Day 3 and 4 with Pearl

Sorry I haven't written much lately. We spent most of our 3rd day together in the hotel room. It was my turn to feel sick. Pete gave me lots of time to rest and I am feeling a little better today. Mostly, it is a cough and just dealing with the humidity. We have been very fortunate with the weather as the temperatures remain fairly cool and the sun has been screened by clouds. Nevertheless, just going to KFC for dinner can be an exhausting experience with the moisture in the air.

Our hotel is conveniently situated. Within a block are McDonalds, KFC (with a play area), Pizza Hut and lots of fine shopping. Daisy and I took Pearl to a department store to buy some clothes and shoes and Pearl seemed so excited to have things of her own. The store we shopped at was an upscale department store, so the prices were not all that great, but the items we purchased were 50% off (summer clearance), so I got some good discounts.

After 4 days with Pearl, we are still in a honeymoon phase. She is so easily occupied with whatever you give her and she loves to call us "Mama" and "Baba". She smiles a lot and doesn't compete with Chloe for things, although she has a strong understanding of which things are "hers". Chloe has been very good with Pearl as well. She shares and offers affection. She had a bit of a crying fit on the second day, I think mostly to the stress of turning her world upside-down, but she is a trooper and recovers quickly.

When we go places, Pearl requires little intervention, just hold her hand and she happily follows along. Chloe is the opposite. One minute she wants to be held, then ride in the stroller, and then walk. But when Chloe walks, it is never in a straight line, she doesn't like her hand held and she prefers to run, skip or hop. It is a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. With our guide and Daisy, we have 4 adults to 2 toddlers. Pearl requires one adult; Chloe requires 3. It has been so wonderful to have this help.

Today we went to the famous Chengdu Panda Research Station and viewed pandas. One the way there, the driver remarked to our guide that Chloe never stops talking. We all laughed as he was clearly correct. Pearl sat there quietly and Chloe constantly makes noises like a cat, dog and frog. It was amazingly humid and we were sweating profusely, but it was still worth the trip as the girls really enjoyed the pandas. The guide says that Pearl was asking many questions and was very excited. The timing was very fortunate as there are two sets of twin baby pandas on display, a very rare experience. One set was about 3 weeks old and one set was about 2 weeks old. They were in incubators receiving supplemental feedings by staff when we got there. Even the cute red pandas were a source of excitement as they bounded around playfully.

This afternoon we will rest and tonight we go out for dinner. Sorry, we didn't take many pictures lately, we will try to do better tomorrow.