Day 2 in Guangzhou

Patrick slept about 13 hours the first night. We had to wake him up. He woke up in a great mood. He didn't act strange or scared to be with us. He is really a happy little guy.

We went with Bob to do our adoption paperwork and it was uneventful. It took a total of about 15 minutes. We then went to the a local department store like a Chinese Walmart. We bought a stroller but so far he would rather push it then ride in it. There has been not crying except when we tried to get him to ride in a cart at the department store.

Patrick seems very content. He is very smart. He wants to repeat everything we say. He can say basic words and he is difficult to understand but at least he is trying. He had his first bath and loved it. He talks constantly when awake. I think he will give Hailey a run for her money since she never stops talking either. At bedtime, he laughs and talks himself to sleep plus sucks his thumb. Last night we listened to about 30 minutes of jibber jabber until he fell asleep. He did take a nap in the afternoon without a problem. He can dress himself and will got potty when prompted. He does wear a pull up just in case. He went #2 on the potty and we were very excited. He loves books and likes to be read to. In all, I would say we are still amazed at the transition. We are very lucky but I know we are in the honeymoon phase.

Patrick will try any food. He is a chow hound. He can really eat. Like I said his cleft palate is huge. He does OK eating but sometimes he puts too much in his mouth and has to bring it back out. Yuck !

We haven't really done a whole lot of anything but walk around and some shopping. The weather continues to be crappy. It is still raining and per the weather report it will continue to rain. It is hot and muggy. The AC in our palace of a room is excellent!!!

We do more paperwork today. We are contemplating going to Patrick's orphanage for a visit on Monday. He is doing so well we are not sure if we want to take him back there.

Katie and Bill are doing fine. Bill is caught up on his sleep for the rest of his life. We go out, we come back, he sleeps. We eat, he sleeps. He watches

TV, he sleeps. Of course during this sleeping time there is snoring to go with it. Speaking of TV, China has blocked the English TV channels (except for CNN)due to 3 days of mourning for the earthquake victims.

Katie is having a fine time. She is sending and receiving email form her class. She is ready to do some serious shopping. I told her to slow down since we have a week to go. I am fine but could be ready to go home tomorrow. We miss Josh & Hailey terribly but speak to them on the phone daily.

So life is good...now if it would just stop raining.

MB

Here's Patrick trying to use chopsticks.