Day 2 with Owen...Let's see what happens next

Before I start, I want to thank everyone for e-mailing us or posting on our blog. We really appreciate the well wishes. I think we e-mailed everyone back. If not it wasn’t intentional.

Want to thank Robin Z for the leapsters and Spiderman laptop. Yes “I’m outta here” is said A LOT everyday by Owen.

Well after a long day yesterday we got both kids to sleep. Owen woke up a few times last night and got out of bed, I had to put him back in bed but you could tell he was confused but not fully awake. He tossed and turned a lot, which made for a restless night for Marybeth and I.

Rebekka woke at 5:00 A.M. and Owen at 5:30. Did I mention that are internal clocks are still a little wacky. Rebekka thinks when the sun is up it is time to get up. Sunrise is earlier here.

We went down for breakfast and Owen kept saying 2 words over and over. We asked one of the waiters what he was saying, and it was vegetables and yogurt. We were close; we had put pancakes, bacon, congee and watermelon on his plate! We got him some veggies and we had to go to a different restaurant on a different floor to get him some yogurt. The buffet we eat at has traditional and western foods but no yogurt. I tried some of the traditional foods but nothing to crazy like quail eggs.

Rebekka has embraced the role of Big Sister. Owen imitates her and repeats everything she says. Rebekka is even talking Chinese as she imitates Owen and the sayings we tell him that were provided to us yesterday at the Orphanage. Never a dull moment since yesterday.

After breakfast I took a cab back to the orphanage to get some paperwork for the AIT tomorrow. I asked them if I could buy a stroller somewhere nearby. Our social worker started to give me directions but opted to give us one as a gift and asked how Owen was doing. She reiterated how amazing Owens reaction was to us yesterday. I offered them cash or an orphanage donation but she refused.. I took a few pictures of the orphanage and some video as well.

Thanks to our friend Robin P for recommending a place called the Living Mall. It has something like 7 or 10 floors. For those of you (adoptive families) coming after us you may want to bookmark this. The cab ride was 20 minutes and 140 NTD = $4.40 USD. The 5th floor has an arcade VERY similar to Chucky Cheese and tons of kid activities and clothes. The 7 th floor has a place called the Baby Boss. It has a place for older kids (and there were tons of them) Not sure what activities were for them, we couldn’t get close enough. Another area was like a gymnastic area. If your kids likes to lump and tumble, that is the place. We went to an area that was for smaller kids. It had a slide and the ENTIRE area was filled with colorful balls. It also had a trampoline type thing, a netted room with balloons in it and a few other fun things for the kids. Rebekka made friends with a girl that spoke Chinese and English and her mom helped us explain to Owen that it was time to leave. When she spoke to him, he listened and followed direction but was not understanding us. This activity was 200NTD per child = $6.25 USD.
Funny story about the 5th floor. They have these robotic pandas you can let your kids ride through the hallway. We thought it would be neat to let the kids do this (I have never seen anything like this before). Well we put the tokens in and the panda starts walking and turning around and we didn’t know how to control the thing. I was videotaping and Marybeth was trying control the panda. It never knocked anything over but people were looking at us like we were nuts or something. I guess it is controlled by pedals by your feet and the attached steering wheel. I’m sure there was a sign somewhere that said, “don’t ride without adult supervision” written in Chinese. After that we saw others riding the pandas with a parent AND child.

For dinner we went to outback for their special we saw advertised. We were amazed that Owen eats anything (unlike Rebekka). He ate Onion soup, Broccoli, Lettuce, and a hamburger.

Tonight’s bedtime was much different than last night. We flossed and brushed his teeth and he and Rebekka went straight to bed and were out in minutes. All in all day 2 went very well.