48 hours later...

Mom again without pix…sorry in advance.  We did get some great video today of the dancing bouncing duo which will be up soon.   Donna posted the question of the day regarding how soon it would be before Zak became a Van follower of the anti-clothes variety.  Yup…it's a done deal already.  He is naked boy 2.   Considering he came to us with four layers of shirts, sweater and jacket and long johns and pants sans undies…now he's an undies only kinda man.   He does love clothes tho and the minute you take them out for him, he's dressing himself and ready to go.  He giggles with excitement at the sight of a jacket and loves to go to the closet to see his shoes.  

However, his giggles of joy are beyond joyful when he spots food of any variety.   He literally wrestled me to the ground at the shopping mall today when he caught sight of a lollipop in my backpack.   And watching the two of them eat McDonald's for dinner tonight you might have guessed they were sampling Top Chef cuisine.  This boy can pack away some food. Van is already catching on that he better pick up the pace at the table.  

Our shopping outing today proved that boys do not make the best mall companions and that even in the most high fashion malls of China, the squat potty is still the one and only.  Yes, Zak also thinks it is necessary to see every potty in every establishment we visit.  Scott and I actually had to leave the restaurant during the middle of lunch yesterday with both boys and run back across the street to the hotel to use the potty.  Jessie, our guide taught Scott how to say "where's the potty?" in Mandarin today for future reference.   We all  (Van included) know how to say "no" to Zak in Mandarin…this has certainly come in handy.  He is talking up a storm and he loves to sing to himself.  Jessie understands everything he is saying and he is imitating more words with each day.   We also found out that he attended a preschool every day at the orphanage that is sponsored by Half the Sky Foundation.   They gave us a journal with lots of photos of him and some of his school artwork.  Of course the journal is written in Mandarin so we will be looking for a translator once we get home…what fun it will be to read!   Mt. Pisgah and Miss Liza's class better get ready for their new classmate.  

Tomorrow we visit the Museum of Hohhot and Van is super excited about the dinosaur exhibit.  We are feeling like quite an exhibit ourselves everywhere we go.  This area of China doesn't see very many  non-Chinese people.  We  have had people literally fall down while staring at us instead of watching where they are walking.  Several near collisions on bicycles and mopeds can be directly related to our appearance on the streets.   It is certainly a new experience for all of us.  

We are missing everyone at home and love seeing the comments and feeling connected to our world.  More fun to come and then home again home again…hooray!!