Lilly goes to the Doctor

Greetings from Guangzhou,

Today was a long. long day. We had to be on the bus at 8:30 for all the babies to get their medical exams. We got up around 6 and were in the dining room by 7:45 eating our breakfast. They have a great buffet here in the morning that is included with the room. The exams were fairly quick but imagine 20 babies in one tiny room, all of going to the different stations, doing paperwork and juggling babies and bags and cameras. Thank God for my nanny Sharlyn! After the exam we were set free to explore Shaiman Island on our own. There are lots of shops and even a Starbucks which we felt the need to visit twice. It is so balmy here in Guangzhou and we love it. I was born for this kind of weather. We got some nice things for Lilly and a few gifts for our friends and family. We went to the White Swan for the photo on the famous red couch with the girls. It was pretty chaotic. A flurry of parents putting the babies into traditional outfits and then putting them on a couch for a group photo. LOTS of crying. Lilly was calm and was patting one of her little friends Coee on the back. It was pretty sweet. Lilly was so good all day. We went into one store and asked if they had strollers for sale. They didn't but they made a call to another store and one of the women walked there and brought us back a stroller to borrow. No charge, no form to fill out. Just kindness. I am still so impressed with the generosity of people here. We ended up finding one to buy and took the borrowed one back to the store. After the red couch photo all the families went for a farewell lunch and we had some delicious Chinese food. We did not take the group bus back to the hotel. We wandered around some more shops and took a taxi home just as it got dark. We immediately got into our jammies and ordered room service. I may do another post tonight so you can see some of the group photos and the crying babies. I did not really like that part but in a way it was sweet to see how attached these babies already are to their parents as they were reaching for them and crying to be picked up again. They already know where they belong. Lilly is up again after a brief cat nap so time to get her tucked in for the night. She has been sleeping through the night since we got here on Saturday. That is a beautiful thing.

Bye for now,

Kimberly