Hi all, so my congestion was allergies – I took Allegra and got the smoke filled clothes out of the room and I’m feeling a ton better.

Guangzhou is nice and hot and tropical in feel. We’ve not gotten too much out yet – we made it out to our pre-visa medical exam and got to explore that area a little bit.

Breakfast this morning was nice. Guangzhou is the final stop for all adoptive families and the Marriott is a popular hotel because of its resort like feel so breakfast had a number of white parents/asian kid families sitting around getting to know each other. We got a chance to meet up again with several families in our travel group from last night and see their little girls. Seriously, they will melt your heart they are so beautiful. It’s nice to see many of these families +5 days or so from Gotcha day where they are just beginning to taste the grace and goodness of family life and it’s just magical. Being able to see a child feel deeply love and care and see them relax their whole body and lean into love is just something to behold; we caught up with Brendan’s friend Hudson and his family and even seeing him Monday and today – he looks like an entirely different boy – he had a worried look on his face and just a stark fear on Monday – and today he’s laughing and waving and holding hands and beginning to understand that he is an Erdzi – a son – what that means we’re all still trying to grasp.

The hotel is just opulent. I sat down a little bit this afternoon in the lobby to take it in. Pictures don’t really do it justice – throughout all of it, an asian version of the Hotel Costes CDs is playing – I almost want to ask what it is on the CD player.

Brendan continues to open up. We played a bit this afternoon with play doh and it worked out really well. He’s 5 and things just are amazing and new and everything he sees makes him wide-eyed. Play Doh was that. Where I was getting, actually, bored he just kept wanting to experience it.

His lovey is turning out to be his photo album of us. He keeps it with him wherever he goes and doesn’t let go. Yesterday in the room he would pull it out and yell GUH GUH, ba ba, ma ma, etc. (yes, I know, it’s phonetic mandarin). Amy, our guide, got the idea to put Brendan’s picture in the book as well and that melted his heart. It was true gospel to see his whole body react to that truth that he is part of our family.

This afternoon, even more so. I learned Erdzi – Mandarin for son – and started to point to Brendan and call him Erdzi. Every time I said the word, it was like magic – his whole body reacted to it and he was getting more joyful. Now the book is even more important because everyone has a title…everyone has a name…everyone has value. Leaning into love with all the hurt and vulnerability it brings ultimately brings rewards; this afternoon was my favorite so far this trip.

Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant. Really, everything is just so crazy. We had Tempura, grill, etc. and it was just the best we’d had. The chef was amazing to watch. Everything had order and purpose and there was no sloppiness – even in his dress. There’s art and purpose and efficiency in everything.

Ok, so tomorrow is sight seeing while we wait, Monday our TB test, shopping and Tuesday is our appointment at the Consulate. Thursday we go to Hong Kong and Friday we fly.

Pray for my heart. As I bond with one son and grow to love him, my other is 8000 miles away and I had to leave him tonight with “the next saturday you wake up, we’ll be together.”

Love to you all.

p.s. Monday is our 13th anniversary. Where has the time gone??