Day 9

I am officially mentally done with being here. Because I am still the only person Lulu allows to hold her, I am on all the time. Every diaper change, every bath, every feeding, every rock to sleep. And, if I should disappear for a few moments (eg to wash my hands), she starts wailing. While all of these are truly enjoyable taking care of her, I would really like to be able to have an hour to myself. And a book in English. And, while I am at it, a super good shoulder massage with a masseuse who doesn't fall asleep mid-way (love you Neal!). Anyway, just wanted to make sure people don't think I've lost my ability to complain...

We want to a Buddhist temple today including a 6 Banyan Tower Something that honored the monk who started Zen Buddhism who happened to be Chinese..or something like that. I started to lost focus when Lulu started to fuss. I had her in the back pouch -- which normally she loves. But she started to fuss and I started to bounce and sway (which usually quiets her). Then, from nowhere, a woman in a guide uniform appears in front of me and passes me a package with crackers and points to Lulu and rubs her stomach to indicate she thinks Lulu is hungry. Which is impossible since she had just eaten. But, I figured I would give it a try. It is always embarrassing when a total stranger knows your child better than you. Lulu LOVED the crackers and was happy not only for the rest of the tour, but for the entire car ride home. Yeah! Based on advice from our guide, we have been trying to keep Lulu's food simple and as close to what she ate in the orphanage as possible -- bottles with formula and cereal and a little congee in the morning. We have graduated to cereal from a spoon -- which she loves -- but, tried to hold off on doing anything more until we are home. But, I figured a Chinese person knows what is OK for a Chinese baby so I passed the cracker on to Lulu with no ill effects (at least not so far). We are really torn on what to feed Lulu -- she clearly wants more than what we are giving her, and she is getting so big that we feel she NEEDS more than just a bottle and cereal. But, we don't want to push our luck while so far away from our home and familiar doctors. We were already scolded for giving her cold yogurt.

At the Buddhist temple we also had a monk give a blessing for adopted children (please ignore the fact that we are bowing down to false idols). It was very meaningful and I was totally transfixed by the monk's awesome outfit -- gray hammer-time pants and matching Nehru-style jacket. I may be losing focus...