Quiet day in Guangzhou

Samuel is continuing to do amazingly well.  He has been mimicking lots of words, but today as Matt came into the room, he pointed and said, "Baba!"  That's Chinese for Daddy.  Sweet, sweet moment.

Our daughters continue to be amazing.  Samuel loves his sisters and they love him.

Below, you will see Samuel's ornery look.  He is definitely a little stinker.  We are working on that balance between making sure he completely trusts us and teaching him what no means.  We've tried no in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.  He doesn't respond appropriately to any of them, so I suspect he understands and is just being stubborn. 

We decided to try to swimming pool today.  When we stopped to take his t-shirt off in anticipation of swimming, he dropped his drawers too.  I was laughing so hard, it was hard to help him get them back up.  As far as swimming, it was an epic fail.  The water was cold and Samuel hated it.  I should have known that.  We ventured out to a store today and got some more Diet Pepsi and snacks, as well as a stroller for Samuel.  He just gets winded really easily we have too much walking ahead of us to carry him everywhere.  He cried really hard the first time we put him into it, but decided quickly that it was not only okay, but fun.  He giggled every time we hit a bump in the sidewalk. 

Just paused posting for a serious Samuel melt down.  His sisters have their own room and he did not want them to leave.  I then put him into the bath, further making him mad.  We saw some serious temper, but Daddy's firm "no" stopped the fit in its tracks.  He's now snuggled up in Daddy's lap.  I'm thinking we have some nasty show downs in our future, but I think the fact that he's comfortable enough to show his temper is actually probably a good thing.  Can't be all roses, huh?

Enough for that...gotta go back to the cuteness.

We made a trip to the police station today and had Samuel's picture taken for his passport.  He was a little sleepy and enjoyed a snuggle with Courtney.

Here's a video we took at Pizza Hut.  Yes, Pizza Hut is our favorite place here.  The pizza is really good as long as you avoid some of the more creative pizza toppings.  Interesting note...at Pizza Hut you can get everything from pizza to pasta to steak.  Made me think of Taco Bell in the movie Demolition Man.

 

I look forward to hearing those words voluntarily and with him completely understanding what he is saying.

~Martha

 

 

Martha gave you a good description of the day's events.  Tomorrow is a busy day.  I don't look forward to taking Samuel for his physical appointment.  It isn't going to be pretty.  As Martha mentioned, Samuel has been testing us a little more.  Maybe it's me being a "glass half full" kind of person, but I do believe that's a good sign.  It's a part of the process.  He's going to test the boundaries and we've got to set them.  Neither of us relish this, but as sweet as he is, he's also a strong-willed five-year-old boy.  He needs to know we love him enough to set and enforce the boundaries.  I get tickled at the girls.  They hate it if I get the least bit stern with him.  Today he was reaching to stick his finger in an electrical recept and I said "No."  He stopped, looked at me and turned back to the recept.  I jumped up and slapped his hand away before he got his little finger in it.  He frowned at me and held his hand, but walked away.  I thought the girls were going to beat me up, though.  I was the bad guy with all 3 kids for a little while, but it didn't take long before we were all on good terms again.  Such is the life of a dad with a new son.

 

Wouldn't trade it for anything!!!

 

~ Matthew

 

"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."  Proverbs 22:6