Uneventful!

After such an emotional day yesterday, I'm pleased to report today was relatively uneventful! We met up with two other families this morning and headed over to Shamian Island to get Amanda's requisite medical examinations and TB test done. It was really all more of a formality, so we were in and out pretty quickly (especially considering there were at least 50 other families at the clinic with us!). We then walked around a bit down the quiet tree-lined streets, played for a while on a playground (sliding was GREAT fun!) and then headed to lunch at Lucy's (a very popular Americanized restaurant for adoptive families!) On the drive back to the hotel, it was Jason's turn to have Amanda fall asleep on him. BahBah was loving it!

We had the afternoon to ourselves and we realized that we're quickly running out of entertainment options  to fill our last week here. However, we did discover a toy store at the top of the mall across the street today, so that was a big hit! We've been filling a lot of our "free time" here with meals out... we've tried many different places including several Chinese restaurants, Italian, and even Pizza Hut and McDonalds! I'm going to have to figure out a way to get back on a regular diet pretty quickly after I get home - the jeans are getting snug! :) 

It was fun hanging out with the other families today and hearing their stories. They both have actually adopted before, so it's been really interesting to hear their past experiences and how their current one compares. Their children are all just beautiful. It's such a joy to see how different the kids all are and watching their personalities come alive under all this new attention. 

Amanda is learning more and more every day. She loves to give kisses all the time now and even repeats back to us "Waw eye nee" (Chinese for "I love you"). But even better, today she started saying it in English too - "I sha yo". ;) She's amazingly well potty-trained - even though she's had diarrhea until today, she's been completely clean and dry except at nap time and bedtime. But, this had also led to some interesting public potty experiences. As I mentioned before, that can be an adventure. Typically there are only squatty potties, so it can be a challenge helping a little three-year-old get out of one pant leg (without her foot touching the not-so-clean floor) so she can squat over the toilet without messing up her clothes. It's been a big learning curve, but I think we've got it down now! 

It feels odd that it's New Year's Eve here and will officially be 2012 in just a few hours - hard to believe we'll be ringing in the New Year before our boys!  Our celebration will consist of some wine, a DVD episode of 24, and sleeping in a room with our sweet baby girl. Low key, but likely one we won't forget! Happy New Year!