As promised, I figured I’d post a few pictures from yesterday’s day of travel from Taiyuan to Guangzhou.
Waving goodbye to his home province of Shanxi
Relaxing on the airplane. This kid loves to travel (so far…)
He passed out before we landed. We had to wake him up to get off the plane. Our guide Bill is next to me laughing.
Van ride to Guangzhou
Now, we’re relaxing a bit in the room after lunch and some exploration of Shamian Island– which is sort of “adoption island” in Guangzhou. It’s a beautiful day, sunny with clouds and is well shaded by big trees– such a relief after Taiyuan, a dusty and gray place. Shamian Island is very popular with the locals and with fashion magazines– I can’t tell you how many photo shoots we passed during our walk.
We had Alexander’s medical appointment earlier this morning, which went surprisingly well. Bill, our guide, has been assisting families for over 17 years now, and so he knows how to get there before the crowds. We were in and out– having seen three medical personnel in less than an hour. By the time we were on our way out the door, the clinic was jammed was families–way to go, Bill! No surprising diagnosis for our little man– cleft lip/palate and significant malnutrition. We’re working on the second one as much as possible. For those of you interested in where our guy is developmentally– he’s solidly in 6 month clothing. As some of you noted, he’s able to sit up by himself, but we have to bring him to a sitting position. He is dying to scoot and crawl, but his legs are too weak, so he just sorta sits and howls. The clinic doctor recommended working on leg exercises, so we’re already giving him a workout. He can vocalize, but because of his cleft, it mostly sounds like “La.” One “la”– he doesn’t hate you. Two “la’s”– Hey, look at me. Continuous “la’s”– Why can’t you parents understand me? I’m clearly trying to communicate something important here!
Brian just commented on how spacious our room is here in Guangzhou– compared to Taiyuan, where the pollution made it almost unbearable to be outside, our much larger room in a tropical city makes it almost feel like paradise– with a headstrong little kid, but still.
Tonight, we’re planning on expanding Alexander’s traveling experience with an evening cruise on the Pearl River. He likes the land and sky, so we’ll have to see what he thinks about the sea.
And for all you St Joan of Arc folks following along, we were able to locate a church “Our Lady of Lourdes” on the French side of the island. Say an extra prayer that Alexander’s first Mass is a good one!
What lovely pictures. Alexander seems pretty easy going with all the new activity. What a little trooper. You guys are doing amazing.
K and B and A
Looks like the Kelly family is doing good. Sounds like a good vacation traveler. Really miss you guys. Can’t wait to meet our grandson.
All our Love to the three of you
Grandpa Bill and Grandma Sandy
Wow, a Catholic Church in China – incredible! I hope your first experience as a family at Mass goes well. I have to say, it’s given me new perspective on my faith to try to keep a little guy quiet in our crying-room-free parish – most of the time I’m praying we get to the next musical part without any major meltdowns! Seriously, one day we spoke instead of singing the Gloria, and – let’s just say we had to go for a little walk. 🙂 Enjoy your time in Guangzhou, sounds like a pretty nice place to be chasing paperwork for a few more days before you guys get to come HOME together!
Guangzhou sounds very nice. Six months and a bit malnourished – well you two can fix that. I do’t know if there might be any memorials, but John Barry, the founder of the American Navy, and a Catholic, made a couple of trading voyages to Guangzhou. Of course, then it was called Canton. Anyway, the descriptions of the city in the book I read was fascinating. Tropical and clean – you two will enjoy that, I’m sure. Was Alexander really waving?
Yes, he was really waving. He seems to love waving these days.
Yeah, it’s really beautiful here. Very urban and clean. The island we’re on, Sha Mian Island, is very small, a little over a square kilometer, but lush and quiet. Beautiful old trees and architecture. We took a river cruise last night and saw more of the new Guangzhou, and it’s pretty incredible. We have video that we can bore you with later.
“Guangzhou” is apparently the Mandarin name for the city, but Cantonese speakers still call it “Canton.”
We love your travel pictures! Can’t wait to hear how your first Mass as a family of three went. I’m also impressed that you were able to find a Catholic church – what an interesting experience. Even though it may feel like forever, you’re in the home stretch now and will be heading home soon with your SON! 🙂
6 months, got it! I’ll start piling up the clothes now 🙂
We too visited that same church each visit to China. They had a gift shop/gift shelf and we bought rosaries to give our children for their First Holy Communion. Just an idea.
Love seeing your family. We too have one son who is cleft-affected!
LOVE that wide smile!
Shelly from Rumor Queen