Friday Already and Amazing Progress!!

This post is going to be short and sweet as we have been having problems with connecting to our blog.
Emily has been just amazing!! Nigel (my step brother) arrived on Wednesday from Shanghai and we all went to August 1st Square, named for an uprising on August 1st 1927 and it is the birthplace of the Peoples Liberation Army. It was lovely to see Nigel and he was very pleased to meet Emily!! Emily had smiles ready for him which he could not believe. We all had dinner together at our hotel, then we all came back to our room to put Emily to bed. Once again she was smiling and babbling to Nigel and he is amazed how attached she is to me already. I got her off to sleep and put her in the crib and we had a nice chat together and then it was time for us to go to bed, so Nigel left for his hotel.
Thursday morning, we arranged to meet down in the lobby with Nigel and our group to be bused with our guide to a local park. We had an hour at the park walking around taking pictures, then back to the bus, and said a quick goodbye to Nigel as he had to go by cab to meet Luke. We planned to meet them later that afternoon after Emily had had her nap. Emily slept for 3 1/2 hours. We met Nigel and Luke at the Square to do some shopping for Emily. Luke is Chinese so we were relying on him to get us some good bargains! We needed a suitcase, which we bought. We were also able to find: a small chinese tea set, a porcelain tiger ornament (Emily was born in the year of the tiger, and porcelain is famous in Jiangxi) and a calligraphy brush for one of her birthdays when she gets older. It was getting time for Emily's dinner so we all headed back to the hotel. After dinner, Luke took a picture of Emily's finding ad and will translate it for us and send it by email. We really appreciate all the effort both Nigel and Luke took to visit us and assist with our shopping. The traffic here is absolutely ludicrous; you really put your life into your own hands, even just walking on the sidewalks.
On Friday, we went on a shopping safari with 2 Chinese ladies that had taken a liking to Emily. They were staying at the Hotel on business, and said they would take us to some stores to find some gifts for Emily. I absolutely hated the 3 cab rides and so many times thought we were going to be in an accident!! Just crazy, weaving in and out of cars, with pedestrians trying to cross anywhere and the cab honking at them to get out of the way. The cab ploughed through a packed pedestrian crosswalk while they had right of way! I had my eyes closed most of the ordeal and was so relieved to be out of the cab!! We did manage to find some picture books for Emily with both Chinese and English subtitles, and also a book of Chinese traditional stories. We later found a knitted toque with a tiger on it. We were looking for Chinese traditional silk dresses for her, but no luck. Every store seems to have Western style clothes. It is really hard to find traditional Chinese things here. Disney seems to dominate the branding for children. Chaiman Mao has been usurped by Mickey Mouse!
I do not think I could get used to the honking here. It is continuous, very annoying and adds to the considerable noise. China is very noisy - stores blare music, and people shout a lot. It is illegal to honk your horn in Beijing but we still heard it there to a degree.
Today we got Emily's Chinese passport, so our business here in Nanchang is complete. In our room we found a book about Jiangxi province, highlighting the significant accomplishments achieved over the last decade. Industry (including high-tech) has overtaken agriculture, and the standard of living has increased dramatically. We hope to return some day for a more relaxed tour. We will be taking Emily away from her birthplace, to a very different land. We wish we could let her birth mother know that we will love and care for her, and be the best parents we can. Our goal is to privide her with more opportunities in her future.
Saturday we have an early start, 4 am! We have to leave the hotel at 5:30 am to go to Beijing for the next 5 days, so packing again tonight.
When we came back to the hotel at 4 pm today, Emily played on the bed with us for 2 1/2 hours, laughing and giggling. She has made progress in the last 4 days. She can sit by herself without falling over without being propped up with pillows, does not mind to have a diaper change (in fact is very happy to lay on her back), can roll over many times, loves her bath (laughing and giggling, playing with the water toys), will contently play on the king bed without crying for me to pick her up, is trying to push herself up when on her tummy, and passes toys from one hand to the other. I played see-saw with her and she moves her arms to do it again. She is also having fun with daddy and it is so lovely to see them together. I cannot say how amazed I am that Emily is so used to us. She's bonding very well and seems so relaxed with us in just 5 days. She's quicker to give us huge gummy smiles and is a very happy baby!!! How lucky we are. She does fight to go to sleep in the evening; it takes about 1/2 hour or less, but fidgets so much when I am rocking her. Usually she coos herself to sleep in my arms and it is so cute! We love her so dearly!