Medical Exam

Well, we had another great day yesterday. I'm feeling much better and Xin Yi did great at her medical exam.

I was finally able to get some sleep Sunday night after combining medications. I heard yesterday morning that others in our group have been sick as well, so it may even by some sort of bug and not the apple after all. Hopefully that won't happen again as I really don't want to be sick on the plane ride home. There is a little boy in our group with chicken pox and another family with sore throats, so it is going to be a miracle if we arrive home healthy.

We went off to the medical exam at 9:30 yesterday. It was only about a 15 minute walk, but it is so hot here that you end up sweating after only 30 seconds in the heat. Xin Yi played with the toys in the waiting room and passed them out to all the other children. Some of the other kids were screaming when they went back to see the doctor, so I was afraid that would stress her out. When we went to the first station and she saw the exam table she shook her head and said no, but I held her and the doctor talked to her a little and then she was fine. The doctor looked her over briefly and looked at her medical report and then sent us over to the ENT. She laughed and played with that doctor. Then we went to the height and weight station where she was practically pushing people out of her way to get on the scale. The other little boy in our group was screaming to get off the scale and Xin Yi couldn't wait to get on -- it was pretty funny. After we were finished she walked into the doctor's office area and started talking to the doctors. They all just loved her and were giving her toys and paper to color on. She is quite the charmer!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a little playground. The equipment is actually mostly for adults and there were many older Chinese men and women exercising as we walked by. Xin Yi started thinking it was funny to see how far away she could get from me. She is just playing and laughing as she does it, but it was especially not funny when she almost ran into the street. I carried her back to the hotel and made her lay down for a little while. Then I had the guide explain to her why that is very unsafe and how it makes mommy worry when she does that.

We then went to a huge market area that is the closest thing to a mall that I've seen thus far. There were two huge towers with six levels in each. One was full of clothing and shoe stores and the other was entirely jewelry. I bought a necklace and bracelet for Xin Yi and a rose quartz bangle bracelet for her as well (only spent about $20 total). I also bought her some shoes and DVDs in the other mall. I brought the stroller with me since she had been running off and was very glad I did. She took a late nap yesterday and then we went out and did some more shopping around the hotel. We ordered Papa John's pizza last night for dinner. It wasn't exactly like home, but it tasted really good. Xin Yi ate a little, but wasn't impressed. She is still a noodle girl right now. We also watched Shrek in Mandarin last night. She really liked it! I also bought Shrek 2, The Incredibles and Alice in Wonderland. I have another store ordering Mulan, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid for me -- those should be ready tonight.

I talked to Victor this morning and he said that Dylan is already swimming on his own with his life jacket. I can't believe how big my little boy is getting already. I'm really missing my boys and can't wait to get home on Thursday. I'll have to post pictures this weekend of all the kids swimming in the pool. They are going to have such a great time this summer.

I also haven't mentioned much about language yet. Xin Yi is starting to understand a little English and can say a few words (flower, open, bye bye, no). We are also using a little sign language (eat and done). I can also say a few things to her in Mandarin (I love you, sleep, later, goodbye, thank you, mommy, daddy, big brother, little brother, hello). We usually just use hand gestures for other things. I really haven't tried teaching her too much English here, but I'm sure she won't have any problem learning it once we are home. I'm actually most concerned about her retaining her Mandarin. I've already lined up a school for her starting in August with a preschool program that is taught entirely in Mandarin. That way she can continue to use her language and learn to read and write in it as well. They also have a conversation class for adults that I would like to take. I'm also going to check out more Mandarin CD's from the library to learn more. I wish I had learned more prior to this trip, but I was under the impression that she would speak a dialect and would only understand limited Mandarin. It turns out she is fluent in Mandarin and does not speak a dialect at all. I'm hoping that if I play my cards right she will be fluent in English and Mandarin and won't have an accent when speaking either one.

Well, I guess that is all for now. Today I have to hang around the room while our coordinator drops off our paperwork at the consulate. Then we will meet for our group picture and have a group dinner late today. There will also be more shopping!