Sunday in Nanjing

We had arrived from Shanghai to Nanjing on Saturday evening, and were quite tired from the trip, and from waiting for our driver, who apparently went to the wrong railway station first. When we got to the hotel that evening I tried to explain to the hotel receptionist that we wanted to upgrade to a suite, as I knew from our last hotel that having two little ones for a week in a regular room was going to be a bit of a challenge. The lady helping me could not understand what I was asking for, though, and asked me to draw it. Then she said, "Oh, you mean a suit! Yes, we can give you a free upgrade to a suit." I don't know if she felt sorry for all of the effort I had to go through to explain it, but I am so glad that she bumped us up to a nicer room free of charge! It is a great room, and allows Stephen to have a separate sleeping area, and some quiet time when needed, and for the kiddos to have more space to run around and play with their toys.

We started of the day with the hotel's amazing buffet breakfast. The choices of food went on forever! We had figured out what Annie liked at the last hotel, so we had to start over a bit at this one. Surprisingly she doesn't like the congee (rice porridge) that kids usually eat here for breakfast. She has no trouble letting us know what she likes and doesn't like, though, and we are still working on having her not spit out the undesirable things, or put them onto other people's plates.

Next we decided to take a walk around the area surrounding the hotel. There were lots of people out on a Sunday morning. It didn't take long for one older lady to come by and say hello to Annie, and to tell me that I didn't have enough clothes on her. I had four layers on top, including a down coat, but apparently not enough on the bottom! Kiddos here are dressed in layers and layers of clothing to where they sometimes look like they are ready to pop, and even though their little faces are often rosy, they seem to be ok with it. I gave in and went back to the hotel room and put another layer of leggings on her so that I didn't have to have any more fingers wagged at me during the day. Then we headed back out to continue exploring.

The hotel is connected to a really nice mall that is half indoor, half outdoor, and has a neat main floor with a waterway that goes through it with lots of colorful structures to look at as you walk through. You enter from the hotel through a Brookstone that is like ours in the U.S., but on steroids! They have mini robots, and all sorts of other very high tech stuff that you usually only see on t.v. back at home.

We came across a small piano store with a small (and somewhat out of tune) baby grand piano, and Stephen asked the ladies inside if he could play. He started playing Rachmaninoff, and the ladies whipped their phones out and started videotaping him!

Then we went into a children's department store that was amazing! All around there were areas set up for kids to try out different toys, and then lots of different stations where kids could do different kinds of crafts with the workers there while the mommies sat and watched.

Our big purchase of the day was from a little kiosk that sold cheep kids toys. They had a little baby stroller that collapses, and a plastic dolly whose arm falls out of its socket if you aren't careful. Annie loves it! Back in our hotel she pushed that stroller around the room over and over again!

In the late afternoon we took Annie to church for her first Mass. We decided to go to the one in Mandarin, and I am so glad that we did! This is Nanjing's only Catholic church, and it has an amazing history dating back to the late 1500s. The church was packed, and it was great for Annie to hear people from her country of origin singing and worshiping Jesus for the first time in her native language. It was a beautiful Mass, and such a joy to be among fellow Christians there in China!

Back at the hotel we decided to order room service, which is surprisingly not that expensive, and so worth it to have a quiet evening in. We ordered spaghetti, which was a huge hit with Annie, who kept having more and more helpings! Then we played a bit more before winding down and heading to bed.

At one point Annie handed me her cup and snuggled across my lap for me to hold her like a baby. You know I ate that up! She is so precious, and funny, and sweet. She does have a little bit of a princess syndrome, but even that is cute. When she doesn't want something she will purse her lips a bit and look down and give her head a little shake. She is also super smart, and is picking up English so quickly!

Monday is our big day to pick up Wyatt!!! I can't wait to see what his little personality is like, and how he and Annie react to one another. I have a good feeling about it, as we have really talked to her via the guide and Google translate about how she is going to be a big sister and help Mommy to take care of little brother, which she seems enthusiastic about. She also has enjoyed coming across other little boys on our excursions, and even offered some of her sweet tart candies to one little guy. I am sure there will be many ups and downs, just as there are with biological siblings, but I am hoping for the best!