Shopping in Changsha

It’s 7:15 and Mae is in her crib, not quite asleep yet. Today was exhausting. She had a restless night and was up every hour or so, crying. Around 4:30am I got a good burp out of her, gave her a morning bottle, and got her down for another hour. Then she was up for good. We had breakfast, 2 big ladles of congee, and she got in a small hour nap before our sojourn to the local department store. We picked up some good things- namely a thinner pillow for her which she really likes. I should have listened to my gut and let her nap and not go to the store. She hated the bus ride there, lasted about 5 minutes in the store before losing it (luckily she chilled in the food court with some baby cookies-thanks Robert & Renee!!) and the bus ride home was a nightmare. The moms stayed on the bus with the babies while the other halves got McD’s for lunch (not quite the same). She flipped out, throwing her head back a la Sam and screaming her head off. Deb’s mom really saved me by making a bottle for her. She didn’t really want it, but calmed down enough to fall asleep on me. Of course she didn’t transfer well and only slept about an hour. The doctor, Mrs. Su, was making her rounds anyway. I thought Mae had a mild fever this morning and had given her one dose of Tylenol which seemed to help. This afternoon Mrs. Su pronounced her just fine, a little dry skin and a mild red throat, probably from all the yelling she did that morning. We went down to the playroom and that was really fun. I put her in a walker and she just took off (sideways!) She kept rolling out of the room trying to go down the hall. When 3-year old Georgia Mikan came down, she followed her around, so I think she will like having big brothers around. Then I tried to let her rest a little before our group dinner, so again she only got about 30 minutes. (I would never do this at home!! But here I really enjoy being with the group so I’m sacrificing her sleep a little too much I think. I already told Daphne that we are going to do pizza in the playroom tomorrow night. All the other parents seemed relieved at that too.) We have all really liked the food here. Spicy, but not too-too, and really yummy. I think I’ll try to find some good Hunan recipes. They are just so tasty. Susan thought earlier that we should utilize the stroller the hotel provides so we did and that was great for the restaurant (why don’t these places have high chairs?!) She enjoyed the steamed egg again tonight-she is such a great eater. She won’t eat prunes or juice though. She had a good BM tonight (yesterday’s was a little too hard for my liking). I know that TMI but with all the rice they put in their bottles it is really hard to keep ‘em regular!
Attention!!! Chuck Wing thinks that any of you who can’t view the video should download QuickTime onto your computer…that should do it. It’s worth it!!! We’re going to have an early night and tomorrow we go to Martyr’s Park. We should see some locals doing their local morning exercise and hear some music! Should be fun. If I have the energy, I’ll download another short video of Mae playing tonight. She is such a good sport, even when she’s tired. So, go get QuickTime! ☺