The Adventures of Beijing!

Ah...where to begin???
This was quite a day! At 2:30pm, the real adventure began when Celine, our guide, arrived to take us on a mini tour of some Beijing highlights. We started out taking a taxi about 20 min. from our hotel to the Beijing Hospital where Eliana originally was found. This was a very surreal experience for us that we can't go into much detail on that right now.

This is the spot where she was left. In between the 3rd and 4th floors right by surgery and gynecology.

The taxi rides in Beijing (we took 3), were insane! No seat belts; Baby on lap; driving in the oncoming lane at times; darting in and out of traffic; and very very fast... Not sure how we made it through it, but it was quite scary. Beijing is a HUGE city, to say the least. What an amazing collection of buildings and sights.

At our second destination, we had been going for quite a while and needed to use the restroom badly. Eliana had already taken care of her business and needed a diaper change. We found that in the cab was NOT going to be the right place for that, so Celine started asking around for a place that would be acceptable. Guess what! Not such chance...and April ended up having to change her right on the the dirty sidewalk (thank you for the changing pad tip Cheri) with everyone (all 13million of them) watching!!! Thankfully, I was there with the camera to capture the moment and post it! I (Patrick) didn't have any bad experiences once I found a public facility, however, April had to use a dreaded "squatty potty". That wouldn't have been THAT big of deal, except...she had Eliana in a baby carrier pack on her chest. She almost had a 911 when she couldn't stand back up! Then, as she made the final lurch to get upright, she began to lose her balance and fall backward into the squatty potty (all while standing on the wet surface of the floor (yep...icky!)) I'm sure it was quite the Kodak moment...unfortunately, I was not around to capture it.



At this location, it was so amazing. I felt like we were walking in Time Square in New York, with all the large U.S. and European stores... then, we walked a little farther...turned right, and we were in the midst of a crowded street vendor area. And, there were the exciting, exotic delights that were shown on the Olympics...you got it...scorpion-kabobs (still moving by the way), cicadas, grasshoppers...you name it! (that was my least favorite spot of the day).


After returning to the hotel, we got our laundry together to drop off at a local place and then Celine chose a traditional Chinese restaurant for dinner. We had chicken with peanuts, beef with boc choy and mushrooms, broccoli and steamed rice. Eliana had some of our food and her own order of steamed egg. The egg was very interesting and Celine told us how it is made. It basically ends up with a custard-type texture and is quite good. For all that food, plus tip, it was about $14.50! Thrifty, and very good! (my kind of place). We will be going back over and over for the next few days. Celine is an amazingly good guide with an abundance of patience for us.

After returning to the room, April was changing Eliana for bed and thought she would let her stand around in her birthday suite for a few minutes. I said, you better be careful, she going to go peepee on the floor. April said, "she's not going to go peepee on the floor!" We were looking at her little pot belly trying to determine whether it was from too much food, or not enough food in the past. All of the sudden...totally unexpected...(almost)...out of nowhere...Eliana goes peepee on the carpet!!! Yep, I know...Welcome to parenthood! (Note to self: Trust intuition.) We actually captured a picture of her going potty on the carpet all the while she was looking at herself in the mirror quite interested in what was happening.


Here are some more pictures from today's excitement. Enjoy!







Mummy note: I am so thankful for Ibuprofen (800 mg) as I have been the human jungle gym and she has decided walking isn't a good mode of transportation...at least if she is doing the walking. Eliana is doing a little better with Baba and still will not go to our guide Celine. I know with the lack of my eating, trying to get her fed and the miles we are putting in walking and toting a 22 lb. tot around I have lost weight. Isn't this great! :-)