Last night Samuel had a hard time falling asleep. We had to let him cry for awhile and eventually he curled up on our pillow and fell asleep. We put him in his bed and he slept until 7 am. He tosses and turns like his big sister, by the time he woke up he was upside down in his bed. I gave him his second bath this morning which he didn’t like any better than the first. He cried the whole time so since his mouth was wide open I decided I might as well take advantage of the situation and brush his teeth. Needless to say, this did not go over well. We tried to brush them yesterday but he clenched his lips shut and began to whimper so we didn’t push it. I was able to see today that we will have to spend some time with the dentist.
Samuel and I ate breakfast at the hotels buffet. I had watermelon and what I think was banana bread. He ate cereal, watermelon and eggs. Cole & SK stuck with the snacks we had in the room. We met the group at 9:30 to go visit Martyrs Park. It was very interesting. We got to see many Chinese people relaxing by playing instruments, singing, playing cards, fishing, etc. We walked together as a group because it is such a big park so we didn’t get to go at our own pace and play like I would have liked. We might take a taxi back another day because it was nice to be away from the hotel and traffic. We receive many stared everywhere we ho. Many are looks of confusion, others are nods of approval ant at times Cole feels like he is going to have to fight because they look angrily at us. We just smile and keep walking.
On the way back from the park, we notices a Chili’s sign and hoped it was our USA Chili’s and decided to walk there for lunch. It was not the menu we had hoped for, but we did decide to try it out. We ordered Fried rice and a pizza. None of the staff spoke English and it was very entertaining to watch Cole and all of his gestures to get our needs across. While we waited, Samuel kept banging his fork and knife on the table. We kept telling him “no” but he kept testing his limits. (I think we have another drummer in the family) The fried rice came first and was so good we asked for another order. They brought Samuel a small spoon and a fed him a few bites with if, but then he pushed it away, grabbed the large fork, and began feeding himself. I was not used to this since Jon Cole and Elizabeth still prefer to be fed by someone else. In the orphanage though, I guess you either learn to eat and feed yourself or someone else might eat it. We were really impressed with how well he did. The Pizza came and it was also very good. We will definitely be eating here again. Samuel ate more than all of us. He had 3 bowls of rice and ½ slice of pizza.
While Cole paid, I took him to the bathroom and he waived bye to the attendant ( this was a 1st ) He then reached up for Cole to carry him ( another 1st ). The played and laughed all the way back to the hotel. It was a beautiful sight.
Our guide Amy had arranged for us to get a massage so the ladies met in the lobby at 2 ( men are going later). She thought the hotel prices were too high ($35 US for 90 min ) so she had found something outside the hotel for around $12 US for 90 min. We entered a red stairwell that reminded me of something I have seen in the movies. Amy helped us get instructions since it was very clear it would be a different experience from a massage back home. First indication was the queen size mattress and the cotton PJ’s they told us to put on. What happened to the towel? Soon an Asian woman in stiletto heels, skin tight jeans and a glitter tank top entered. She spoke no English and after a few uncomfortable minutes I finally understood to lie on my back. It was hard to relax with all the construction noise, but eventually it became soothing J I was also worried about SK since this was her first massage experience. After almost 2 hours of being pinched, rubbed, chopped, pulled, stretched and jerked it was over. About ½ felt good and the other ½ was painful. I found the others waiting on me and we discussed our experiences. Each seemed to be different, but mine seemed to be the least relaxing. We returned to our room to find Samuel taking a nap. Cole had to listen to much crying and go thru a routine of holding him, putting him in his bed and singing to him, several times, but eventually he gave up the fight and fell asleep. I told Cole to head down to the hotel’s massage parlor and see if it was a better experience. I know he would have been miserable where we went.
After about a 2 hr. nap, Samuel woke up. SK and I walked to McDonalds with him and ate and then let him play on the slide. He had a great time and smiled to entire time. We seem to have made a lot of progress today. When we got back to the room we found Cole in bed. He had definitely had a better massage experience and was ready for bed. SK and I played with Samuel a while longer. He loves our electronics. He has taken pictures, listened to the ipod, played with the portable DVD player, cell phone… If it has a button, he wants to push it. We also played ball for a while. This was the first time he would even touch it, much less throw it. Samuel has also been talking some today. We have no idea what he is saying, but I’m glad to know he can talk. I was beginning to wonder. On the bus he was even singing a song. We called Elizabeth & Jon Cole and he talked to both of them. Somehow Elizabeth said she could understand him. I told her she has to help me teach him English and she said “Hola”. This language stuff is pretty confusing. He also let me brush his teeth tonight without a fight. He just held his mouth open. It is wonderful to see him open up and trust us. Bed time was not as easy. He stayed in his bed, but cried for about 30 min before falling asleep. Overall it was a day of great progress!