Meltdown #2

A second meltdown occurred today in Guangzhou; this time the epicenter was at the White Swan Hotel. It occurred during the legendary ‘red couch’ photo session. That awesome gold, dragon-embroidered, kung-fu outfit that Ty picked out yesterday? Yeah, well today he decided he didn’t like it so much. In fact, he disliked it so much that he threw himself on the floor and went hysterical. So, for a second day in a row he went ballistic. There’s something about the larger group that just throws him off – he panics and there is nothing that will soothe him. Even after we extracted him from the situation and had him alone on a different floor he wouldn’t calm down. So, we are the only family to ever come through Guangzhou with an adopted child that didn’t get the legendary ‘red couch shot’. He was a perfect angel the rest of the day – well not really but he was a perfectly normal 4 year old kid for the rest of the day: dancing, flushing things down the toilet, talking snuffly Mandarin – normal kid stuff.

Speaking of which, tomorrow is Ty’s 4th birthday. Too cool. And for his birthday we’ve given him a billion toys and a forever family and are taking him to America for the rest of his life. At least that’s what I say. Melissa says we need to wrap something for him…like the adoption certificate! Wait, that’s me again. We’ll do something special I’m sure. I’ll let you know what we come up with tomorrow.

Where was I…oh the meltdown. So, while everyone else went to a church service at a beautiful 19th century church , Ty was status post tantrum and still fragile so we missed the service. We went to Starbucks instead. And let me tell you, we’ve been pretty adventurous on this China journey, but there is just something comfortable about a Starbucks. And it’s not just the air conditioning…The coffee tastes like Starbucks. And the soft jazz and sofas and smell of ground beans can make you forget for a moment that you are in the middle of a completely foreign country that is actually located several million miles closer to the sun than Virginia is. Your sweat drenched shorts and shirt can dry off a bit and your son can flirt with the Chinese girl across the room by giving her Skittles and running away. Ah Starbucks.

After a long time chilling out at Starbucks, we met up with the group at a Cantonese restaurant that had a live fish market out front. All the usual fish market stuff was there – lobster, grouper, clams, sandworms, snakes, water beetles, tadpoles, frogs, eels, silkworms, etc. It was awesome and disgusting. I’ve included a few photos.

Grandma Lili had a breakthrough this morning: Ty ran to her room and gave her hug AND a kiss. This was a never before moment. He’s been a turkey to her a lot this trip so, it was a big deal that he voluntarily ran into her arms. I feel like we are breaking down boundaries every day, even if he has had a few meltdowns. He is talking more and more and getting more adventurous. But also more resistant to going to sleep. Last week he was on his best behavior, now that he knows we can’t take him back he is pushing it. Nevertheless we LOVE him.

Today Ty learned the words ‘bus’, ‘car’ and ‘van’ and learned how to tell them apart with at least 70% accuracy. He’s also learned to count to four about half the time I prompt him. He had his first ice cream cone ever today as well. McD'd soft serve. We know b/c he had no idea what to do with it. We had to show him how to lick it and when he got down to the cone he kept shoving his nose and lips down into the cone to get at the diminishing ice cream. When we showed him that he could EAT the cone his eyes lit up in wonder! A bowl you can eat - what will they think of next? But best of all, today Ty learned how to pee standing up - thanks to a full ladies room and a low standing urinal in the men’s room at McDonald’s. I've never seen a kid so excited. He immediatly ran out side and had to tell his mom what a big boy he was - in Mandarin so I had to translate. Now he does it every chance he gets and struts like a proud peacock afterwards. It is really funny. That’s my boy!

Well, I just left Melis and a finally sleeping Ty to post this. In Chongqing we were on the Executive Floor and had free internet. Here we have to pay for it (not); so every night I have to schlep down to the Starbucks in the lobby to boost their free wi-fi. If our posting or e-mails slow down, it’s b/c of intermittent connectivity…or the folks at Starbucks have gotten wise to me.

I do want to thank all of you who have been encouraging us through your emails and posts on the blogs. They mean a lot to us and have kept us in high spirits. Every night Melissa and I make a point to run down our list of things we want make sure get into the blog. This thing has taken on a life of it’s own and we appreciate the support. Tyson will be able to read these posts some day and laugh at what a booger he was and see how loved he was from afar before he ever met any of you. So, thanks a ton for all the prayers and warm wishes. It is so nice that this little orphan from a country across the globe (and a few million miles closer to the sun) has such a great ‘fan club’. He is a lucky boy indeed.

Blog you later...

PS I've been sitting in Starbucks for the last hour trying to upload pictures but the server is acting reall S-L-O-W. So no more pics tonight. Too bad b/c I really wanted to post the bucket of worms picture we got - and Ty's first cone. Maybe tomorrow.