One week in Guangzhou

FINALLY SITTING AT THE CHEN MUSEUM
I can't believe it has been a week since we checked into this hotel in anticipation of meeting our daughter.  Now, a week later, we feel as if we've known her forever:)  I think she's beginning to feel the same way.  She is speaking more and more to us in Cantonese as if we know exactly what she's saying.  She gets so excited when we nod knowingly (little does she know that we have NO clue what she's telling us.)  She sings at the top of her lungs when we're out walking around.  She gets shy when strangers try to talk to her and buries her heard in our shoulders.  Whenever she leaves the room, she says bye-bye and blows us a kiss.  AND, the top reason we know she's comfortable is because she is saying "No" and having little wiggly tantrums like every two year old when she doesn't get her way. 
As we were touring the Chen mansion today, we got to see the most of it.  She did NOT want to be carried, only to walk and she let it be known that she was not happy.  Conversely, Chris and I, as well as Jack, thought it was great she was comfortable enough to have her little fit:)  She's still super easy and was quickly redirected.  Here are some pictures of "Uncle Jack" as we call him and Quinn from the mansion and sipping tea together. 

After the tour, we went to Carrefour, the Chinese equivalent of Wal-Mart, to get some orphanage supplies for our trip there tomorrow.  Due to limited space, the store was built up instead of out.  We parked in a parking garage that had lifts to park cars two high.  It was so bizarre!  The store was three stories tall and we took escalators that were magnetized to hold our shopping carts in place as we went up and down between floors.  We did grocery shopping, got toys, and housewares there.  We bypassed the HD TVs and clothes, but it was all there and super cheap.  Interesting experience to say the least. 
Later this afternoon, we trekked out to find some other interesting sights.  We happened upon another gorgeous park.  Guangzhou is great about having such pristine locations tucked in nooks and crannies of such a giant city.  Here are some pictures from the park.  As you can see, I had to discpiline Quinn at one point.  You can see the pouty response I'm getting.  God help us in the teen years:)

As I mentioned previously, Quinn is an amazing sleeper.  She snoozes almost every time we get in the car and she almost fell asleep coloring on the floor with me this afternoon.  We captured a few photos of her sleep transformation at bedtime tonight.  She went from laughing and running around to immediately covering her eyes and rubbing her eyebrow when she saw the blanket.  It's adorable!

Today marks another special milestone.  It is the first day we have not eaten with chopsticks since we arrived in China.  We grabbed sandwiches at Starbucks for lunch and had pizza for dinner.  We are corrupting Quinn's great table manners by allowing her to eat with her fingers.

Tomorrow is a big day.  We will get Quinn's TB test results (praying for negative.)  We will tour the orphanage and we will get to see Quinn's Finding Place, the spot where police records indicate Quinn was found on June 10, 2009.  While I know that it will be important to share this information with Quinn down the road, the process of getting the information will be heart-wrenching.  Will post the details tomorrow...