Change is good

OK, so I'm not going to say that waking up in Guangzhou cleared all the bacteria out of our systems. But it did seem to breathe some new life into our reconfigured family. Especially our new daughter.

We've seen way more smiles than tears. She's becoming very playful with all of us and seems ... happy. She says "Baba" and "Mama". With a little prompting, she signs "more" and is able to say , "moh." She's babbling more and even singing. She loves raspberries on her belly and imitating us. She's taken more interest in her big sisters. She's even OK with spending some time with us just playing and hanging out together in the room. Rosie keeps saying to me, "Mama, she's starting to like us. She's happy now!" She eats incredibly well. She eats her congee as fast as we can shovel it into her mouth. She likes playing catch and kicking a ball. She enjoys blowing bubbles, building blocks, and pretending to write with a pen. She has a bit of a temper and yells loudly when she does not get what she wants or when someone touches Mama. She does not like it when any other woman tries to talk to her, play with her, or touch her. Her entire beautiful chubby face scrunches up when she smiles.

After another great breakfast, we headed out to the dreaded medical exam. Although to be honest we were actually looking forward to the medical exam, because we were anxious to see what they thought of Frannie's cough. Also, our guide, Connie, told us that she would ask them to take a look at Rosie with her hives and cough. After getting puked on in the van by our newest family member, we arrived at the medical exam, nearly intact, but smelling like regurgitated congee.

Emmie giving little sister a pep talk before her medical exam.

Rosie helping Connie with the paperwork.

When the doctor was listening to Frannie's chest and frowning, I knew that something was amiss. As it turns out, Frannie has bronchitis which bummed us out, but at least she was prescribed Zithromax and some kind of kids' Mucinex. She took a look and listen at Rosie, too, and said that she had a more garden-variety cough and that her hives were likely an allergic reaction to something. I was happy to hear that the doctor was not able to palpate Frannie's spleen or liver, despite the fact I think she is under-transfused. Frannie passed the ENT portion of the exam with flying colors, and screamed her way through the height and weight.

Since we made it through the exam, and nobody vomited in the van on the ride back, we decided to celebrate by going to one of our favorite haunts in Guangzhou, Tao Tao Ju. We feasted on dim sum and then headed to a local supermarket to stock up on fun-flavored chips and other Chinese snacks. I was actually pretty happy to see that a lot of the snacks and noodles we buy right in Boston's own Chinatown were the same as the ones sold in the supermarket in Guangzhou. Afterwards we strolled the bustling (ie, insanely crowded) pedestrian street right outside of our hotel. Rosie, who is the most sensitive to loud noises, rode around in her stroller covering her ears while the other two loved taking in all of the sights and sounds.

Everyone enjoying some dim sum.  Rosie only seems to eat noodles
while in China.

Rosie is really coming into her own and loving her new role as big sister.

I love a good Chinese supermarket. Frannie seems to love supermarkets, too.
Rosie can't wait to bring her to Wegman's.

Super bustling pedestrian mall outside the Shifu.

I'd call today a success, and definitely a step in the right direction. It makes our hearts happy to see our new daughter starting to relax, play, smile, and enjoy her new family. Because we are enjoying her so much.

Frannie sandwich!