Our First Day as Parents

It was an emotional rollercoaster of a day! HouLiang remembered us from our visit Saturday but was still a little shy at first. After he warmed up, the two nannies that had brought him headed out.  I can't imagine what it must be like for a 5 year old to say good bye to two of the people he has been close to for the last 2 years. Although, they left him well-stocked with clothing, toys, and—most important—candy (and lots of it)! As we left the building he was determined to carry everything himself (a carry-on size suitcase, backpack, and grocery bag full of stuff). We watched our fiercely independent son cling to all that was his, and it broke our hearts! So many things going on that he didn't understand.  
At our guide's suggestion we decided to venture out for lunch. And of course she suggested the restaurant we were at the day before where I (Laura) ended up with a very spicy dish.......although she was kind enough to send me with a piece of paper saying "no spicy" in Chinese 😀.  I wonder if the restaurant staff cringed when they saw us coming again, and with a child in tow. The short version of the story is that we again provided entertainment for the restaurant staff and all the patrons—from our tidy son wanting to throw every dirty napkin in the busing station trashcan to me having to pull noodles out of his mouth as he was "choking" on them because they were too long (and he didn't want us to cut them). 

We had a fun afternoon swimming in the pool and then "swimming" again in the bathtub.  There is also a small play area that is close to some inactive escalators, which of course he found fascinating.  On our way back to our room we noticed his hand was all black, from playing with the escalator steps. James decided to make a quick stop at the hotel restroom to wash HouLiang's hand. Let me just say that I wish I was there firsthand! Where the event took a comical turn was when they went to throw out the paper towel. HouLiang looked all over and quickly ran to the urinal and lifted out the "cake," thinking it was the lid. He looked so innocent and unsure of why he had to wash his hands again. 

We decided not to venture out for dinner and ate at the hotel buffet. We worked our way along, lifting every lid and waiting for him to say yes or no. He ended up with a very eclectic dinner of French fries, prawn, clams, and spaghetti. After dinner we relaxed in our room. Let's just say thank goodness for the 24-hour cartoon channel! Bedtime took a little while with lots of stalling technics, although in his defense it must have been so scary to be in a new place with unfamiliar people. After he finally laid down, I heard him crying that he wanted to go home. I am so thankful that he let me comfort him and then fell asleep in my arms.