Guangzhou

It's so nice to be in Guangzhou. Many of the US adoptive families stay at our hotel (the White Swan). It is really nice to be around other adoptive families and meeting all of the kids. They are all gorgeous and its wonderful to see so many new families.

We started the day with the breakfast buffet. Everyone talks about the buffet on the blogs and know we know why. It is huge and the food is very good. Probably won't need to eat too much of a lunch after all of this food.

On the airplane to Beijing, we were sitting in front of a couple also on their way to adopt. We ran into them this morning and had breakfast with them and their son Luke. We were also able to meet a few other families that were sitting around us. So much LOVE in the room.

We had another early appointment for Alisha's medical exam. I thought it would be pretty simple, but they did a complete check up. She was doing great until they had us take off her clothes. She freaked as usual. We are not sure what bothers her so much about changing her, but she lets us know each time how unhappy she is. After the exam, we put her down for her nap and Michael came by to complete the USCIS paperwork. There were several forms to complete all with the same information. That's the US govt. for ya.

Afterwards, we went for a walk around the Island. The White Swan in located on Shamian Island which sits on the Pearl River outside the city of Guanzhou. It is a beautiful place and very island like. Not too many cars, beautiful squares and quant stores that really caters to the US adoptive families. We were able to borrow an umbrella stroller from one of the stores for our stay. We don't think she ever had been in a stroller before but seemed to really like it and gives us a break from walking her around in the snugglie.

After her afternoon nap, we headed down to the hotel playroom. She likes watching the other kids, but we did find a few toys for her to play with. Her favorite seemed to be ball. We are having so much fun learning about our little one. Some new fun facts:

• She has a tickle spot on her belly.
• Her laugh is the sweetest sound
• She is the best eater and we haven't found anything she doesn't like.
• She has started to feed herself Cheerios and a banana.

We are so excited, tomorrow is our first and only day with no appointments. I think we may do some shopping.

PS - the last picture is Alisha's first visit to Starbucks!