Day 8

Today we went to Pingyao City. It is an ancient city surrounded by a wall. It was recently added to the list of world heritage cities. We left at 9:00 and did not get home until 5:30 due to really bad traffic. Silas did very well during the day. We are starting to see the real little boy come out, tantrums and all. He plays pretty rough - hitting, pinching and pushing. We'll have to work on that!! He was much more confident today with us and at one point even let go of my hand and took a few steps on his own. He has only done that in our hotel room, never out in public. It was very, very hot today and he was so sweaty. A bath is definitely in his future for tonight!

The crazy Chinese traffic. Anything goes! There are no lanes and no rules. Bikes and mopeds are everywhere and I can't believe more people don't get hurt. The put their little kids on the back and just weave in and out of the traffic.

More traffic. This man was riding a tractor through the mess.

A view of Pingyao from the top of the city wall - the wall was built in the 1300's.

A city street. There were lots of little shops to look at.

Lacquer is popular in Pingyao and I thought these tea sets were adorable. Hopefully we can find something like this in Guangzhou. We have to watch the weight of our bags for tomorrow. They can only be 44 lbs each.

Yes, we are corrupting him! He had his first taste of coke before the age of 2!

Yummy! Eating noodles with chopsticks is good.

Silas' first steps without mommy in public! He wanted to walk around after lunch and while we were looking at a store, he let go of my hand a took a few steps! Big milestone! A couple days ago he would totally shut down when we were out in public.

What we have learned about Silas:

• He is all boy! He loves to grunt, hit, bang and play rough. His sisters will have to get used to having a boy in the house!
• He wears 12 months shorts and can fit perfectly into an 18 month one piece outfit.
• He can hear! I think his hearing is impaired, sometimes it seems we have to talk a little louder for him to pay attention (that could also be his age!). He does respond and has repeated the words momma, baba, daddy, more, jie jie (big sister).
• He has lots of tantrums when he doesn't get his way! I think he was spoiled. : ) He is having one now because he wants to go walk in the hotel halls - guess what we're going to do now? : )
• He loves to eat and has liked everything we have offered him. We need to fatten him up!
  

Tomorrow we leave for Guangzhou at 2:30. We have enjoyed Tiayuan but are looking forward to being one step closer to home! Please pray for sleep. Silas is doing great during the day, but is have lots of trouble at night. We think he might be having night terrors or bad dreams. He starts screaming, hitting and kicking and did this about 10 times last night. It does not make for a restful sleep. Pray for his little body and mind to relax. Thank you! Again, we appreciate the comments and knowing that people at home are lifting us up. Next time we write we will be one step closer to the USA!