A day at the Zoo

This morning we visited the Guangzhou Zoo, which is the second largest zoo in China next to Beijing! The day started off a little rough because we've been trying to figure out what to do w/Nate @bedtime. There is only one king size bed in our room, plus the crib that I guess the hotel figures every adopted child is going to sleep in. Not the case w/this little man! The first night, we made do w/the chaise lounge and some pillows. Mama felt bad about that so, you guessed it, last night he sleeps w/us. Seems as though Nathaniel also has a future in soccer once he gets older. Denise was restless most of the night and woke up tired. Needless to say, the show must go on. So, down to breakfast, mostly milk today and some egg, rice, noodles. That seemed to be the staple of his mornings while in the orphanage so I wonder if he is tired of it. Denise gets worried he doesn't eat "a lot". But he makes up for it w/milk, Graduates cereal, and other trappings from our plates! After breakfast comes bath time. The bathroom is setup quite uniquely. There is a glass window that looks into our room from it and the bathroom itself is laid out thus:

First area: sink and toilet. Through a glass door you enter the stand-up shower and the tub which is situated lengthwise along that glass window. Long story short, he is able to take his bath and make a huge mess because it only goes one way, towards the shower drain. That will have to change when we get state side! After bath it usually is the Smith tag team show to get him dressed. Once mass hysteria has subsided from the dressing, it's back to the lobby and off to the zoo. He seemed to do pretty well, most of the animals intrigued him, however a few still intimidate. Again, he was tied to his mother's hip. She's really getting to work on her biceps and triceps hauling this 30# package around!
After the zoo, it was time to head back to the hotel for nap and lunch for mom and dad. We had some laundry done through our guide and it turned out quite nice, packaged and everything. Tonight is a free night because 9 of the 11 families are going to the Consulate tomorrow for their appointments (we're not one of them, ours isn't until Wednesday). So, we also have a free morning. Tomorrow afternoon we are going back to the Clinic area to have Nate's TB results checked and do some shopping for souvenirs and the like.

Yes, I'd like to book a one way ticket out of here, please!

Hey Mom! It's one of Dad's ancestors!

Can't get enough of those Cheerios and Graduate puffs!