September 18- Big day to celebrate!

Today, we all had to wake up early, get dressed, and eat breakfast all before 7:30 am!  That meant that we had to wake up at 6:30 am-- earlier than we've ever had to wake up.  Why?  Today was our early appointment at the US Consulate office in Guangzhou!  We went through a brief interview process and exchanged paperwork so that our son's visa could be processed and we could come home together as a family.  Normally these visas can take two additional days to process, but we learned today that ours should be ready by tomorrow afternoon.  Unfortunately, it's too much of a hassle to change flight schedules and come home early, or we would have done so!

While at the consulate office, we noticed that one of Gabriel's arms had a series of bumps and scratches on it in kind of a patch.  I didn't think it looked like scabies, since usually that is seen in the webbing between the fingers and toes (and no signs there), but one of the other adoptive mamas looked at it, and said, "Oh... uh... I think he probably has scabies."  Then, another adoptive mama saw it and said, "I'm a doctor.  That's not scabies-- probably just an allergic reaction or eczema.  We double checked it quickly with a doctor at the international clinic across from the Consulate, and all it well.  He thought it was a mosquito bite, but our guide said it was probably some other kind of bug bite.  Whatever it was, he scratched it quite a bit last night.  There are a few other red spots on our little guy, but mostly likely those are eczema spots, too.  We're used to seeing that with Gabriel, so he'll switch over to Gabriel's eczema body wash and shampoo when we get home.

After the Consulate office, we went to a Chinese mall just to walk around.  Howie got at least one picture there, and we had Burger King for lunch.  Not much better than Burger King in the states, I have to say, but Andrew liked dipping his chicken nuggest in the sweet and sour sauce and did a good job of taking small bites of the nuggets, too, so that's a success!

After the mall, we all went back to the hotel and had a two hour nap, and after that, my back felt soooo much better.  It's still a bit sore tonight, but if I keep up with the Tylenol, it tends to keep the pain at bay a bit.  Also, I have to avoid walking on ramps and picking Andrew up from the bottom of the van when he wiggles out of Howie's or my arms while we're in transit someplace.  I have to limit that and steer him over to Howie's side of the van when that happens.  Thank goodness he'll have a carseat when home!  I'm sure he'll hate it, but we will love it!

Today was also our anniversary, so this made the day extra special.  After playing in the kiddie area with Andrew for a bit, we decided to eat al a carte at the downstairs cafeteria where we normally only have breakfast.  We spent a little more that usual on dinner, but it was our anniversary, after all, we were able to have pasta with meat sauce to celebrate.  Now, we're just hoping that the fresh parsley on top of our meal doesn't negatively affect us.  Howie ate most of his, and I picked the majority of mine off, but we're not supposed to have fresh, uncooked veggie or fruit that could have been contaminated by the water here.  We can't even use the water here to brush our teeth, so to be extra cautious after dinner, we ate a couple of pepto pills to coat our stomachs.  Wish us well!  So far, so good!

Tonight, after dinner and Andrew's bath (which he really needed after trying to drink some leftover congee), we were able to Skype with Howie's dad, which was nice.  During and after this, Andrew was completely wound up, so we once again went walking a little outside, went walking down our floor, went walking in the lobby just to try to get Andrew in the mood to fall asleep.  By the time we reached our room , he had rubbed his eyes a little bit but was still far from sleep.  We placed him in the crib which reulted in loud cries and big tears and then put him in our bed.  It probably took him 15-20 minutes to fall asleep, but that was all.  Not too bad.

Here are some pictures from today.  Really, though, you just have to meet this little guy.  The pictures just don't let you in to his full, happy, mischievous personality.   Oh, and if anyone has ideas on how to keep a 22 month old entertained on the plane ride home, let us know!  Gabriel, only two months older when adopted, was already very familiar with technology and willingly watched some movies and in general just played with the screen in front of us on the plane ride home.  Andrew shows no interest in technology whatsoever, which in general is good, but then we're left with the big question.  What are we going to do?  He throws every single toy he is given just for sport, and he puts things in his mouth, which means crayons are not an option.  If anyone else has suggestions, we're willing to take them!  :)  

Hope you are all doing well!

Blessings,
Jennifer