The things they are teaching her....

This afternoon, Fu Mei's voice reached another level, decibel actually! Julee taught her "Mommy" and how to scream it! Nice!! So now she is yelling for me and cracking herself up! It is music to my ears the first 100 times! She hardly ever tell us "Ni Fang Pi Le!" (You Fart) anymore! It is now "Oh Piggy!" whether it is a burp, hiccup, sneeze, kiss or true fart! And it is very clear too! She can show off her new shoes if you ask her to and she likes to say "Oh man!" when she drops something or makes a mistake! She holds her nose after she smells someone's feet and says something like "P.U.!" How quickly she is picking up on little things.

She is still quick to get mad or frustrated but we give her a few minutes or more and she returns to us. The best part of the day today was when we went to the Pearl Market via a pretty scary taxi ride. We were dropped off at a large square filled with people. It was sorta unnerving at first, very crowded with strange looking characters. One man was feeding a pond full of coy fish by a bottle!! Yes, creepy! We were guided to a more secure area where there were booths upon booths of pearl stores. Each one looked the same but they all promised the best price. So while we were shopping, I took over holding her (no strollers allowed). And I started rocking her and singing to her. She had her arms around my neck. I felt her body begin to relax and for the first time, she fell asleep in my arms. I know it was a really good breakthrough for her to be able to relax enough to fall asleep, the sweet thing. And it felt soo nice for me! Although my arms are not used to it, nothing would have made me let go!

Tonight's dinner at the local Cantonese restaurant was awesome. Again, we walked just down the street from the hotel. It was served family style on the circular wheel in the middle of the big table. We had 4 families at our table and the others took up 3 more large table. We ate the most delicious broccoli ever - even better than Hefei's broccoli. Julee had seconds!! A plate of spinach filled (or was it leeks) dumplings came next. Then some beef with peppers and onions, then orange chicken with sweet and sour sauce and the always present, Chinese noodles. We are such experts on noodles that we compare them to others on our trip. So far, the best noodles have been from Holiday Inn Hefei's Noodles and Chopsticks 24 hour restaurant. Next, they brought congee and eggs for the babies but Fu Mei helped herself to some of that plus all the food on the wheel. She takes longer to eat than Grandma does! She gave me her chopsticks; I believe she is not going to use them. I liked the green beans here too. They are doused in oil and bean paste but oh, so yummy! The veggies here are probably my favorite thing. Julee asked me to make them that way at home! If only!

We ate some local ice cream and are now playing in Tricia's room. Fu Mei is very busy! Very deliberate and confident right now. I bet part of it is because she napped! She was a riot at dinner and let me kiss her and feed her. We played nosy, nosy and make lots of touching contact. She is amazing! We are sooo blessed!