Day 2 at the White Swan

Last night was much better. Sydney slept through the night without any teeth grinding or diarrhea!!!!! She is a wild sleeper and ended up squirming her way off of her bed (which is on the floor between our beds) and across the floor until she couldn't go any further because of the TV. She cries a little when we lay her down for a nap or bed but it takes her a shorter amount of time to calm herself down then it did a few days ago. We are amazed at the changes she has made in such a short amount of time. She is responding more to her new name and repeats a lot of the English words that we use with her. She also understands more of the English phrases that we use with her, such as "go potty", "flush", "soap", "wash hands", "sit down", "all done","bath", "brush teeth"....etc. One word she understands but probably wishes she didn't is the word "no". She can definitely act like a typical 3 year old when she hears that word. She likes to feed herself with a spoon but lets us feed her things too. She shares her food sometimes but seems to do that when she has already had enough to eat. We have been holding her on our lap to feed her but today she sat in a high chair and did just fine. Her fever is gone and she ate much better for breakfast this morning. We're still keeping her diet pretty bland just to be sure her stomach has settled down. She ate 2 dishes of Congee (looks like rice soup), half a banana, half a piece of toast, and a little yogurt. So far, no more diahrrea :) The breakfast buffet is very good here and we all ate a lot.

Our group met our guide, Molly, at 9:00 this morning and walked a few blocks to get Sydney's visa photograph and complete her medical examination. The doctor listened to her heart and then had another doctor also listen to her heart. They held up two fingers to each other but didn't tell us anything. They asked us if we knew that she has VSD but that was all. They also looked into her ears and told us she had an ear infection. They prescribed her some drops for her ears that came in a box that says "compound neomycin sulfate eye drops". We haven't looked up the neomycin sulfate on-line yet to see what it will do for her ear. Any eye doctors out there that could comment on this one??? We're supposed to put the drops in twice a day...we'll see how she likes that after her nap today. We're once again, very thankful to Cheryl for sharing her antibiotics with us!! Her ear is much better and seems to have stopped draining. Alycia and Donny seem to feeling better now too....they did't get as sick and Sydney and I did but seem to have shared in the crud with us. Hopefully we are all done being ill now and can enjoy our remaining days in China. Sydney did really well during the doctor's visit but got very silly and refused to walk when we were done. By the end of the visit we could tell that it was stressful for her. She perked up again once we got back to the hotel.

Donny is with our guide filling out some paperwork and Sydney, Alycia, and I have been playing in the room and having snacks until he gets back. Sydney entertained herself for a long time with a cookie that she had me break into pieces and put in a cup. I gave her a spoon and she walked around the room feeding herself the cookie.

Donny is back for now and we're going to go out for lunch and maybe walk around a few shops this afternoon. Tomorrow we get to tour another temple and a jade factory, so that should be fun. We're going to try Sydney in a stroller today and see how she likes that....she's very heavy to carry around!