Sunday was a rainy and stormy day in Guangzhou. We took advantage of the weather and had a lazy morning in our room. Brennan watched a movie, I looked at hotels in Hong Kong (I’m dreading our ten hour layover and trying to figure out what to do on our way back through), and Kate wandered around the room keeping herself entertained. After Brennan’s movie, we went down to the Swan Room to let Kate play. She loves it down there! We met several other families with their new children and so it was nice for me to talk to some adults. Kate did a great job sharing the different toys with the children, but when Brennan wanted to see her toy she was so mad! She yelled and pushed him several times. I told her “no” and when she wouldn’t stop I had to take her to the chair to sit for a minute. I’ve had to do this before and she usually gives in quite fast… it was a different story today! She screamed and cried and cried and screamed… for about twenty minutes! I couldn’t comfort her and she actually arched away from me at first. After about fifteen minutes I tried again and she just slumped into my arms and snuggled her head on my shoulder. It was soooo sad. I think all of her emotions from the last five days just came pouring out of her. It must have felt a little refreshing and it was a good sign that she feels comfortable enough with me to show her true emotions finally. We went back to play when she calmed down and she shared the toy nicely with Brennan.
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| Playing in our hotel room |
After that exhausting cry we gave her a chance to play for a little longer and then we went back to our room. We put Kate down for her first nap in the room (until today she has slept in her stroller while we are on the go). She slept for over two hours, and when she finally woke up we were starving! We walked to Lucy’s for lunch so Brennan could have his fried chicken again. I ordered the chicken quesadillas and they were really good! We also ordered some steamed rice which Kate loved!
After lunch we went back to one of our favorite stores called Jordan’s. We were sad he wasn’t in there, but we did buy a few souvenirs for friends. The weather was clearing up so we decided to go to the pool. When we got back to our room there was a message from the family we met the previous night that they were going to be at the pool too. Brennan was happy that he’d be able to play with Seth and Eli again.
We all played and splashed for about two hours. Kate was so excited and loves the water. While we were swimming we heard fire crackers and a bunch of yelling coming from the Pearl River (which is right behind our hotel). We ran to the balcony and saw a dragon boat coming down the river. It was so cool! I set Kate down to grab my camera and when I turned around to get her again, she was looking all around for me yelling “mama mama”… someone else tried to comfort her but she only wanted me! That’s new for her too- usually she’ll just go to anyone for attention. So she didn’t like the dragon boats as much as I did, but I was able to get one quick picture. I’m thinking she may not enjoy the fireworks on July 4th. We played for a little bit longer in the water and then the weather got stormy again, so we had to leave. The last two days Kate has left the pool very nicely for us!
We decided to brave the storm that looked like it was approaching and went and got some ice cream. Kate LOVES mint chocolate chip ice cream and ate the entire cup that her and I were going to share. I didn’t mind at all! J We had to pick up a few necklaces that I had made at our other favorite store so we walked over there. We also talked to Kenny again. He is so interesting!
We headed back to the room and I went on my computer to check e-mail messages. Brennan came over to sit on my lap and Kate had another “moment”. She pushed him and screamed… She just didn’t want to share me! It was a repeat of the morning episode, although this time it seemed to last a little longer. When she finally calmed down, Brennan came back to sit on my lap and we put Kate next to us. We both hugged her and talked again about how family takes care of each other and there is enough love for everyone. She nodded her head and hugged Brennan again. She seems to understand so much! I thought she might have another moment when I crawled into Brennan’s bed for the night, but she looked over and said “mommy” and I answered that I love her. She smiled and snuggled into her bed just fine.
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| Kate and her new sunglasses |
We seem to be working through things but WOW- Bren and I were both exhausted after her outbursts and I’m sure Kate was too! I think part of her screaming/crying is also her just working through her loss of the friends at the orphanage, nannies, etc. My poor four year old is having to deal with so much! She is SO PRECIOUS though and I’m really happy Brennan is here with me! I can’t imagine her jealousy if I had spent two weeks alone with her and then threw Brennan into the mix! He is handling things well and in a little way I think it is helping him bond with her a little better.
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