We have a toddler in the Thompson house!

Natalee with the video camera. Like Father...like daughter. Those of our China family from Natalee's adoption will get a kick out of this photo. :)

Here's Kyle watching the play-by-play of the first round of the U of M game. It's amazing that this die-hard fan of the Final Four basketball tournament can not even care about it because he is with his family in China! Some of you will know the story of our honeymoon and the UofM game about 16 years ago - all I'll say is "Weber & time out". You'll know what I mean ;) He honestly isn't even concerned with it this year - I'm sure next year he'll have Megan filling out the brackets though. :)

The iPod has been great for calming Megan down. I put on the children's Chinese songs and she quieted right down.

This was yesterday (Sunday afternoon) playing "Find a friend" in Chinese (similar to hide-n-seek). We had so much fun and Megan laughed a lot.

This lady is keeping her top spinning by whipping it with a "bull" type whip. It was quite interesting and our guide said that many peoople do this as a form of exercise.

Jiaxiu Pavilion

Today Megan has exerted her toddler three's - her will! There have been a few times we've had to establish boundaries and she is not liking them so much. We sense she was the "little empress" in her foster family, getting her way many times. I guess we'd forgotten those trying moments when Natalee was three. But, to make those moments even harder is that we don't really understand each other very well.

This morning after trying to brush Megan's teeth - which has been unsuccessful - I was finishing getting ready when I see Megan go to the counter where all the food & snacks are and find the roll of Oreo cookies. Now, up to this point she has not wanted most of our "American" snacks although we did buy these in Guiyang. She reached up and grabbed the bag, openend it and helped herself to a breakfast oreo. Way too cute!

We didn't see many smiles today - she has been quite sad and often breaks out in tears. It's hard for her when we go out around town because many times she sees older people and they remind her of her foster parents. She especially doesn't like it when they talk to her. It's good that she grieves as that will lead to healing and full bonding and attachment with us. Keep praying for us, we can feel the presence of God with us. We have all been healthy....safe...and happy... praise God!

(Thanks for all the comments too.. Natalee especially looks forward to hearing from home.)

Oh...speaking of hearing from home...we tried again to call both our parents but our hotel is not equipped to handle an international calling card. Go figure????? So...since we don't have the PandaPhone (China cell phone to call internationally) I'm not sure we'll be able to. You do have our hotel number but it would be too expensive and you'd never be able to tell the front desk staff who you wanted to talk to. Having our blog has helped a lot but I know Nat really wants to talk to her Grandparents. Please know we've tried - sorry.

Good night from China - hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Kristin