The last couple of days here in Xi’an have been fantastic, low-key days of bonding and spending time together, mainly around the hotel with a couple outings each day.  We are going to try to sum up both days together, since we leave for Guangzhou this evening and are anticipating the start of a whole new chapter in our adventure by the time we reach tomorrow.

Day 5 started much the same as every other day thus far, with Don and I waking early (as the ambien wears off around 400 a.m.) and working/exercising until Ben wakes up.  We’ve noticed that Ben is usually a little timid first thing in the morning and needs some time to wake up before he’s ready to engage (not unlike his Mama).  We dressed leisurely and headed down to breakfast, happy to finally have a day off from any scheduled events.  Ben came to life at breakfast and seemed to enjoy letting us know his dietary preferences of the day (which do seem to change at whim 😉  We worked more on Ben’s signing, and he continues to amaze with how quickly he picks things up…he really is a sharp little one!

After breakfast, we decided to go on a field trip to Starbuck’s with Mary Elizabeth and Katie Joy and let Ben experience his first stroller outing.  We weren’t quite sure if he had ever been in a stroller or how he was going to respond, but he loved it immediately!  We bundled him up and strapped him in, and he sat back and just took everything in (very much unlike our other kiddos, who never liked to be confined for long).  It’s always a bit of sensory overload walking around Asian cities, with more sights, sounds, and smells than you can possibly process at once.  We also got plenty of stares as we were clearly the only Americans in sight along with our little Chinese children.  We carry cards that explain in Chinese why we are here in case anyone inquires, but thankfully, we just got a lot of confused glares and tried to smile back politely.  Starbuck’s didn’t disappoint, and the walk there was enough adventure for one morning.  We headed back to the hotel for naptime.

Ben took an almost 3-hour nap while we cleaned up, rested, and got some things done, and after some play time in the room, we decided to venture out again for dinner.  Don found a great place that was highly rated on TripAdvisor as well as a children’s park nearby, and we set off to find them.  We quickly discovered that our route took us down many side roads, most of which had very narrow or no sidewalks at all, so we found ourselves playing chicken with oncoming traffic and a stroller along with hundreds of other pedestrians and motorbikes who were not the least bit phased.  Rookie mistake…next time we venture off the beaten path, we’ll take the front pack.  The air quality has also been particularly bad the last couple days (which we have started to notice in the late afternoon as our heads start to ache and our eyes/throats burn a bit), so after our sporty little journey, we were feeling ready enough to stop, eat, and take a break from the “not so fresh” air.

The restaurant owner was incredibly kind and spoke fantastic English.  He was very curious about Ben and touched by our story, so he continued to bring Ben things throughout the meal, including a little stuffed bear that he had gotten with his 4-year old son the week prior.  He also brought warm water and reminded us that Chinese babies like warm drinks and that we might want to take off his fleece layer, as he might be hot indoors 😉  We had to smile at how opinionated Asian folks tend to be about other people’s children and remembered the same thing in Seoul when we would get yelled at by little Korean ladies who didn’t think we had bundled Madeleine up enough.  We’ve found it’s just easier to smile and concede than argue.

We had a great meal and started our journey home for bath time (which was a little less painful than the previous days!) and bedtime.  Another amazingly successful day with our little Ben-man!

By Day 6, we are definitely hitting a rhythm.  Our long delay in Xi’an is primarily to await processing of key paperwork, including Ben’s birth certificate, certificate of abandonment, and Chinese passport.  Our multiple appointments in the first few days included meeting with the notary, taking passport pictures, and submitting the required paperwork.   Yesterday we received the birth certificate and certificate of abandonment.  Tomorrow we should receive Ben’s Chinese passport just prior to leaving for Guangzhou.  While in Guangzhou, we will apply for a US Visa, and once that processing is complete, we can travel home…Ben will become a US citizen upon touching US soil.  The process, while tedious, is straight-forward and impressively efficient.  We’ve recognized  that having these few low-key days have been an absolute blessing and necessity for bonding and attachment.  The idea of a late flight tonight (we leave at 3:30 p.m. from our hotel in Xi’an and arrive at our hotel in Guangzhou around 12:00 a.m.) is daunting, but seemed undoable just days ago.

Ben slept quite late into the morning (almost 9AM!).  We made it down to the hotel breakfast just in time before closing.  With every wake up, he becomes visibly more comfortable around us, and the morning begins with him quietly stirring and reaching his arms out to us.

While we were at breakfast, we did a FaceTime call back home with the kids.  This was not our first call home, but it was the first when Ben was awake and alert, and Mackenzie, Josh, and Maddie all got a kick out of interacting with their baby brother.

After breakfast, we did a lot of walking around the hotel.  Ben is really cute as he toddles about, swaying from side to side like a drunken sailor.  We’ve started holding his hand while he walks, which he seems to appreciate.  He’s been asking to be put down more and his little independent streak is becoming more evident as he becomes more comfortable.  After sweetly holding our hands and toddling about for 10-15 minutes, he went on a bit of a rampage, running all around and throughout the hotel lobby.  He ran up to a couple of Chinese folks and they picked him up and cuddled him.  We held our breath, knowing how in previous days he showed a preference for Chinese people, seemingly confused by our “unusual” appearance.  However, he didn’t protest when they put him down and just kept right on running around, seemingly unphased.  We breathed a sigh of relief.

After changing and regrouping, we decided to take another outing to see the Bell Tower in the center of Xi’an (a popular landmark of the city).  Ben got really excited when he saw the stroller, and even started murmuring “go-go” and parroted the word “stroller.”  The Bell Tower was constructed in 1384 during the Ming dynasty and hosts a bell cast in 711 during the Tang dynasty.  It is one of the best-preserved towers of its type in China.  The city of Xi’an was an ancient capital of China, one of the oldest, and is at the beginning of the historic Silk Road.  From our time here, we’ve surmised that Xi’an is a popular domestic tourist destination for it’s historic sites, though we’ve seen very few other international visitors as we’ve visited these sites.  Along the way, we stopped into Starbucks and grabbed McDonald’s chicken nuggets for Ben, laughing that he will eat McDonald’s in China more than he will in America.

After rest time and a little play time in the room (where Ben continued to show us his organizational prowess), our tour guide Sherry took us with Mary Elizabeth and her new daughter, Katie Joy, to visit the Xi’an wall.

Like the Bell Tower, the wall was constructed during the 14th century and is one of the best preserved/last remaining city walls in China.  It is 8.7 miles long, and impressive 40ft high, and encompasses an area of 14 square miles.   The modern business district of Xi’an lies within it’s borders, and the wall has modern passageways to allow the roads to pass through.  Our hotel lies within the borders of the wall, and we drive through the wall on nearly every excursion.

 

For dinner, we ventured out to a local Chinese restaurant with Mary Elizabeth and Katie Joy.  It was delicious and surprisingly inexpensive, with enormous portions…Ben enjoyed pork dumplings, kung pao chicken, and seemed to especially love green beans.  We went back to the hotel for our nighttime routine, and last night we had a huge success…Ben actually seemed to enjoy his bath time!  We put some toys in the tub, and he played happily until we took him out for his bottle and bedtime.  We captured a pretty cute picture of this fun but significant milestone as Ben becomes more comfortable and trusting every day.

As we are travelling to Guangzhou tonight, it may take us a couple of days to get the next update.  Until then, we are so thankful for all of your thoughts, comments, support, and prayers!