Diamonds (or Pearls) are a Girl's Best Friend

Above is a picture of Katie surrounded by her new jewelry. Brad will be pleased to know that Katie loves to shop and particularly enjoys custom jewelry. We had another good day all around her in rainy Guangzhou! I wrote yesterday's blog early, before Katie fell asleep for the day at 5pm! We had our zoo outing and got back late, so she didn't go down for her afternoon nap until 5, and she was tired. I tried to rouse her at 7 to no avail. We finally decided to just let her sleep. I was scared she'd be up by 3, so I went to be early to be prepared. Katie slept until 5 am, woke up for a bottle and diaper change, then went back to sleep until 7am. We don't ever set an alarm because she is always up by 6. Needless to say we were running late but happy to be so well rested. I just can't believe what a great baby Katie is. She's great fun to be with, enjoys everything you do to her (usually including the saline/bulb syringe routine to her runny nose), and sleeps like an angel. We are truly blessed! Even if this doesn't continue at home, it is much appreciated when we are half the world away from home and in a hotel room.

At 9am we headed out for Katie's US Visa photo and physical. Both were fast and fine. A team of 3 doctors checks each baby for no more than 60 seconds each. I think they are only checking for major diseases that would pose a threat to others if she traveled. She weighs 15.6 lbs, so she's bigger than I thought. (I had guessed 14.) There are 2 other babies from her orphanage, Maddy was just over 16 and Carly was more like 19. All are in good health, thank goodness.

Katie fell asleep after the medical check, then mom and I finally got to get out shopping together. We browsed several shops until the rain got bad, then we made a beeline for the highly recommended Chinese restaurant just across the street from the hotel. It was an excellent choice. We had 3 entrees plus rice and tea for about $24 US. It would've been half that, but I chose a fried grouper with vegetables dish that was "market cost" on the menu. I did check the cost before ordering! As shown in the pics below, there are fish talks where you can select your fish. I picked out a nice looking grouper, but I did feel a bit guilty sending him to the hot wok! We had beef and vegetables for $4 US, sweet and sour pork for $3.50 and the grouper was more like $13. Any one dish would've been plenty for us, but at these prices I am enjoying the culinary adventure of it all. I was surprised that we were the only non-Chinese in the place given the proximity to the hotel. They don't speak English much at all, so everything we did through using calculators (to show price) and pointing. Mom continues to be a trooper through all my adventures, and she enjoyed herself. I think I am helping her do some things that she wouldn't feel comfortable doing on her own. Katie slept through much of lunch in her new stroller. Good purchase!

After lunch, we met our group and took a short ride to the pearl and jade markets. The pearl market was awesome and we made quite a few purchases there. You pick out the pearls that you want on strings, then they make them into necklaces for you, knotting them, adding clasps, etc. I was able to bargain and find prices that we were very happy with. We got several necklaces, earrings and bracelets. I finally talked mom into getting a beautiful pink freshwater pearl double strand necklace. It was only $15 total and they made it to fit her exactly how she wanted. We spent over an hour getting our purchases figured out in one store. The Kinnamon's and Maria Coggins shopped with us, and we all had a great time. I bought a special, better quality necklace and earrings for Katie. I took a picture of her in them and I'll put them away for a special occasion, like a graduation or her wedding. I am trying to buy things for Katie so that she'll have a special gift from China each year until she's 18 or so.

Next, we walked across the street to the jade market. I was very excited to go there, but it was pouring buckets of rain and the jade market is all outside (the pearl market was inside like a 5 story shopping mall). I found a couple of bracelets and a jade rooster (Katie was born in the year of the rooster), then we went back to the bus. Most of our travel mates had already called it quits on the market. Katie was starting to lose her sense of humor, which means the shopping day has ended.

She was in bed for the night by 5:30 tonight. All this shopping is wearing her out! I do think it is a little overwhelming for her to be seeing so much when she probably hadn't left the orphanage before last week. She has a great time, though, and we only do what she seems up for. She loves to be carried or ride in her stroller. I can't wait to get home so that Alex, Katie and I can go on adventures together. We're going to have a great time!

Katie napping while we had our late lunch at the Chinese restaurant.

Here is the tank where I picked out my grouper. (Note that the weather is not being kind to my hair, so I look like something that came out of the tank. Tomorrow, we got to the glasses market so that I can get some eye glasses that I like a little better for cheap! I'm wearing these a lot here because the smog is hard on my contacts.)

I can't ever get the pictures to post in order right, but this is the inside of the clinic where Katie had her medical exam this morning.

Hey, Terri, see anything familiar??? These are the silkworms at the restaurant which you can select as an entree. I am going to try these, but probably with a group. I am also going to try the fried pigeon, which our guides recommend. I was trying not to scare mom off the first time we ate there.

These are the beef & mushroom and grouper & veggie entrees we enjoyed as a part of our lunch. The presentation is very nice, particularly for $3-4 US. You can't even eat cheap Chinese in the US for that, and this was as good as the best Chinese I've had in the US.

Grandma showing Katie the pearls she'll get when she's older.

A woman in the pearl shop knotting our strands of pearls. There were thousands of strands with many different types of pearls available.

Katie wearing Grandma's new necklace (pink freshwater pearls) and admiring a couple of jade bracelets. I think she likes jewelry (hint, hint). She's also working hard to add 2 more teeth to the ones you see pictured.