Familiar Sites

Today was a "tour the city" day, with no scheduled meetings related to completing the adoption process. After our daily breakfast buffet, we piled on the bus and headed to Seven Banyan Temple. Places like this put what we like to call the old, old country into perspective. Erected some 1500 years ago, the temple avoided destruction during the cultural revolution in the late sixties by hanging posters and banners of Chairman Mao at and around the entrance. One can only imagine what the landscape looked like at that time. Now, the remaining two banyans and temple are smack dab in the middle of town, with the temple and courtyard surrounded by high rise buildings. Despite the neighbors, the temple grounds are a very peaceful place and we enjoyed a little solitude. The babies received a traditional blessing from one of the monks and we watched as many of the area Buddhists left offerings of incense and fruit.

Next stop was the Folk Art Museum. This historic structure was built years ago by one of the biggest families in China. Over the years it has been a number of things including a college. It is one of our favorite sites from our last visit and we thought a lot about Matt, Kristi and Ruby and the multiple trips we made to find the right "souvenir" in 2008. Today we enjoyed some new exhibits and even got out of there with most of our Yuan in our pockets.

We had a brief follow-up with a doctor after our compulsory exam yesterday. We won't bore you with the details but will say that little Marin checked out okay and she also rivaled her big sister in the "good patient" department. The day did include some mentionable parental stress, and little episodes like this really bring home the miracle of adoption. The instant love and concern you have for this little being in your care is immediate. It is real. It is intense.

In an effort to "equal out" the parental bonding, we changed things up on Marin today. Daddy got her up, fed her, changed her diaper, and strapped her to his chest. There was remarkably little resistance from Mimi and things seemed to go swimmingly. This all changed when Dad tried to relinquish his charge for a quick trip to the boys room. That's when mommy had a little ego check as Marin rejected her outright. We humored Marin for a while, but at some point told her enough was enough and told her "you will talk to your mother." After this didn't work, Val tried another tactic and took off the hat she was wearing. That did the trick. Who knew that Marin was just expressing her fashion advice and trying to tell her mommy that her hat was "so last year."

Tonight we were ALL buddies and after a day of inconsistent naps and feedings, Marin is snoring peacefully in her crib. Tomorrow, we will try to improve on our feeding and napping schedule and we will both leave our black hats at home.