It's all about the food

So, two breakthroughs today. First, Helena hung out with Justin for the entire morning. We decided enough was enough and just forced it a bit. He fed her breakfast while I played waitress to both of them from the buffet, and that seemed to work well. She was starving and didn't much care who fed her. As you can see from the pictures, she likes to eat, and eat, and eat. Then, she rode around in the baby sling with him like a trooper. Frankly, my back couldn't take much more so it was either that or walking....which she is reluctant to do.

This morning we toured around Guangzhou. We learned that there are over 70 million people in this province and nine million in this city, the fourth largest in China. We went to a Buddhist temple that was beautiful. We also went to a folk art museum and then did a little shopping at a shop with lovely jade, tea sets, water colors, and other items well-known in the region.

Second breakthrough: The afternoon started out a little shaky when Helena only napped for 45 minutes, then woke up cranky. So I had nothing to lose and took her downstairs to the playroom. The other parents were talking about their kid's hangups so it was nice to be in good company. She started out by leaning against me, then became interested in an Elmo toy...the first toy that has EVER sparked her interest. Then, lo and behold, she spotted a couple of books and toddled over to them like a drunken sailor and SMILED! I was so surprised, I almost cried. I thought this child would never smile, so serious all the time. Then she giggled and played for about 15 minutes, then it was over...but it was sure nice while it lasted. I called Justin in our room and said "get to the playroom, STAT" and I think he caught a little on video.

So that's about it. As a programming note, we cannot review this blog or read the comments, only post. But Tyler has been nice enough to send the comments by e-mail, and we do get e-mail so thanks for all the support. Very nice this far from home.