Will Perform For Noodles

After a pretty good night of sleep, we woke up, gave a bath, and after the trauma, we went to breakfast. The hotel staff is friendlier, the food is better, and it's just nicer to be here.  And did I mention we like having WiFi in the rooms?
We took a tour this morning that included a Buddhist temple, a beautiful art gallery, and a porcelain store.  The art on display, well, Jenn and I had never seen anything else like it.  Unbelievable embroidery, beautiful finger paintings, stunning wood carvings... it was one of the high-lights of the touring aspect of this trip for me.  After the tour, I then bought diapers from a guy with a hole-in-the-wall shop who only sold diapers, wipes, toilet paper and paper towels.  The guy found a niche, and knowing Westerners stop by on tours following their adoptions, he's taking full advantage.  And we got 62 Pampers and a pack of J&J wipes for about 15 bucks.  Must be the low overhead.
The big development today has been Henry allowing me to do more with him.  For instance, Jenn needed to visit the restroom befor our tour, and she can't take him with her.  So she passed him off to me, he started his little fit, and we took a walk.  There are some major league high-end shops around the lobby of The China Hotel, so we looked at the shiny things for a while, and he calmed down into a very good little boy.  He saw Jenn next when we got on the bus, and I handed him right to her, and he proceeded to fuss and whine for a few seconds.  You can imagine how into the whining Jenn is.

So after the Temple, we were at the art place, and Jenn's arm was about to fall off, and it's hot and seriously humid, and she... needed... a... break.  So I took him for another walk, and he pitched a bigger fit.  We got to a garden area, and I set him down to walk.  He proceeded to sit down and get his hands dirty.  After I cleaned his hands, he was back to being a pleasant boy, and we walked around for about a half-hour, checking stuff out, laughing and giggling.
He's slowly learning that the only source of food in his life is me, and he's growing comfortable with the fact that on some occasions he may need to sit close to me for snacks or meals.  And on three occasions this midday he reached out for me to pick him up.  Sure, he wanted the food on the other end, but this was a major milestone.  Honestly, I'm not sure if there's anything Henry wouldn't do for noodles.
Guangzhou is a very green city.  The color, I mean.  There's no part of China that is Green.  But it is pretty, with climbing plants lining most railings, trees in between many of the buildings, and a good variety of different trees at that.

Getting back to breakfast for a moment, there are several other adoption groups staying at this hotel, and it's interesting observing them.  Our group appears to be the quietest, which is a-okay with me.  There was one that didn't appear to be bonding with either parent.

There were two families that were especially interesting to me.  At one table next to us was a family that had just adopted a boy of about 10 years with Down's Syndrome. God bless them.  It's amazing and incredibly humbling to think that there are folks who are interested and willing to take on such a child in need.

At another table next to us was a boy of about 2 who was missing his right hand.  Jenn stopped to chat with his mother for a minute and learned he was from Shanghai.  His grandmother was sitting with them, but not his dad.  Turns out his dad had to return home for business halfway through the trip, and that the boy was somewhat afraid of his dad.  I felt bad to learn about that and what the dad must have been feeling on his way home by himself.
Tomorrow we visit a Chinese hospital.  I'll let you know my impressions in my next post.