Today we got up this morning and went to Walmart for supplies. One of these days I am going to learn to not leave the room without a camera. I had a small pocket camera that I carried when I didn’t want to carry the SLR around and it wasn’t available earlier and I didn’t want to lug the SLR along with the baby to Walmart since it was also the first time I used the Snugli to carry her. (I have later found that I think the little camera has either been lost or taken out of our room, I lost track of it days ago and just tonight had the time to look around for it. At least there weren’t too many untransferred pictures on it). Walmart here in Changsha is, well, different. First it just doesn’t seem as “modern” as home, it just has a feel of a discount retailer, maybe like a Dollar Store. This Walmart is 2 stories tall and is actually inside and above a shopping area, so it is on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the building. We first went to the 3rd floor for diaper and clothes section and filled up on diapers. We were able to save a couple of the US diapers we brought for the trip home, since we have heard from many people that the Chinese diapers just don’t last as well and tend to have blow outs. Next was to the 2nd floor which was the grocery section for formula shopping. Ok, this is where the trip gets interesting. As we were walking to the formula section we had to pass by the deli section, the meat section, and the fish section. The deli section had your typical prepared foods, like fried chicken, chicken strips, fried duck. The next section was the fish section, which we didn’t go back into but as we passed in the aisle ways was live turtles and frogs… oh and remember this fish section wasn’t in the pet area. Next was the meat section which I had to go check out. On one side were some dried seasonings, dried duck with head attached (looked like an old rubber chicken). On the other side was bins full of different meats that people would just take tongs and scoop out how much they wanted of what. It looked very unsanitary. The next meat case had some meat in it with people telling the butcher what the wanted, all the while there was a tray of meat sitting on top of the case with people just grabbing the cuts they wanted. This tray wasn’t wrapped or anything, just a bunch of raw meat sitting out and people grabbing food off of it with their bare hands. Scary really. We finally found the formula and worked our way out of the store. Once we left the store we went to…McDonalds.

Yes, I caved and we went to the big M while here in China. It was really about the same as home but tasted just a tad different. It was nice to have a nice cold coke with ice. Since you can’t drink the water in China, you usually get a bottle of soda with no ice, at McDonalds they filter all their water and it is ok to drink. The big news here is that Mikayla has now had her first Happy Meal. I borrowed a camera from some other families and hope to get it emailed to me soon, I couldn’t pass up a picture of Mikayla’s first MickieD especially since it was in China. After that it was back to the room for a nap and me kicking myself hard in the pants for not bringing the camera, that’s twice this trip I have messed up and regretted not having it.

After nap we spent some time playing in the playroom and our room, and I was determined to make up for a lack of pictures so took some pictures of Mikayla playing. She doesn’t seem to like to play much with other kids, which surprises me considering the setting she came from, she just walks up and stares at them and doesn’t know what to do. She is most alive when it is just the three of us in our room then she like to be center of attention, ALL the time. She is turning into a daddy’s girl, but is also enjoying mama very much. In fact she now points to Starla and says “ma”, no “dad” yet. We had one little cry today which was my fault, she really is a happy happy baby. I am trying to do things to promote bonding and overcome some of the warning signs by holding her often, feeding her even though she can get food into her mouth on her own, trying to spend quiet time right before bed holding her and giving her a bottle.

Then this evening we met for dinner at a local restaurant, which was of course very good. Chinese food just tastes better in China- who woulda thunk it? Quick note on table seating here, the local restaurants we have been in have round tables with a lazy susan in the middle where all the food gets shared amongst everyone. This is so that everyone can share but also so that everyone can look at everyone else. Since there were enough people for two tables our guide told us he would order spicy for one table and regular for the other table- we picked spicy. In hindsight, when our guide who is from Hunan province picked to sit at the non spicy table we probably should have taken the hint. It really was not too hot though except for the Kung Pow Chicken with it’s red peppers in it. We also had some Brazilian beef, broccoli, corn, spicy eggplant, some kind of spicy soy dish, and fried rice.  I will say by the time dinner was over, everyone’s noses were running from the spice and the fluids were quickly leaving the glasses. Mikayla just had corn, fried rice, and rice conges- all of which was non spicy, what kind of masochists did you think we were? We still have not found anything or anytime she won’t eat, a perfect fit for us

God has some sense of humor though, he gave us a daughter that snores. Some of you will know the irony and the humor in that I just keep looking up and saying with a smile, “really, funny huh?”

I want to also say our in country CCAI guides have been FABULOUS! I have always heard good things about them but it is so true. I am really not to happy with the US staff but I have to say how happy I am with our CCAI decision. They really do take care of everything for us, here in Changsha and Guangzhou it is Jason and Raymond. The good thing about them is that they seem to think of everything, big and small. When we went to dinner tonight for example, he called the restaurant ahead of time to see if they had enough high chairs. They only had 4, which worked out anyway. He called the local market and told them they needed to buy more formula and diapers, called Walmart to see which ones had Western restaurants nearby. The examples could go on and on, there are countless times everyday that you see the things they do that you don’t “see”. They answer any question we have no matter how big or small or stupid and they answer with enthusiasm.  It is great to see their faces first thing in the morning and the first thing they ask is how you are and how is the baby. Really top notch so far and on the ball.

Thank you everyone who has left comments on the blog or emailed. I have read all of them and they are very nice to see. Sorry I haven’t replied individually to you all.