It is Thursday morning here in Xi’an and we have been with our Joshua almost 3 days. I continue to stand in awe of our little guy. He doesn’t appear to be struggling with the loss and change that has just occurred in his life however, I am well aware of the fact that as with anyone who is processing deep emotions the way we handle those emotions take on very different forms and I am certain that in his own unique way he is coping with losing all that he has known. Within the complicated emotions I know are flowing through him he has made a wonderful connection with me. He loves for me to hold him and will look at me deeply with those big brown eyes. Our Brown-Eyed Boy is now known as “The Little Prince”. His status of royalty is giving us a run for our money and wearing us out. His vibrant and animated personality is in high gear all of his waking moments and he will do any and everything to keep us laughing with all of our attention on him. We are enjoying him to the fullest and love being entertained by him but it is exhausting and I have to admit that I am grateful for the fact that he sleeps very well.
Yesterday was a fun day as we traveled with our guide JoJo about an hour outside of Xi’an to the Terracotta Warrior Museum,( I will write a separate post about our visit). Joshua loves getting out and enjoyed our excursion. His animation is displayed for all to enjoy when we are out and about and yesterday was no different. He engaged everyone we met but stayed very close to his mama, exhibiting his security in being either in my arms or holding tightly to my hand. I was amazed at how many approving looks we received from everyone we encountered. Almost everyone smiled and even made comments about how cute our boy was. As you can imagine all this attention was fuel for our “The Little Prince’s” confidence. It was very cold during our tour because everything was outdoors and of course I was chastised at least once by the Chinese ladies about the fact that I did not have him dressed warmly enough. We really enjoyed getting out and away from the city. The air was so much clearer at the museum and even though it was cold it was nice being outside in fresher air. On our way home Joshua fell sound asleep in my arms. In China children are not required to be in a car seat so Joshua is able to sit in my lap as we drive.
We arrived back to the hotel and quickly faced the reality that the confines of our small hotel room are no match for our very active and inquisitive “little prince” I decided after he and I had an no so fun confrontation over electrical outlets that we needed to venture out so we bundled up and took a walk across the street to a nice little park where we walked and took some photos…Joshua is quite the subject for a photo. He loves to pose for the camera and is quite the little model. We then decided to walk down the street to another hotel in our complex which was very posh. I am going back today to take some photos. I have to say that I don’t believe that I have ever been in such a nice hotel. Joshua was fascinated with the marble floors. After exploring a little bit we wandered back to the hotel, gave Joshua a bath and then in an attempt to settle Joshua down for the night so I turned on the TV. I came across a Chinese TV show that was a type of variety show with some unusual entertainers. Joshua found the show to be absolutely hilarious. Of course I had no idea what they were singing but apparently he understood and it was funny. I loved watching him laugh….he has the most infectious giggle. Finally, I put him in his crib turned off the lights and within a few minutes he was sound asleep.
As I feel asleep, I felt the weight of my exhaustion and longing for my babies at home but very thankful that our “little prince” was sleeping right next to me. As hard as this journey may be and as much as I miss everything at home the gift of Joshua is worth it all!
Yesterday was a fun day as we traveled with our guide JoJo about an hour outside of Xi’an to the Terracotta Warrior Museum,( I will write a separate post about our visit). Joshua loves getting out and enjoyed our excursion. His animation is displayed for all to enjoy when we are out and about and yesterday was no different. He engaged everyone we met but stayed very close to his mama, exhibiting his security in being either in my arms or holding tightly to my hand. I was amazed at how many approving looks we received from everyone we encountered. Almost everyone smiled and even made comments about how cute our boy was. As you can imagine all this attention was fuel for our “The Little Prince’s” confidence. It was very cold during our tour because everything was outdoors and of course I was chastised at least once by the Chinese ladies about the fact that I did not have him dressed warmly enough. We really enjoyed getting out and away from the city. The air was so much clearer at the museum and even though it was cold it was nice being outside in fresher air. On our way home Joshua fell sound asleep in my arms. In China children are not required to be in a car seat so Joshua is able to sit in my lap as we drive.
We arrived back to the hotel and quickly faced the reality that the confines of our small hotel room are no match for our very active and inquisitive “little prince” I decided after he and I had an no so fun confrontation over electrical outlets that we needed to venture out so we bundled up and took a walk across the street to a nice little park where we walked and took some photos…Joshua is quite the subject for a photo. He loves to pose for the camera and is quite the little model. We then decided to walk down the street to another hotel in our complex which was very posh. I am going back today to take some photos. I have to say that I don’t believe that I have ever been in such a nice hotel. Joshua was fascinated with the marble floors. After exploring a little bit we wandered back to the hotel, gave Joshua a bath and then in an attempt to settle Joshua down for the night so I turned on the TV. I came across a Chinese TV show that was a type of variety show with some unusual entertainers. Joshua found the show to be absolutely hilarious. Of course I had no idea what they were singing but apparently he understood and it was funny. I loved watching him laugh….he has the most infectious giggle. Finally, I put him in his crib turned off the lights and within a few minutes he was sound asleep.
As I feel asleep, I felt the weight of my exhaustion and longing for my babies at home but very thankful that our “little prince” was sleeping right next to me. As hard as this journey may be and as much as I miss everything at home the gift of Joshua is worth it all!
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