Day 3 - Zhengzhou

We slept in this morning until 6:00 am and I felt like a new person!  I think waking up everyday between 2-4 am contributed to the mommy meltdown yesterday.  :-)

Our little Reed had a MUCH better day today!  We're so thankful!  Although his personality seems to be very reserved, we have seen him come out of his shell a bit.  In his photo book from the orphanage he was not smiling in a single picture, and yet today he did crack a half smile!

We may have a second drummer on our hands ;-)

He is a TINY little guy and I mean TINY!  We are actually wondering if his birthday may be off, or if he is just malnurioushed.  We were able to weigh him and he weighs 19 pounds clothed - the same as last August according to the info we have.  I think all of my kiddos weighed more than this by 12 months.

You can see his 18 month old clothes are
almost down to his ankles!

Despite his small size, we think he is fully potty trained.  He has not had an accident since getting over his sickness, but he always waits until Travis or I puts him on the potty.  I am amazed, as he does not speak any words yet - in Mandarin or English.  He came alive when we went to Wal-Mart this afternoon, pointing at all kinds of things and running around the toy asile!

Little Gracie is doing MUCH better as well - I think she is even starting to like me.  ;-)  She liked Wal-Mart too (these really are Polks!) she sat in the front of the cart chanting Mama!  Mama! and waving her hands all around in excitement.  It was fun!

Travis took the boys to swim and both babies were crying, so this was how we napped.  :-)

She hasn't quite taken to poor Daddy yet - but she has stopped crying every time he looks at her.  Baby steps.  ;-)  I tried to tell her that he is definitely the more fun one, but she's not taking my word for it.  Right now her favorite toys are the instant coffee packets in the hotel room - she likes to take one in each hand wherever we go.

We had a relatively light day today; we had to go and apply for Reed's passport and then we were free.  Since he is from the city we are in, we did not have to travel.  While at the government office Grace started reaching out with both hands and I thought she wanted to go with the Chinese people.  Then I realized she saw a little girl holding two kabob sticks of donut holes.  ;-) 

After our return to the hotel we did lunch, naps and then headed to Wal-Mart for some necessities and snacks unhealthy treats.  :-)

We passed on the dried ducks (on the left).

But we did get 4 types of Oreos!  Birthday Cake, Strawberry, Orange/Mango Swirl, and Blueberry/Raspberry Swirl.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of sweets, but they must like their Oreos here!

The banana bunches are huge!

We skipped these sour plum and melon flavored chips, but we did get Wasabi Shrimp, Red Italian Meat, and Cucumber. Don't worry - all snack size.  ;-)

Some of the other fun things we saw included live turtles and frogs, available in the seafood department.

Two last pictures and then bedtime!

This boy loves his Daddy!  So do I.  ;-)

We are headed to Maria's Big House of Hope tomorrow, where Reed stayed for a bit and had his surgeries done.  So thankful for God's continued loving mercies!