The Other Shoe Has Dropped...

We were joking on the bus yesterday about how all the babies were doing great, or at least OK, and that we were waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. Today, it dropped for us.

The day started out just fine and the three of us were having some play time in the room before heading down to breakfast and Angie said Aidan is so easy to deal with, we really must have paid our dues somewhere along the line. She meant dealing with Mr. Strong Willed Alex must have earned us some brownie points because Aidan is so easy going. Enter Mr. Semi Strong Willed Aidan.

A few of us from the adoption group took a bus to see the Yunnan Nationalities Village, an Epcot style park that sits on over 3000 acres. The park is built to showcase all 26 ethnic minorities in the Yunnan province. To date, 13 have a working tourist trap, I mean beautifully decorated and authentic buildings and costumes from their heritage. Trinket sales abound, of which we bartered for a few. The 3 hour walk carrying Aidan left me weak in the knees and biceps. He is, after all, a big boy. But we saw some very pretty sites in the park and took some interesting pictures:

If you have noticed most of the pictures of Aidan are with me in the shot. That's because I am the preferred provider at the moment and Angie is chopped liver. We are waiting for the ultimate bonding experience to occur. It's not bad, but Aidan always seems to want his Baba. Angie is a little chagrined, but happy that I was the one who carried him around the park for three hours. Above is a rare glimpse into the Mother/Son relationship.

We wrapped up at the village about noon and loaded the little bus for a 40 minute ride back to the hotel. We were figuring a quick lunch and then naptime, yeah! Ten mintues from the hotel Aidan was out like a light, but OK, up to bed he goes for his two hour nap. Up until now he has slept great. Down by 9PM and up when we rouse him in the AM. Napped two hours each day so far. But today when we got to the room and took off his shoes and jacket and laid him down he woke up and the nap was ruined. So we were stuck without lunch, and with a little guy who was a complete grouch the rest of the day. We tried our best to kill time in the room and spend time in the hotel play area. As the afternoon wore on, nothing would please Mr. SSW (see above). Fits of rage and throwing things became the norm. A hungry and tired boy he was! His true colors shining through for all in the hotel to see. We waited what was an eternity for the hotel dinner buffet to open up and finally got some food in him and us. All was well, sort of.

I have mentioned that Aidan is a prodigious and religious eater. And the law of physics about equal and opposite reactions comes into play, if you get my drift. Right after dinner I brought Aidan up for an early bath as Angie was paying the bill in the restaurant. The bath water was started and Aidan was undressing himself since he loves taking a bath. We got to the diaper and as I stripped it off thought to myself - "Hmmmm, no #2 recently. Matter of fact, none today yet." Into the tub he went. Soon came Angie knocking on the door and I quickly let her in. As we both went back to Aidan and the tub she was the first one to see it. What is that floating in the tub? AAAHHH - he's pooping! Now, we've seen this before with Alex, so no cause for alarm, just cause for two tired parents ready to go home to come a little bit unglued at each other and fight over who was going in for the clean up. I had dibs on Aidan so I scooped him up and sat him sideways on the potty because he wasn't finished yet. While trying to hold him there, he continued on his merry way squirming the entire time. So I've got this wet, slippery, squirming body in my still weakened arms from this morning's hike. Angie started cleaning and sanitizing the tub with a bottle of Listerine mouthwash. In the mean time Aidan is wanting to stand on the toilet seat and I'm trying to hold him down in a sitting position. Silly me. I finally let him stand and he immediately went into a squat like he was taught and finished his mission. Just like a squatty potty! He tried to stand in the toilet a few times but I wouldn't go for that trick. Finally got him bathed and PJed and into the crib, and despite how tired he was he still put up a fight. But he was asleep by 8 and we could have some peace. My apologies there were no pictures for this story.

Tomorrow we all go by bus to the orphanage where our babies stayed, that is when they were not with a foster family. We also will take a cab ride to the "finding spot" - the location where it was reported the baby was found abandoned. I will post pictures.

Still hanging in there, can't wait to get home, and we are halfway through our adventure.