Learning

Today was a day of learning. We learned a lot about China and Shanxi Provence by visiting the ancient Jinci temple outside of Taiyuan. The temple is different because it is an ancestral temple, built to honor the brother of one of the Kings in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 BC-711 BC) (which makes it 3000 years old!!!). Here is an interesting website describing the temple in more detail:

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanxi/taiyuan/jinci_temple.htm

The temple was beautiful. There are four major structures that make this temple unique in China. 1) The Saint Mother Hall, built to honor the emperor's mother, 2) the flying bridge, a bridge that has four sides that meet in the middle over the fish pond, and 3) the ancient Zhou cypress, a 3000 year old tree (amazing), and 4) the Never Aging Spring, which is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It was beautiful. The detail in the architecture is impossible to convey in pictures. The Olympic Torch came to this very temple last summer and was carried by a famous singer from Taiyuan.

We also learned a lot about Maddox! Cheerios have been a big hit, but he does not like trail mix, which we also brought and have mixed into the Cheerios. So, at first, we would grab a handful of all of it and hold it out for him to take and eat. He always carefully moved the peanuts, raisins, and yes, even M&Ms out of the way to get the Cheerios. Well, this morning, when he moved a peanut, I took my other hand and ate it. He saw that and was intrigued. He picked up a peanut and I held out my hand and he gave it to me and I ate it. Then, he did the sweetest thing - he picked up a peanut and put it in my mouth! Well, from then on, he hand fed me every single peanut, raisin or M&M that was in my hand. Then, he started feeding me Cheerios too! And, when I drew out a handful of only Cheerios, he would feed ME first, then himself. So sweet.

He still has a cough, copious nasal drainage, and eye discharge, but we think he is feeling better on the meds. He does not like to be dirty and grabs Kleenex to wipe his own nose. Tonight, we had him in only a diaper just before bath and he had drooled on his own stomach, so he grabbed his sock we had just taken off and started to wipe himself clean! Stephanie has used the "booger bulb" nasal suction on him and he actually likes it.

We had another huge breakthrough today: he laughed. We played superman with me lying down and him flying in my arms followed by sitting him down on my stomach and tickling him. It was like music to our ears to hear that because he has smiled very little and has seemed so flat emotionally. He also showed much more interest in his toys and books today. Kris, we have read him the Elmo and Cookie Monster books many many times!

We are changing lots of diapers and have decided we are not impressed with Huggies... except for the nighttime ones.

Stephanie's mom got Maddox some albums in Chinese that we put on our Ipods. Today, we put on his little headphones and seemed to really enjoy listening to Chinese lullabies.

We wish we had more Cheerios here. For all of you in the adoption process, pack PLENTY of them! We have considered asking someone there to Fedex us a bag! Just kidding... sort of.

We miss all of you and thank you for all of the emails and facebook comments. The encouraging words about the blog makes it easier to stay up at night when we are tired and get our entry posted. We love that so many of you are sharing this with us. JP and SP