Yesterday was our first real free day. It was so nice to take our time and relax! Here is Ewan double fisting the Dim Sum. So funny! He takes FOREVER to eat and freaks out if we leave and there's still food on his plate, so we've taken to wrapping his food up in a napkin and letting him bring it with him. Most of the time he takes a few bites and realizes he's full, but it's nice to let him know he's safe and can have all the food he desires.
After breakfast we headed to Walmart to get Ewan some shoes. He quickly found the guns. From the very start, when he's mad at us he pretends to shoot us. He apparently really loves guns! My question is how an orphan from a country where it's illegal to own a gun knows so much about guns?
Of course he chose one that's bigger than he is! And of course he lost his ever-loving mind when we told him to put it back. I love fits in Walmart. They're the best.
All in all it was a successful outing. We got him some cute shoes, socks (since he thinks you can't leave the house without them), and had lunch at Papa John's. Ewan has never had pizza and wasn't so sure about it, as evidenced by the picture below. We convinced him to try it, and he loved it!
On the walk back to the hotel. He still insists to be carried everywhere, and was having fun holding hands with Geh Geh while he was carried.
We came back to the hotel and hung out for a while, then our guide wanted to take us to a park. Ewan was so tired. He's refusing to nap and isn't sleeping as long at night as he's used to, so he's always on the verge of a meltdown. The park was the worst place ever to take him. It was a beautiful, fun park, but there was WAY too much stimulation. Everywhere you looked there were things to buy kids, and he wanted to touch them and take them all. There are also several rides, and he wanted to get on them all. Not a good idea for a boy who gets motion sick by just looking at the rides. He threw a fit about every 5 seconds the whole time we were there. It was no good. Truly a walk in the park that was anything but. Here we are by the fake camels. I still have no idea why these were there.
My turn to carry the disregulated child.
We found a slide, and he loved it. The problem is he didn't ever want to quit sliding. After a good 20 minutes of letting him slide, it was time to move on. More freak out. It was fun while it lasted, though!
To distract him from the slide, we let him ride the Angry Birds little kiddie ride. He loved it, but once again freaked out once it ended. Oy.
We promised the big kids they could choose one ride to go on. They chose the swings. They had the whole ride to themselves. While they rode it, since Ewan was freaking out, I took him to a different area. He had fun chasing the birds and was adorable. Until all the birds flew away. More freak out.
So we bought some bird food.
But instead of keeping it in his hand, he kept throwing it to the birds. He was yelling, "Food! Food!" at it in Chinese. So cute!
Well, we ran out of food after a bit and it was time to move on. More freak out. Big time.
At the tail end of a screaming session, these boys asked to take their picture with us. Ha! It was all fun and games until Ewan PULLED HIS PANTS DOWN AND PEED. Right there in that spot. People seriously gathered around to gawk and pull mean faces at us. I generally love China and I love the Chinese people, but sometimes I don't. They can be so ornery and mean! We had this experience with Milo, too, where they make little "tsk tsk tsk" noises as they pass you and shake their heads in disbelief and disgust. At this point, it was time to go. Here I am pulling his pants back up, and here's the puddle he left. He really did need to go!
We had already purchased tickets for the big kids to ride a "Splash Mountain" sort of little dragon ride, so here's Ewan freaking out while they rode it.
This was how our park outing looked. Jealous? The thing is, it was very overstimulating to an already tired boy who's just learning to experience the world. I can't blame him at all, nor should we expect any different. It's important for us to remember he's going through the biggest life change imaginable. He doesn't have control over much, and he doesn't understand why he can't get what he wants all the time. He'll learn, though! It will just take some time.
Here are the kids enjoying their ride.
After the ride, as we were leaving the park, Ewan heard music. He went running to it, of course. It was a group of people dance-exercising. He ran over to them and joined in. He was dancing like a champ and they started yelling at him. They were SO mean! He wasn't doing anything wrong and wasn't even in their way. Jerks! So cue the next round of tears. He finally calmed down with Baba. By now he was completely exhausted from all the tears. Once we got back to the hotel, he was his happy, lovely self again. Definitely too much stimulation at the park.
We packed up last night and got all ready for our trek to Guangzhou today. Here we are in front of the hotel with our sweet guide, Coco.
She's been there with us through it all and has truly seen Ewan at his lowest points and loves him anyway. Bless her! She's always so calm and patient and explains things to him in Chinese. He loves her and asks her to hold him sometimes. So cute!
One more picture with our driver. He thinks Ewan is so funny and cute and laughed at him during our hours and hours in the car. When Ewan would start yelling that he wanted to get out, our driver would reassure him in Chinese that we were almost there! He was so patient through all the car sick screaming and always had a smile on his face. I truly love him!
We made it to Guangzhou, though the plane ride was pretty awful. Ewan was terrified. And I don't think he's ever had a seatbelt of any kind on him. The flight attendant was so mean! She held him down and buckled it up. He screamed bloody murder as we took off, and he was SO scared! It was the saddest thing! His whole body was shaking. Once we were in the air and he could turn on his iPad, he was fine. We took his buckle off and tucked it in the seat so they didn't notice it wasn't on. Haha! They served us a lunch of noodles, and Ewan was in heaven! He slurped them all up and was a happy little flier for a while. When it was time to land, he got scared again and they made him turn the iPad off. I read him a book and made sure it was on his lap so they didn't notice the seatbelt. The book distracted for a little bit, but it was a super bumpy landing. He was scared again. I can't wait for our 23 hours of travel we have coming up next week. Fun times! I wish he could understand better what was going on. I hate how scared it makes him!
We made it to Guangzhou and got unpacked again. Quin took the kids swimming tonight. Ewan was a hoot. He loved it, but of course threw a fit when it was time to leave, darn it!
Guangzhou is SO hot and humid! It's crazy! I feel like I can't breathe! I sure love Guangzhou, though! We have our medical appointment in the morning. It's going to be a great week! One week until we're home! I'm determined to enjoy every ounce of being in China we have left, because we'll be home before we know it!
thank you !
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