Last Day in Nanning

We were glad to have very little that had to be done today since both of us are feeling a little under the weather. We don't know if it was something we ate yesterday or the cumulative effect of ten days of buffet breakfasts, extreme heat, and a whole bunch of stress. Scott's borne the brunt of the sickness so far, but my turn may still come.

Hannah took us to a street market in Nanning this morning. It was kind of like a permanent flea market, but most of the stalls were selling fresh flowers and plants (lots of bamboo, lots of beautiful orchids). The other stalls sold small trinkets and knick knacks - wood carvings, tea pots, five foot tall statues of Chairman Mao (which would be kinda cool to have out in the front yard ...). We only made one purchase: a pair of lucky fish to hang up at our house.

Wynn is getting even more relaxed and playful around us. She still has her moments, but things are going so much more smoothly than they were two days ago. Scott has noticed that she's interested in ALL of her toys now instead of focusing on just one. She's also playing much more independently; she can entertain herself longer knowing that we're nearby. (She used to need to be touching one of us ALL the time.)

I know, everyone thinks their own child is brilliant, but we truly are surprised to see how quickly she catches on to things and how much she remembers from one day to the next. She was very good this morning at breakfast about complying when we told her that she couldn't have any more bun with jelly until she sat down in the highchair - no standing allowed. When I told her to give her puppy toy a kiss, she brought him up to her face and planted a big smooch on him. Then she laughed. As she saw us starting to pack this afternoon, she put all her blocks in a gift bag and carried them over to me; she set the bag inside my suitcase and looked at me as if to say, "We're going to want to take these along."

Wynn has figured out that we're "hers". She gives Hannah and other people that same skeptical look she used to give us. When someone comes over at breakfast to tell her how beautiful she is, she leans over closer to us. She also doesn't like to have other people - even Hannah - touch her face. She gently puts her hand up and brushes them aside. Sometimes she tightens up her mouth and gives them a quick shake of the head that is a definite "no". We take these as good signs that she is starting to bond to us and that we're not going to have the issue of her being indiscriminately affectionate - wanting complete strangers to pick her up and hug her. Scott and I would both decribe ourselves as being slightly aloof when we first meet people, but we form strong bonds with the people we choose to ally oursleves with; it appears that Wynn's very much like us.

We had sent a set of questions to the orphanage before we left, and today Hannah translated their answers for us. Much of what they said we'd already figured out by spending a few days with her (she cries a lot before she falls asleep, taking her outside to play cheers her up, etc.). What we didn't know is that for her to drink, she needs to be given her formula in a spoon. Well, no wonder we couldn't get her to drink the darn formula! We were giving it to her the wrong way! They also wrote that she loves music, which we had figured out from the way she started dancing to the Mandopop musak in the department store and how she started rocking and tapping to "Shanghai Idol", which is on TV every night. They also told us that she loves the Teletubbies, so I guess we'll need to get her some DVD's at Target so she can watch something familiar when we get back to Minnesota.

We're off to Guangzhou tomorrow, where we SHOULD have the ability to download pictures again, so you can all see such classic images as "smearing her jelly-covered fingers on mama's lap" and "running around the hotel room with her hands in the air making airplane noises". It's a good show.

Ann