Hollie's Phone Call to China

Here is Hollie's update.

I had the opportunity to chat with Erica tonight (her Thursday morning). She sounded fantastic and a little worn out all in one. We were so excited that it now doesn’t seem like we said very much but here are some tidbits

--Erica tells me that YouYou is as adorable in person as she is in the pics we see!! The jeans in the pics are 12mths but are a little short. Erica thinks that 18-24mth would be perfect if they had an adjustable waist. So…start looking for these for her! They have yet to find any underwear that fit her. Even the smallest pair they have found is too big.

--YouYou is also a good potty goer! There is a small issue though. The word in Chinese that means “pee-pee” is “di-di”. As most of you know, Didi is what all the grandkids call Aaron’s mom. Erica said Didi is determined to get the potty terminology changed pretty quick!! This should be easy though because YouYou repeats everything they all say! She is catching on very quickly.

--I told her how much we love Aaron as a “baby girl daddy” and she said that YouYou is totally in love with him AND her big brothers.

--I asked about China , specifically “How is it being in China , like are people nice?” I guess I am the ugly American type but I just wanted to know how their experience in China was going. Erica said that everyone was really nice. It is hard to get used to all the staring though. It is not rude to stare in China . She said that all the kids want to speak English to them for practice. When she tries to practice a word or two in Chinese they come right back with all Chinese and then she just has to smile politely and keep going. The older women want to make sure that Erica is doing a good job. They will just reach out and fidget with something YouYou is wearing. It is sweet though.

--The center that Erica referred to in an earlier blog…the Carrefour….is a huge crazy place. Erica said it is like the day after Thanksgiving everyday. She said that it so very crowded in there and very hard for her and Didi to keep up with Rebecca, their guide. Now that must some place if Erica cannot keep up on a shopping trip!

--Today they are going to do some sightseeing and then will be moving to a new hotel. The new place is in the same province but is called Shamian Island . They will be staying at the Victory Hotel. She said that this was a very touristy area where a lot of adoption families stay. There are lots of places to shop and lots more to do.

--One last bit of news…it is very difficult for Erica to blog. Aaron’s wireless network card is broken and the only way she can blog is to go up to the Executive Lounge and plug into the network. She has to wait until everyone is sleeping and by then she is pretty tired too. She wanted me to tell you all that she is doing her very best. I assured her that we would all be ok and not to worry about us. She is going to let these “phone call reports” be her blog for the next couple of days. We are hoping that Emily will get to talk to them as well as Melisa again before they head home. She plans to tell everything that she can on the phone so that whoever she talks to can report back via the blog. She will send pictures as she can, she says she loves everyone, thanks so much for “being there” with them, and she can’t wait to get home.

So there you have it!! This is the whole of the conversation. I hope I remembered everything she told me to tell you all!! Thanks for letting me share with you!