And it took but an hour

And it took but an hour to send our schedule into a tail spin! This really is quite comical but I'll be laughing more years from now as I reread this post.

Ammon is such a stinker...a cute but definite stinker. Now I don't want people to think that it is because he is a boy that he has us running. Taisha was EXACTLY like this and look how magnificently she controls herself now.

We started the days with breakfast at the buffet. He has no other vocal volume than SUPER LOUD and everywhere we go we are definitely heard before being seen. This is going to make church very interesting for everyone in our congregation. He only spilled two bowls of rice congee and one juice. He eats like a horse and the waiters had better not try to clear a bowl from the table that has even one grain of rice remaining or there will be protesting of the most vigorous kind.

We left the hotel with our guide to wait for the van to take us to Lord Bao's Temple. As soon as he saw a taxi stopped at the hotel doors he was determined he would be riding in that taxi. Ah, weeping then wailing, the body contortioning we saw was impressive. The doormen were speechless. He loves to ride in the car and when we got to the temple we couldn't get him out. More weeping and wailing. This time coming from Mama! LOL! Not really but if he were my first child I would be much more frazzled than I already am.

Please note the pictures posted above. See how Stephen and Ammon are blurs. Thats how it is. Daddy chasing Ammon and us watching and the blurs zip by...oh yeah, blurs with sound. In the second photo can you see that his arm is pulled out of his coat sleeve? This is the result of only being able to grab his sleeve not his hand when trying to catch him before taking a tumble in the river. He is a wonderful little Houdini I must say.

okay i must pause now as we have another meltdown. Mama won't let him type.....

That was a nasty one. Got so bad we had to go take a walk in the rain. When he decides he needs something....like the chance to type....he is determined t0 make it happen and his memory is LOOOOONG.

Back to the temple trip. While our guide was most committed to teaching us about Lord Bao and put up a valiant effort, within an hour of boarding the van even our guide could clearly see we needed to bow out of any more Lord Bao. The final straw came when he went running to a bridge and did a face plant and split his lip. Our guide said, "Maybe it is best you go back to the hotel now". Uh, yep, that was what we were thinking too. Good thing we are not with a group in Hefei or we would be that family that all the others were think exhausting and putting a damper on all their outings.

Ammon is not very body concious yet. He is like a tank moving full steam ahead. I've tried to think of anything about him that is graceful and there is not a thing that comes to mind. He is a bull. A darling and precious bull but definitely a bull in a big China shop.

He is certainly more a two year old than a nearly four year old. And that is pretty much on the mark for the general rule of thumb for one month global delay for every 3 months in the SWI. Imagine what trouble a 2 year old can do in a four year old body. OY!

His language is apparently all his own. The SWI staff can't figure it out either. We have decided that "ta na!" means "open this now" and "shi shi o ya ya" means "I gotta go potty in the next 15 seconds". And he says "Mama" and "xie" which is the word for shoe, and "ju" which means "get me out of here" and that is about it. He does not speak in sentances so we have language therapy in our near future and extended future. Even for his native language he is greatly delayed.

But he is cuddly, and fun and a teaser and delightful too. He has learned his first English word and it is "soft". Imagine?! This was after slapping Mama and he learned to softly touch instead. He slapped and I set him off my lap and he was devastated and said on his own, "soff" and gently rubbed my arm. YEAH!

He also is a master at making friends. Everywhere we go he has the the passersby enamored and chuckling. He really is cute enough to want to eat and he redeems himself when he is about to push us over the edge. He is smart. He has figured out the stacking cup order now. He is happy 90% of the time. He will go very far in this world. We just have to work on some things along the way.

Spitting. That is one of those things. At least we have him now spitting in the sink. Making progress.

He got new boots today and he is so proud. He makes me smile.

Tomorrow we take the plane to Guangzhou. What in heavens name are we going to do with him on a plane????