Not the Great Wall but Great nonetheless

Today, while the group was touring the Great Wall, we hung out and just enjoyed life at our own pace. The last couple of days had been very busy and we thought we and the kids needed a bit of down time.

We grocery shopped, spent time at the outdoor exercise park, walked a hutong, ran in the hotel halls, played in our room and enjoyed leisurely meals. I think I mentioned in a previous post that Ren has been copying his sister's every move. It's going to be a great way for him to learn but it also provides us with endless amusement.

Here is Ren stuffing a Kindermusik instrument in his pocket just like Jie-Jie did:

He copies everything: language, movements (even her 'ballet arms'), and sounds. For the most part, Claire doesn't mind but if she is having a meltdown (a frequent occurrence the last few days with all the changes), boy, does she get mad. This example has happened a few times already in the past two days, basically in the exact same way each time:

- Claire gets mad at Ren because she perceives he may want something of hers (even though he is across the room and the object in question is lying neglected by all on the floor);

- She yells, "No!" at him with the sternest of faces;

- Ren copies by yelling "No!" with a proud and innocent expression;

- Claire yells, "Hey, No!"

- Ren echoes, "Hey, No!"

- Claire: "Noooo!"

- Ren: "Noooo!"

- Claire: "NO!"

- Ren: "NO!"

And so on. You get the picture. I feel bad for Claire because she is obviously having a tough time but honestly, it's the funniest thing. Paul and I keep having laughing fits about it in between dealing with the chaos that has become our life. (By the way, Claire is also having a lot of fun with Ren - it's an up and down kind of thing.)

Ren has been on a fluid-only diet for the last few days but against doctor's orders, we started giving him small bits of actual food yesterday and today because the poor guy looks like he's starving! To get a lot of liquid into him fast, we use a straw even if we're giving him soup. Today, we broke the rules again by giving him a bit of noodles with his broth. Here he is feeding himself some noodles using chopsticks:
And here's Claire, copying him for a change but with a slight exaggeration!
Just down the street from us is Paul's new favourite store: the Ocean Liquor Cigarette store, or rather, hut (because it is so tiny). Here Paul has enlisted his daughter to help carry home his beer: Of course, Claire was only too happy to help.

T0morrow, we're off to the Summer Palace with the group. I'll post again soon.