December 1

Every day's report these days begins with a question: "How did your night go?" That's the question we ask ourselves and our traveling companions. Today, I am pleased to report that our night went fairly well! Emily and Sydney slept well until about 6 AM; Emily awoke once with a wet diaper but immediately fell back asleep once her diaper was changed. So we feel a little better rested, and the two girls seem to be gaining a semblance of routine. Since the routine is a little new for all of us, here's a summary.

• Awaken around 6 AM. It's still dark, but the girls start stirring. And since we're all in the same room, one person stirring typically means we all start stirring! Deborah showers, then dresses the girls while I shower and Tom plays with Emily.
• A little after 7 AM we head down to the lobby restaurant for breakfast. The buffet combines Chinese versions of American favorites with traditional Chinese fare; the selection changes slightly each day, and the food is quite good. We often enjoy a long breakfast, as the hotel has set up a playing area with toys for the girls in the dining room. So the girls normally eat, then play with some of the other girls. Sydney and another child of a member of our group get to play big sister to all of our 14 little angels!
• Return to the room for diaper, cleaning, brushing teeth, and packing for the day.
• Between 9 and 9:30 AM, we normally head out for a morning outing by bus. This morning we traveled around Wuhan's East Lake - beautiful scenery blighted only by the low-lying smog - and spent several hours at the Hubei Provincial Museum. The highlight was a musical concert performed on replicas of instruments found in a particular noble's tomb; the instruments included huge bronze chimes. Tom purchased a replica to take home - it'll make Emily and Sydney happy to visit their grandparent's house and play the chime!
• Lunch in the hotel, or on an outing, around noon or 12:30 PM. Following lunch, perhaps a little more playing, then it's back to the room for clean diapers and a nap. While the girls nap, Deborah has been trying to nap and recover from the dreadful cold she's caught. Tom and I hang out, check email, chat, and enjoy relaxing a little.
• Around 4:30, we awaken the girls and play some in the room. We typically head toward dinner around 5:45 or 6 PM, normally in the hotel restaurant. Although the food is a little routine by now, it's normally tasty and enjoyable. There are some unusual offerings on the buffet, including turtle (quartered, heads on), several eel dishes, pigeon (excellent, doesn't taste like chicken), and many fish dishes.
• After dinner we play a little more in the play area, then head back up to the room for baths and bedtime. The girls normally go to bed between 8 and 8:30 PM; the grown-ups struggle to stay awake until the girls get to sleep, then chat a little and head toward bed around 10 PM.

Emily is doing very well. She has the cutest, highest little laugh; we've be trying to capture it on video, but every time she starts to laugh, it takes too long to get the camera ready. And when we have the camera ready, Emily just won't laugh for us. She has started to recognize Sydney, Mommy, Daddy, and Grandy, and she has photos of Nana, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Richard, and Grandma, so we hope she'll be able to recognize them when she sees them. She loves to play and walk with the help of one of us; Sydney is trying to offer her assistance when Emily walks, but Emily isn't really all that excited about Sydney's help. She absolutely loves playing with our stacking cups and our soft photo book of the family, and she watches Sydney carefully, imitating much of what she sees Sydney doing. In short, she and Sydney are establishing their sisterly relationships, which means they love each other, protect each other, and fight each other in alternating seconds!

We've learned a great deal about Wuhan and internal China in the past couple of days; the assistant to our CCAI representative is extremely knowledgeable about the area and has shared loads of information. We'll post more about the area another time.