The Last Day

Our last day in China was decidedly anticlimactic.

Breakfast went good for Heidi. 

She ate a big bowl of oatmeal but when she was finished she was very unhappy. Back arched, stiff bodied, screaming unhappy. 

I took her back to our room so Trent could eat. I was admittedly frustrated by the time I got back to our room because she flopped and flailed about so much that I wasn’t able to scan our room card in the elevator. So it took me down to the ground floor where I felt like I was holding a slippery eel under my arm who can’t walk or stand for more than 3 seconds when she’s in a good mood. By the time we made it to our room I laid her on the floor in front of the mirror with her toys so she could pitch her fit while I brushed my teeth. 

As soon as I walked into the bathroom she stopped crying. I think the little minx has learned that crying gets her a reaction. She’s not used to having her needs met when she cries and now that it happens she’s taking full advantage. 

She was still mad at me here, I think, but she was done with her fit.  

Our day was actually quite boring. We walked to a couple shops to get some last minute gifts. We wanted to go to the little side street again to get a dessert at a local bakery. Only 9 Yuan (just over $1) for a big slice of cake. 

I thought it was cheesecake with a date on top. It was some light, spongy cake with a grape and little chocolate wafer type thing. It felt very Chinese, as in not very sweet, not heavy. I don’t have a sweet tooth so I quite liked it. 

When we returned from our walk we decided to start thinking about packing our bags. This actually took a bit of time. Heidi was so sweet when we were packing.

I was sitting on the floor and she would come up behind me and grab the back of my dress. When I would turn my head to look at her she would laugh and smile. She played so nice for so long. We were glad we decided to stay back at the hotel room rather than go anywhere else. 

At noon we picked up Heidi’s passport with her US visa inside. All was as it should be! 

Heidi took a nap and I read a book and then also napped for awhile and Trent did the same. 

Heidi woke up screaming at 4:30 from her nap. Trent and I both took turns holding, walking, jostling, cajoling, and doing anything we could to make her stop. We gave her some Tylenol since we can see a tooth starting to come through. Nothing worked. We had hoped to eat out one last time with the friends we made here but knew it wasn’t in Heidi’s best interest. 

Finally, after an hour of her screaming at us, we laid her back down in the pack-n-play. It still took some time but she did stop crying. Trent went to our new favorite Muslim Noodle Shop and got take away. 

Because he loves me he got three dishes. We couldn’t finish them all but I just love these cucumbers and they’re so cheap! The dumplings were amazing, as well. Trent got some spaghetti with a pepper and onion sauce. Pretty good stuff!

After dinner Heidi ate a big bowl of her baby rice cereal. I mashed up half of a banana in it and she did well. She seemed ready to play after she ate. 

She picked this rattle up off the couch and dropped it on the floor for a long time. It was really good to see her actually showing interest in a toy and using it the way a typical baby would. 

She still doesn’t have the strength or skill of hand that a child her age should, but I have confidence in what she can learn. 

After her bath we got to FaceTime with her sisters. Ruthie was having speech therapy so we didn’t get to talk to her but the other girls all seemed to be doing well. 

We leave our hotel at 7 am to get to the airport in Guangzhou. We leave from GZ at 11:00 am and arrive to Hong Kong around 12:30. We, unfortunately, have about 6 hours in the Hong Kong airport so won’t leave until Friday around 6 pm. Thankfully we go back in time on the way home so should get to Newark, NJ on Friday night around 10:30 pm. 

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. Hopefully Heidi got her yelling out of her system and she’ll be a happy camper all the way home. 

We can hope, right?