Attachment Update

For all those of you wondering how the family is getting on, it's going extremely well. Jed is attaching great. Lots of eye contact. I feed him, he feeds me, lots of smiles. He is now so used to my being there that when he needs help to climb a tall stair, he holds his hand out for mine without even looking. He still prefers me to Jim, but has no problem with Jim taking care of him or being there when he wakes up. The three guys were in the playroom yesterday and Jed was so excited when I walked in and toddled right over for a hug, but it's not that he minded being with Daddy at all.

We had our first bath a couple of days ago (another thing I can't imagine going well without Gus around), and then played in the pool yesterday. At one point Jed just tipped over face first into the pool. We hauled him right out before he breathed in any water, and the look on his face was priceless.

The boys are in general getting along well. Gus loves having an audience, and we've given him lots of extra snuggles. He does get distracted by having Jed in bed with him, though, and sometimes tries to keep Jed awake to play. Jed, who only wants to sleep, scratches him and then rolls over, while Gus freaks out. Jed can sleep through (to date) half an hour of Gus howling right next to him (we guess an orphanage is probably a good place to learn to sleep through anything). Today we're going to try putting them in separate rooms for naps, since nighttime is usually much better. The trip is starting to wear on Gus, but he takes out his frustrations on us instead of Jed, which is brilliant. What an amazing little boy, who is so ready to be back home.

I did the recon on shopping yesterday and will start some of it today. Even in the tourist trap that is Shamian Island, everything is really cheap. Shamian reminds us a lot of Antigua, where we stayed with Gus for a weekend on his family trip; it's an old European-style city that has been turned into a lovely tourist trap with lots of foreigners. My two favorite things: 1) the deli next door, where the four of us ate for under $10 yesterday, and which also has ice cream; and 2) the fact that the Chinese don't seem at all to be bothered by chaos. There's still a lot of construction on the island for the upcoming Asian/Para-Asian Games, and lots of noise and dust, but the many brides having their pictures taken in the main park still look quite serene. And am I glad that I brought capris and skirts--to date I have seen exactly one Chinese lady wearing shorts. Not that I don't stick out, but at least I stick out appropriately.