We had a relatively quiet day today, and both Katie and Alex are much improved over the last couple of days. We noticed that the second of Katie's top baby teeth has cut through so we are now assuming that this is why she was cranky yesterday along with the long trip the day before. She now officially has four teeth, the front pair on both top and bottom.

Katie is warming up to all of us and will let me hold and play with her now. She will also let Alex hug on her and holds his fingers in her hand so that makes him feel good. She is so funny though because she will be perfectly content when Dan is out of the room, but, as soon as he walks back in, she starts crying as if she was miserable the whole time he was gone. I can already see that she seems to be developing skills that we did not see a week ago. She is trying to push up on her arms and knees so I expect her to be crawling/walking/running soon which may mean trouble for us as she is very curious and likes to grab and touch everything within her reach.

Today we visited a wholesale pearl market and shopping mall. We mostly wandered and did not purchase much. We then went to a 1400-year-old Buddhist temple in Guangzhou known as the Six Banyan Temple.

Alex and Dan climbed to the top of the pagoda which I think is about eight or nine stories.

The Buddhist monk also performed what is known as a "blessing for the adopted child" for the babies in our group. It only lasted a few minutes and was very nice.

After naps, we wandered around the shopping area just outside of our hotel. I think I mentioned previously that the small island we are on really caters to the adoptive families here - mostly Americans because the US Consulate where you receive visas for adopted children was located right around the corner from the hotel until a couple of years ago when it moved into the city. As a result, the shopkeepers all speak English, and the shops are mainly stocked with souvenir-type items along with baby supplies. Most also do laundry at a very inexpensive price (wish we had that service at home!). Another nice service is that many of the shops let you borrow a stroller for free during your stay. We got one for Katie today which is a vast improvement over carrying her 20 lb, squirmy self all of the time. She seems to like the stroller as long as it keeps moving.

It was rainy again for most of the day so Alex still has not been able to use either of the two pools here as both are outside. One has a waterfall that goes into the pool along with a baby area so we may try to make it there tomorrow weather permitting. We are also planning to go on a tour of a folk art museum in the morning as well as a boat cruise along the Pearl River tomorrow evening.

Thanks again for all of the e-mails and good wishes. We are looking forward to catching up with you more when we are back home!