WALK-A-BYE BABY!

Day two in Nanchang started out much the same as the first. Allison appeared startled when she woke up in unfamiliar surroundings and immediately started to cry. She continued to cry and scream for three hours solid and nothing seemed to calm her down. She would momentarily stop crying if I held her and walked around but the minute I stopped moving, she would scream and cry again. I don't think I've ever walked so much in my life! She continued her

'hunger strike" and refused to take a bottle. I put her in the stroller and took her down to the breakfast buffet to try to get a quick bit to eat for myself and she seemed momentarily distracted watching the waiters and waitresses. But the minute I got up to go get my food and was out of sight she screamed like crazy and she didn't calm down when I came back. I gulped my food as quickly as I could so we could get out of there.

About ten o'clock we went for a walking tour of a local temple with Allison in the stroller. Once we were outside, she turned into a different child. She loved watching all the people and was clearly entertained by the sites. She happily played with her feet in the stroller and would wave her arms and legs up and down when she got excited. One of the older children on the tour began playing peek-a-boo with her and entertaining her with silly faces and, lo and behold, she actually SMILED!!! When we got back to the hotel, she fell asleep in the stroller so I wheeled her down to the buffet to enjoy a peaceful lunch. Thankfully, she slept through the whole meal. When she woke up later on, she started in with the crying again so I took her back outside and we spent the afternoon strolling the streets of Nanchang. We managed to get off the beaten path onto the side streets and were able to get a taste of local life. Allison was as happy as can be in the stroller. We certainly attracted a lot of attention from the local population. Several people came up to the stroller to faun over her and expressed curiosity over a Caucasian woman strolling with a Chinese baby. Some of the local school children came running up to me to test some of their English.

After a couple of hours of walking around, I was too tired to go any further and took Allison back to the hotel. Before I left for China, I was lamenting having to give up my workout routine for two weeks as I had been quite diligent about it. HA!!! I'm on the Allison weight loss plan. I am so stiff from walking Allison all over town! Once back in the hotel room, Allison got fussy again and started crying. I think she hates our hotel room. Thankfully, her paperwork was right about one thing, she is a deep sleeper. This kid sleeps like a log. Once she's out, she's dead to the world and will easily sleep until 7:30 a.m. or later if I keep the blinds closed. She usually takes a really great nap too. Thank goodness!