Mission: Little Brother: Medical Exam Day and some adventures

This morning after breakfast, we had to go to the clinic for Jack’s medical exam. He was not thrilled with being examined. The pictures speak for themselves, but I will say that he was never tortured while at the clinic. Interestingly enough, he passed the hearing test! He turned when the nurse made the sounds in each direction.

We then met with the Rife Family and walked to the department store in search of Jack’s brand of formula. An interesting walk. No success on the formula, but we then ventured into the back alley jade market and found some neat little treasures. We walked back and after Chris had told the Rife boys (teenagers) about the meat market we ran across two years ago, they wanted to see it. Well, we found it. I suggested we turn back after a half a block – yuck. Chris and the others insisted they saw dog carcasses among the goats. It was disgusting.

So, after this little adventure, Jack took a short nap in the room and then we met some other families for some tours. We went to these same places when we were here two years ago, but thought it would be good to get out of the hotel for the day. We toured the Six Banyon Trees Buddist Temple and Jack was blessed by the buddist monk here. We also lit some incense and made a wish for each of our children.

Next, we toured the old Chen family temple. The Chen family is the largest family name in the Guangdong province. The temple is beautiful and now serves as a museum and tourist attraction. It was originally built as a place for the family to pay their respects to their ancestors and school their children.

Last, we went to a provincial craft shop and poked around a bit. It was here that Chris and Sal (one the dads we were with), found some snake wine that one could try a sample of. Snake wine is maybe not what you would expect – it is liquor with a snake in the bottle. Yes, a whole, real snake. Probably a bit more disgusting than tequila with the worm, huh? Well, my dear husband actually willingly tried the stuff (and paid a small sum for the privilege)! He did not give it a good review – something like the most disgusting thing he ever had in his mouth…

Tonight, we met some families at Lucy’s for dinner. Families who have been here before will be saddened to hear that the noodle shop next to the White Swan has closed. This was our favorite place for pan-fried dumplings and we were looking forward to it! So, Lucy’s down the street instead tonight. Jack was presented with his first french fry and poked at it like it was a twig. He was happier to eat his chicken congee (overcooked, watered down rice with chicken bits) and devoured two bowls.

Jack is really comfortable and content with us both now. He is very interactive and smiles a lot. He listens very carefully to us and now responds to “Jack” consistently. We are also pretty sure that he is speaking some Chinese to us. Today, we noticed that Jack has two small patches of pustules – one on his leg and one on the small of his back. We immediately suspected it was scabies so I took a snapshot and sent it to the pediatrician in CA (isn’t technology awesome?). The Dr. confirmed the suspicion and we will spot treat tonight and hope it fades. Other than that, Jack is perfectly healthy and ready to grow!

Tonight, he had a little chat with Chris about his siblings and grandparents – view the video to hear his sweet voice!