Last day in Nanchang

Nice day for a stroll in the park.

Today was our last full day in Nanchang. We leave tomorrow at noon to fly back to Beijing for the rest of our time in China. We've been really lucky with the weather this week. Nanchang is known for its heat, but we've really only had one hot day while we were here. This morning was smoggy and humid but there was a nice breeze. There was a downpour of rain this afternoon, but it only started after we were back safe and sound in the hotel room.

We started the day with the breakfast buffet again and Cohen was much slower with the appetite today. We were perplexed.... what happened to our hungry little boy? He wasn't fussy or cranky, he just shook his head no to almost everything we offered. When we got back to the room, we figured it out. A poopy diaper! No wonder he didn't feel like eating - how uncomfortable. We're going to have to teach him the sign language for poopy diaper or figure out his "I'm filling my diaper" face. He sneaks them by us every time. By the way, the poopy diaper score is Mommy 3, Daddy 2. Somehow, two of Mommy's scored really high on the ewwww scale (like the scrubbing bubbles, Janet!). We're going to have to even that up somehow.

After we got him changed (and rinsed out his clothes.... again I say ewwwwwww) we talked with some folks back home on Skype. Great to see some familiar faces! Then we headed out with our guide to a local park. It was huge and had carnival rides, a lake with pedal boats, nice gardens, and lots to see. It was quite ironic that we were there to take in the sights but we felt like we were the main attraction. So many people stopped us to talk to Cohen and tell us how beautiful he is. They all comment on his long eyelashes!

The next stop was shopping for porcelain. Jiangxi province is famous for its porcelain so we wanted to be sure to buy some for a keepsake of Cohen's birthplace. We got a beautiful red tea set that we can use for special occasions. Cory got to try out his bartering skills. He brought the price down some, but porcelain is so valued that it's hard to get a really great deal. It was good practice, though, for the silk market in Beijing next week.

We had lunch in another restaurant today and what a feast it was. There must have been 9 or 10 delicious dishes on the table. Cohen tried just about everything, as usual. We're getting really good at eating with chopsticks. We even feed Cohen with them sometimes! The restaurants are so affordable here. Our share of the bill was 100 yuan, which you divide by about 6 to get US dollars. We figured out afterwards that you could barely take a family to McDonald's for that amount of money at home.

We can see Cohen getting more and more comfortable with us all the time. He was showing his rambunctious side today - Cory had to run him around the restaurant to burn off some energy while we waited for the food. He is also becoming more open to cuddling and snuggling in his rare quiet moments. His sense of humour is unbelievable. He makes faces to crack us up and laughs out loud a million times in the run of a day.

Tomorrow will be a busy day with traveling and also a sad time in saying goodbye to Cohen's home province. Jiangxi, we owe you our hearts for the gift you have given us.