Aidan's First Date

Aidan went on his first date yesterday. He's quite the lady's man, you know. He waves bye-bye to all the shopkeepers and blows kisses their way. They all say he's so cute, but I think he knows exactly what he's doing. That's Leah Newell, his new pal, new daughter of our best friends in China (click here to read their blog, if you missed the link in an earlier post).

Aidan was overheard saying, "The lady will have congee, but I'll have to have finger foods, since I'm not as good with a spoon as she is. And if you don't have any finger foods, that hairy goon taking the picture will just feed me."

This shot was taken at Lucy's cafe, an American's best friend here in China. So far, I've had their cheeseburgers, fries, fish and chips, and chicken quesadilla. They also have a decent sweet and sour chicken. Tonight, however, we went with the Bethany families to the excellent Cantonese restaurant across from our hotel.

Aidan is sleeping on the bed right now. Bedtime was much easier than the last few nights. He has refused to go to sleep unless he is on my shoulder with me walking around the room. If I lay him on the bed or in the crib, he goes berzerk. He kicks and hollers and rolls himself off the bed. He thrashes and rams his head into the side of the crib. I couldn't let him hurt himself, so I had to pick him up. Last night I had to call in the relief pitcher, also known as Jan. She came in and tried to get him to sleep (to no avail, by the way) while I took a walk and de-stressed. My back had just about had enough, so I decided to try a different tactic tonight. This time I sat quietly with him on the bed, watching some cartoons (in Chinese...not even sure if they were for kids...could have been the Chinese version of "South Park" for all I know, but it settled him down). After a bit, I made a bottle for him. He slurped it down and we went back to the bed for more cartoons. He was leaning against my chest, and I could see his head starting to bob and weave, so I laid him down on his back on the bed and laid down next to him. He didn't protest. Not a single whine nor whimper. He rubbed his eyes, scratched his chin, and closed his eyes, and that was all she wrote.

Now, I'm sure this won't be our usual routine when we get home. But I had to do something about my aching back which turns 44 in just a few days.

Tomorrow we will visit the Guangzhou Zoo with the Newells. In the afternoon we have the famous "Red Couch" photos and go to the US consulate for the final steps before we leave China and head home.