Visa photo, examination, shopping!

After swimming with Daddy we were hoping bath time might not be so traumatic last night, but not wanting to take any chances I filled up the deep tub and added some bubble bath and climbed in with her last night. She was unsure at first, but splashed and happily played with the soap while I washed her hair and let her soak. Now bath time is fun!

We went to bed late last night 10:30 and woke up about 6:30 so we could all be ready to leave at 8:30 for our next scheduled event.

We ate breakfast in the restaurant at the hotel. They sat us in the "baby corner" by a long row of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river. It was lovely, and oddly like being on vacation in Maine, with happily breakfasting families all around us - lots of New Yorkers and folks from New England, a couple of Brits and maybe a French Canadian here and there. The only difference was that we had congee and noodles to eat along with our eggs and bacon.

After breakfast, Nelson took us to a little shop and we had Visa photos taken of each of the girls. They sat on a stool on a Hello Kitty cushion and the shop keepers waved and made faces at them snapping off a few digital photos.

Then we walked to a Physical Examination building a few blocks away. Along the way were several parks where people of every age were out doing tai chi, exercising on playground equipment, and playing hackey sack with things that looked more like shuttlecocks for badminton. Retirement age in China is only about 55, according to Nelson, so middle-aged folks and children go to the park in the mornings to get their fresh air and exercise together. I think we could learn something from this. I wish we had such a thing in our neighborhood.

The physical examination was very quick. We paid 500 rmb and got a form to carry around with us with Molly's photo. We also used a Visa photo to attach to the medical examination report. First some nice nurses talked to Molly and told her to be calm and it was all going to be ok. They took her temperature (normal), weighed her (19.3 lbs) and measured her (73 cm). Then we went in a room where a doctor did a hearing test (normal) and asked if she had any fever or physical problems (no, no). Next, we went into another room where a doctor looked her over and listened to her heart. She pointed out that Molly has Mongol spots on her hips and back. Molly wasn't pleased. She cheered right up after we went back to the waiting room, though.



On the walk back, Molly fell asleep. She's still sleeping now, sweetly in her crib. Jon is downstairs in Nelson's room doing paperwork. He said it might take two hours. I'm happy to catch up on photos and email and just rest a bit. We've been going hard for what seems like several consecutive days.

As I was typing this, there was a knock on the door. A woman was there holding a Barbie doll. She said, it is for the baby. It is a caucasian Barbie in a peacock blue outfit with a matching hat, a purple flower at the lapel and funky peacock blue platform sandals. She is holding a Chinese baby in a sundress. The box says "Going Home" on the front. A warning on the box says "this is not a toy" and "For ages 14 and over." I don't know many 14 year olds who still play with Barbies, but whatever they say.



The streets around the hotel are filled with souvenir shops that stay open late, sort of like Provincetown or Oak Bluffs - only everything is silk dresses, parasols, chops, kites and adorable clothes for little girls. It's funny to be back here a week later. Our first night in China here, everything seemed very strange and hard to understand. Coming back it's all very familiar and easy. It's funny how quickly your perspective changes.

Molly's up now and we're having a bottle and listening to music.

Pretty soon it will be play time and then shopping mania!

C