So we're back. The highly anticipated trip is over! It seemed like it would never end while we were there and now it seems like it went by so fast (but thats ok). All in all, it wasn't as bad as I feared in could be (i.e. Eli wasn't kidnapped and he didn't really get any horrible disease), but there were some days that made me want to buy plane tickets and come home early. My frustration with not knowing what was going on, constantly being told that Eli was so much better behaved when I wasn't around (and subsequently being kicked out of the room when he wasn't looking), and a bad mood resulting from minor anorexia was exacerbated when I got really sick for a few days and was hardly able to leave the bed. But I still uphold my belief that China is a beautiful country and you should go. Just alternate day trips to tourist sites with window shopping trips in the city and don't eat huge meals of new and spicy foods out everyday.
The flights (14 hours there, 13 back, plus 2 2.5-hour domestic flights) went surprisingly well. Eli
had/is having a LOT of trouble with jet lag - the poor thing was actually hoarse for the first few days there. Thank goodness Wayne's parents picked up an umbrella stroller before we left - he did a lot of sleeping in it! That is, when he wasn'tinsisting that I hold him!
Now we're still in recovery mode. Eli has been waking up between 2:30 and 4 am every day.
