Hugs in the Hotel and Sight Seeing- March 5, 2011

     Now that we have our Visa, we could technically leave Taipei, but we had booked our flight providing us with wait time in case the Visa was not issued. We now have a few days to enjoy having Nathan without appointments and to just explore Taipei.
    Nathan's getting on a more regular feeding and sleeping schedule. We had been warned that the transition could be hard, and the first day was what we had expected. He didn't eat much and was restless when it came to sleeping. He tossed and turned during the night and woke up early. While he still fights going to sleep, he's sleeping several hours at a time. He's taking bottles and eating his rice. He's almost purring when it comes to food, making it obvious he wants more. We're hoping we don't see the "hunger strike" some adopted children go through when they change homes.
    While the sights are amazing here, I love being at our hotel with Nathan. He's so fond of the big bed and has a fun personality. He can be quiet, but then rev up and start making silly noises. He loves to cuddle and will stop playing to crawl over and nuzzle his head up to our cheeks. His smile is so bright and his eyes are unlike any I've ever seen. We look at him and ask how we got so lucky.

       We've had our share of new parent moments. Considering we're new at this and in a foreign country, living out of suitcases and having all the appoinments, I'm not going to get too worried -yet :) We cheered at the first messy diaper, taking it as a sign of a healthy boy!  We've learned that eating with chopsticks while holding a baby doesn't work, and that in Taiwan, he had better have his entire body covered.  Any time his pants ride up on him, no matter where we've been, an old woman has come up to us speaking, of course, in all words we can't understand, and pulled his pants down to cover any bare skin. (It's in the 70's here!!!)
      Today we went out with a friend of Greg's brother Doug's, Ching-Mei. Her father is Taiwanese and she took us around the area. It was so nice to have someone to talk to and show us the sights. We went to a famous restraurant where busloads of people get dropped off to try the dumplings. Then we visited the  Chian-Kai Shek memorial. From there it was to the History Museaum where we had tea and parted from Ching Mei. Before leaving she directed a cab driver to take us to another famous temple in Taiwan.

     We were again the only Americans, and while I know Nathan is a cute baby,  we really create some looks and discussions from people. Everywhere we go Nathan seems to get so much attention. At the temple a woman pulled us aside and directed us to a line of people. We noticed that more women were at the end, waving incense and praying over  people. In the line, it was clear that parents were bringing their children. As we stood and waited, I wondered how the Chinese people felt about us taking part in their religious ceremony. In the end, we came to one conclusion. How could a prayer for your child, in any religion be wrong?  So, while we have NO idea what she said, the woman intensely prayed over Nathan. We bowed in respect and left the temple once again amazed by the warmth of these people.