I'm writing on Monday afternoon, 3pm our time. We just tried to do "nap time" with Cora, and for the first time, she wasn't having it. She is starting to assert herself more - choosing what she wants to eat, choosing her clothes in the morning, and crying when she decided that 3pm was not a good time for napping! At first she would pretty much eat anything we gave her, but now she is picking out the vegetables - I think we might have another Sophie on our hands. We had noodle soup last night, and she thought it was really funny to pick out the carrots, and give them to us. Also pick out the cabbage from the spring rolls. Oh, and she decided to wear her long sleeve pajama top this morning, even though it's 95 degrees. But it's great to see her becoming comfortable and doing regular 5 yr old things! Of course we are totally spoiling her, and caved on the napping. Time enough for that stuff when we are home.
We did the Safari Park on Sunday. Just James, Sophie, Cora and I, and our guide Richard. It was a cool place! We got to ride the train around in the open - ish safari area. You could also drive your car through it you wanted. Cora made a few scared faces when she first saw the animals, but then was big smiles! It's a pretty huge zoo, and was very nice. Has a waterpark, a circus, an alligator part, and a few other extras. You could spend like 2 days there to see it all. But since it was hot as hell, we thought about 4 hours was enough. And of course there are about a bazillion people there. We actually didn't see any other Westerners the whole time? That was kind of strange now that I think about it. Cora walked almost the whole time, and is a total trooper. She is a super fast walker, and i kept thinking she must be exhausted? Sophie complained quite a bit at the end, as she was dying of heat. But she also did fairly well with it. Toward the end Cora was wanting me to hold her, which I loved, of course. Even though she's 38 lbs, I still love to hold her as much as I can :)
We were beat when we got back, so we just hung out in the room and played until dinner. We ended up going to a Thai restaurant, called Banana Leaf. Man, it was crazy!! Super busy, and there were these dancers/singers performing around the dining room. I can not imagine what Cora thought - it was over stimulation even for us! But the food was awesome, and the kids took it all in. Our friends' kids went up and danced with them for a while - Cora and Sophie just watched from the sidelines, and it was all good.
Oh, Cora has discovered the stroller, and is obsessed. Our friends had one for their 3 1/2 yr old, and we thought we'd try it with her for the long walks. I thought for sure she'd be like, "no way!", cause she is pretty independent, but nope. She LOVES it! She never got to do the stroller, and we're giving her the full princess treatment with it. Carrying her up and down stairs and the whole bit. Pretty funny.
Today I went swimming on my own in the morning for a workout. I told Cora with the google translator that i was going out, and would come back. Don't know if she understood, but either way, she was totally fine with James and Sophie. So I was happy about that! Then we did breakfast, and met our guide for some shopping. We hit the Pearl Market, then Shaiman Island - many adoptive families stay on the island. It's really quiet, lots of tree lined streets and european architecture. It's pretty cool! And then lots of shopping for souvenirs and stuff. We did our duty, and bought a bunch of stuff we probably will never use, and some gifts. But it was fun! And then we hit the electronics market on the way back. You would not believe the volume of phone and tablet accessories in one square block. Kind of crazy, all knock offs, and super cheap.
James and Cora are doing playdoh right now, sophie is "tableting". I think we'll go hit the pool in a bit.
It almost feels like just normal life, except we are living in a hotel. Oh, and Cora can't understand what we are saying! I wish she'd start talking more, but I know that will come. She just laughs and laughs, and does funny things all the time. She loves to look at the photo albums, though and will point to us and say our names.
Tomorrow we have the Consulate appointment at 10:30am. And then the afternoon free. Wednesday is a free day, and Thursday fly home!!
See you all soon!!
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