Another day in Guangzhou/The Zoo

We went to the Guangzhou Zoo today.   FIrst of all the day started off prety well.  Chaun was in a good mood.  Rainy and wet was the outside weather but the weather here is a lot like home, so if you just wait around it will usually change.  We went to the zoo last time and other than the tiger cages being just way to small, I think it is a nice zoo.  Lots of walking and exercise for the big kids and Liam was satisfied either in his stroller or walking around in his new squeaky shoes. 

Chuan apparently asked our guide about the "shows" at the zoo and she told him there wer no more shows.  I was not aware of this until late in our visit when we walked past one of the animal show areas and Chuan started pitching his classic fit.   Well, he was was hollering at Eva that she lied to him and he wanted to go to the show.  He continued to holler and holler and cry and cry.  At one point he stopped and refused to walk any more and would not keep up with our group, so I took his arm to pull him along a little.  After that he did the "my legs are noodles" thing so Paula picked Liam out of the stroller and I put Chuan in.  I'm not sure if he understood my point but what I meant was "if you act like a baby, you get treated like a baby".  So I guess he got it because he told the guide he was not a baby and started dragging his feet in the front of the stroller.  Then I popped a wheelie with the stroller and just continued to push.  He is very smart because after about a minute of this he stopped crying and told the guide he would stop crying if he can get out of the stroller.  We of course agreed and he was ok after that.  He was mad at her and walked with his friend and his dad at first, then went and held Eva's hand for a while.  He was a little quiet on the bus ride home, but then we all went to Lucy's and I let him sit with his friend and his family, we were all in one room together.  He came to me to order his food and tell me what he wanted. 

I think he must have some anger about people "lying" to him or what he perceives as a lie.  I was not even aware of the conversation about the shows with the guide but I probably would have handled it a little differently.  She did, in fact lie to him.  I would have just told him there were more shows, but we decided to ride the amusement rides instead plus the shows were not until later and we needed to leave before the shows.  He still may have thrown the fit, but at least his trust in adults might be a little less damaged.  Who knows what other lies he had been told in the orphanage?  Well, I know one and that's the lie that your new parents will buy you anything and everything you want.  So I guess we're already on strike 2?

We came back to our hotel and the kids played again in the playroom.  No more fits, no fussing.  He wanted me to help him with his bath and he does not hold a grudge.  Tonight he is writting down the names of all his friends at the orphanage.  I wanted him to do this so he doesn't forget how to write their names.  So far we have all boys, 6 of them and one girl who is coming to live nearby in Louisiana in January. 

TOmorrow is our last day and we will say goodbye to our new friends from Miami as well as some of the other great families we have met here in China.  OUr friends from Shanxi are already home by  now, hopefully settling in.  Please pray for our little one's hearts as they leave the only home they have ever known.  It is such a scary thing to get on that plane headed toward what is not known.  Pray for our friend's flights and especially that connections go smoothly as some of them are a little tighter than they should be.  And pray that God opens our children's hearts to the love their families at home are waiting to pour out to them.

From China, Amanda Paula, Liam and Chuan.