might want to consider retirement.

i am happy to report that despite her dislike of the morning bath, she is warming up to the cold pool. the pics in montage show that she was even willing to wade out a little with me, splash a bit, and and stand on her own in there. i am hoping this continues for our home pool.

we have eaten at lucy's here near the hotel. good american food right on time.

some of my observations of lucy thus far:
-she has definitely changed - from a real quiet, hollow girl to a little bundle of craziness
-she is a daredevil - she will climb onto us on the bed and drop herself onto her head.. laughing out loud and doing it again. she has no fear of the edge. we have to grab her, cause she will crawl to the edge and try to drop over. i thought that if i slowly lowered her onto her head from the edge of the bed that it would scare her enough not to do it again, but that backfired.
-she cannot stay still when sleeping. she rolls and turns and twists all the time. we will lay her in her crib and listen to her twisting. she will be in the opposite direction come morning.
-she has quick, immediate temper flares. without notice, she will twist and cry uncontrollably. it lasts only 2 minutes, but we are lost as to what to do or what causes it.
-she has a great sense of humor. always doing things to makes us and herself laugh. she was the class clown.
- she has an ear infection cause she rubs it and it stinks, so there is everyones warning - cute and deadly

some observations about china for the next group of peeps to come out:
- save your money and skip the shao lin temple tour. whatever you think it is, is better than the real thing. you can catch a better kung fu show at six flags, and i am not sure the founding fathers would approve of the 20 souvenir shops and the jumbo tron.
- be prepared for some funky smells - the streets reek of some amazing concoctions of putrid.
- turn down service at 8:30 every night? what is that? is she offering me something i am not aware of, and will it show up on our bill?
-all of the lights in the hotel room are controlled by dials on the nightstand. i am trying to save you the pain of sleeping with all the lights on for two nights in a row- not that we did that or anything ;/
- watching the older generation exercise is amazing, they are always flexing and stretching and swinging their arms. they will make you feel like a fat lazy american. this comes in to play when everyone says that something is 'just around the corner' 2 miles away.
- dont order papa johns pizza, unless you like the inside of your hotel bathroom
- 'tipping is not common in china' is a lie. you will pay out just as much in tips as you do anywhere else, even if it is in RMB. every restaurant automatically adds 15-20% to the bill, and every tour guide and driver needs an extra 20-100 RMB. just plan on it.

ok, time for pics.

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