So how ya been?

John again. Currently waiting for pics to upload on shutterfly so you have my undivided attention for the next few minutes. So hi! Anything interesting going on? Nothing much here. Couple of willful pre-schoolers who can't communicate verbally with each other and probably wouldn't even if they could. Oh yeah, and we can't use tap water. That really sucks. Thankfully we don't have to worry about boiling water for a baby bottle several times a day like last time with Allie. That was not fun. But we've managed to go through about 5 toothbrushes thus far. We had been putting a towel over the faucet to remind ourselves not to use it, but even so we manage to. It's become common place enough that when one of us is in the other room and hears cursing from the bathroom, we'll say 'use the toothbrush in the sink again?'. Good thing they restock the toiletries daily.

Joshua has now settled in well enough that he's become a brat. That's a very important developmental step that we could really do without, thank you very much. But he's now comfortable enough around Dianne that he's whining constantly and trying to get her to do things for him just because he can. So we've started backing off on that. My guess is that the kiddos don't get so much of the whole "do, don't do" at the orphanages besides the major rule infractions or things of a safety nature. So one of today's big issues was when Dianne asked Joshua not to run his Lightning McQueen car "Lightna ta-ta" (love that) over the top of the glass case housing a stunning 6 foot wide scale model of Guangzhou. He stops. Then he looks around and does it again. He gets another warning. Then with a slight smile on his face, he does it again. Standard toddler/pre-schooler behavior. So he gets the car taken away from him. This displeases him. To his credit he doesn't throw a tantrum (those are reserved for when Daddy does something intrusive like try to touch him), but I find out later after climbing all 5 stories of this Gate/Museum Thingy (I believe that's the official name for it) with Allie ("no, Daddy's not carrying you up. You want to see it, you climb the stairs"), that he's been sulking for 20 minutes. Rock on Dianne for standing your ground. Kinda tricky to do that when it's a newly adopted child who may or may not have bonding issues. But when he's bonded well enough to pout, I think we're on solid ground to call him on it.

But of course disciplining your adopted child while in a public place in China is just oh so comfortable and fun of a thing to do. No pressure of people staring at you and wondering what on earth you're doing to the poor child or anything. I'd be better off if I could not try to imagine what other people are thinking, but I'm just wired that way I guess. Happy Fun Times #2 today was at lunch when we did musical chairs about 3 times trying to get a workable arrangement of children and adults at a communal table with our travel group. Started out with Joshua in between Allie and an older kid from one of the other families and of course Joshua proceeded to mess with all of his stuff. Well that's not going to work. Okay, switch Joshua and me, so now he's between Dianne and Nai Nai. Commence whining. Okay, let's give Dianne a break. Switch me and Dianne. Escalate whining. Calmly inform him that I'm not going to switch. Commence gut-wrenching screaming. Yeah kid, I'm calling your bluff on this one. You know who your family is, you're just not getting your way. You're not in pain, you're not in danger, you get to deal with it. Food comes out, and Daddy puts a bit of Something on a Stick (it said so on the menu) in front of him and "bu you" so we try Indeterminate Meat-Based Blob #83 (they have very innovative food names here) in front of him and "bu you". Okay fine. Along comes Random Stuff With Noodles (okay, I made that one up) and that's a sure fire thing. Kiddo always likes noodles. "Bu you" Okay, fine. To quote Disney's Beauty and the Beast(tm): "Then go ahead and STARVE!!! If he doesn't eat with me, he doesn't eat period!" So I proceed to go ahead and eat and ignore him. That's what loving parents do, right? Especially loving parents who have never held their child when he's not screaming. Anyway, I digress. Roll ahead 30 minutes and he's finished off 3 Stick Foods and has moved on to the noodles (ha! Knew it!) and proceeds to sullenly finish off his food. Then he talks to me. Ooooh! (Random 3 year old whine in Mandarin) "what?" (Same whine repeated) "You need to go potty?" (That's standard parent response #3) to which he nods and raises his hands up to me! Hey! It's finally happening! I pick him up and then he immediately says "Mama somethingsomethingwhinesomething" and I hand him over thinking that he needs to go potty. No, he just wants Mama to hold him. Well played, kid. Got me with that one.

So obviously if these are the worst problems that we face in the day then things are really going just fine and we should just be quiet and be very thankful for what we have. On the scale of 1-10 little to big problems, this like a 2.5. But it is tiring.

Oh, and one more thing before they kick me out... (pictures finished about 15 minutes ago, but you're such a good listener, I just couldn't help myself) We borrowed a stroller today and hoped against hope that he'd ride in it so Dianne could catch a break. And he did. So we go to Subway for that authentic Guangzhou dining experience, and he's happy in his stroller so we give him 1/4 of a sandwhich which he takes two bites of and promptly drops on the ground accidentally. Well nuts. So we take off the side that landed on the ground and tell him to get up to the table and come eat so he doesn't drop it again. "Bu you" Now he doesn't want to get out of the stroller. From won't get in a stroller to won't get out of the stroller in 5 minutes. Again, well played,kiddo.