Slow but steady day

We learned a truism tonight. Sometimes, it's your kids who teach you
how to parent.

While Ren is getting better with dressing and undressing, we have been
hesitant to subject him to a full-scale bath. It was time, however,
and so I reluctantly drew the bath, dreading the inevitable drama that
would ensue. While Kohji and I were strategizing on how best to
approach the dunking, we heard a loud kerplunk from the bathroom. We
walked in to see that Kiyomi had dropped a bunch of Ren's toy cars in
the tub, and she announced to us very matter of factly - "now he'll
get in." And she was right. He was chomping at the bit to get in the
tub, and getting naked to do so barely phased him. He and Kiyomi had
a blast splasing and zooming cars around while Kohji and I stood there
dumbfounded and properly chasened by our 4 year old.

A pretty average day overall, so no real pictures. This is probably a
good thing, since we already have over 600 and we still haven't hit
the high touristy spots. The morning was immigration paperwork and
the afternoon was low-key with a nap for Ren. A slight twist was
heading down this back alley to get the visa photos done. Anywhere
else, you would have thought you'd crossed a threshold to old China,
but here, you walk into a photo studio.

Some forward steps - Ren didn't feel a need for his sweater or his
shoes for most of the day. He was pretty content most of the time in
the stroller and he's getting a lot less aggressive when Kiyomi is on
my lap.

Some backwards steps too - getting him to sleep is proving harder and
the only thing that comforts him is clutching food in his hand.
Specifically a piece of white bread and a bottle of sweet milk (what
they call whole milk here as far as I can tell). He may or may not
eat it and it takes him about 15 to 20 minutes of screaming to decide
this is indeed what he wants. He also was more reluctant to go to
Kohji today, though very happy to play with him and crawl all over him
with cars.

Unfortunately, much of the last couple days has been about
establishing a routine, so we've gone to the same places for food and
pretty much stuck close to the hotel. Yet again, I feel like I'm
wasting an opportunity to get to know this country, but the
complexities of helping Ren settle undermines the thrill of discovery
which would be a typical part of travel for us. I crave simplicity
and trying to communicate with hand gestures, smiles and a phrase book
is more than I can handle.

Less than a kilometer from here stands the Malls of Oriental Plaza -
an imported piece of western culture smack dab in the heart of
communist China. Walking through the doors makes you feel like you
instantly travelled back to the familiar, even if the food court has a
pig's feet dish. We've gotten a lot of our meals and goceries from
this place, in no small part because the restaurants have English
menus and the grocery store has an entire section of Japanese food.

Tomorrow, the immigration medical. Not expecting it will be
particularly in depth, but with 5 families, I am expecting it to take
awhile.

Good night from Beijing.