The Year of the Brat
Alia was born in the year of the Rooster, but upon waking from her nap it might as well have been The Year of the Brat. Since mommy does not have many kind words to say right now, I will let Alia tell her story.

“I do not want to wake up, why are they shaking the crib and making those ridiculous noises? Go away, let me sleep, stop it, SHUT THE HECK UP! I do not believe it, someone is lifting me out of the crib anyway. Oh great, it is HIM. He will pay for this. He is saying something about changing my diaper. Give up buddy, it is only pee, it is not bothering me a bit, that is why you buy those super absorbent diapers I picked out. I am going to scream bloody murder and I am going to start now. I do not want to have my diaper changed, or eat, or go to the pool, or play, or be held, I want to SLEEEEEP.

OK you two, especially you daddyo, you have had it your way for most of the day. My turn now. WHAAAAAAAAAAA, YEOOOOOOOOW, take that. Got him in the stomach!! Let me go. Take that, and that, hope I left a bruise on your chest daddy man! SCREEEEEEM, WAAAAAAAIL, DIIIIIRTY LOOOOK. DIIIIIRTY LOOOOOOK AGAIN.

Hey, what are you doing, he is putting me on the floor by my toys. I do not want my TOOOOOOOOOYS idiot. I want to have a tantrum. And I WIIIILLLLLLL! Let’s see how long you two can hold out before I break you. YEOOOOOOOOOW, YEOOOOOOW, YEOOOOOOW. Hey what is going on? They just went into the other room and turned on the TV. Sound like they are having a good time without me. No way, they dote on me. I am the only thing that makes them happy. Wait a minute, they cannot see me, let me crawl to the doorway where they can see me, there we go, there they are. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, WHAAAAAAAAAA. God, I am getting a headache, and I can barely breathe. I do not believe they cannot hear me. They are not even looking. OK, one last whopper. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAH. Ouch, that really hurt my throat. Hey, look at that piece of paper on the floor, cool. I have not seen this before. (hiccup) I think I will pick it up and check it out. (double hiccup) It looks like a tag from one of my new dresses that daddy bought me. (Hiccup/burp combo) I love tags, they are fun to play with. Hey, mommy, daddy, check out this tag. It reminds me of the new dresses I got today. I love my dresses, goo goo gaa gaa. Thanks daddy, I will look very pretty tonight when we all go out and party, gaa goo, more cute noises. Hey, here they come, and they are still smiling! They are picking me up, thank heavens, cause I really need them and love them. I cannot help it, I am going to smile. Darn it, I smiled. Hey, it feels good to smile, especially when they are holding me and kissing me. I feel bad, I was really mean to daddy. I will give him my biggest smile. Yep, it worked. He has completely forgiven me. Hmmmmmmmmmm………..”

And Alia was still a little cranky the rest of the evening, but we will blame that on gas!!!

August 27, 2006 7pm
Morning wake up call, and Alia woke up with a smile. We are learning that she needs time to wake from her beauty sleep. A lovely breakfast buffet, as we had been absent the last few mornings, since we found the coffee shop. Lots of fruit, eggs, cauliflower, and oatmeal, along with orange juice. Then off to do a walking tour of the island. Today we took a lot of still photos to include in the blog, so all our readers can get a feel for the life of the Chinese people in Guangzhou. Very artistic and sweet, they were very happy to show off for us. And very happy we had a happy Chinese baby. The pictures explain themselves, so please enjoy.
Then we headed for our favorite shop to buy many gifts, no not for Jill, but for family and friends. Our favorite shop gives us free gifts and a special, special, price, just for us. It was a lot of fun, and now we have to buy an extra suitcase to pack it all in.
Back to the hotel and big spread on the bed of all the many many fun gifts. Alia sat in the middle, and admired everything. She is very excited about the gifts. She explored and approved of them all. Of course, Alia came out very well in all of this, with two new outfits, two new dolls, two new pair of shoes, and a beautiful fan. Mommy reorganized all of the booty, and put it in a suitcase. Naptime was pretty uneventful. A good two hours, a semi grumpy wakeup, but she did not have the nerve to go as far as she did yesterday, and we are getting a little more savvy. Mommy left to work out in the gym, while daddy was feeding Alia. Daddy said, “I think she is going to poop”, and Mommy said, “Good Luck!” And lo and behold, when mommy returned, Alia had pooped, and father and daughter had gotten through it with flying colors. Daddy ran, while mommy wrote this, and now it is time for a shower and our dinner traditions. Alia has been adorable all afternoon, learning to feed her dolls, and almost walking, and smiling so much that it must hurt her cheeks!