Lots about Kenan! And the Aquarium too!

You've gotten to see a lot of pictures of Kenan, but I haven't gotten to write very much about what he is like.  So, here goes.  On the one hand, he LOVES to explore!  He wants to go outside every chance he gets and he has no qualms about letting go of our hand to go walk somewhere he wants to go.  The other day, we were in the lobby of the hotel and they have a revolving door going outside, and he just let go of my hand and took off towards the door.  He made it inside one of the little sections of it and it started turning, but I was able to jump in with him and bring him back inside.  But, he is completely and utterly scared of animals- and not just the kind that are alive.  Stuffed animals are totally scary to him too!  At least the upside is that Asher and Mac can just put their Monkey and Teddy next to the toys they don't want him to play with and I don't think they will have to worry about him touching them! :)

So, in light of this fear, we weren't sure how he would do at an aquarium, but we decided to give it a try since we have nothing scheduled for the next three days.  We did the paperwork for his passport yesterday, so we are just killing time here in Zhengzhou until his passport is ready.  So, us and the Wilsons- the family that is with us- braved an aquarium and were pleasantly surprised to find that he actually did ok.  When I would point out the sea lions, or some of the bigger animals, he would do this scared whimper and sort of lean his head back, but besides that, he seemed to enjoy being out and about. 

He is really fun and playful, but he is definitely really attached to me.  He likes Strider as long as I am nearby.  Kenan won't voluntarily go on a walk with Strider, but he does love to tease him.  Kenan will play peekaboo over the bed at him or put his foot out so Strider can get it and make funny noises to him.  Or he'll do his little look-at-me-noise when he wants Strider to pay attention to him. 

And we just discovered at naptime today that Kenan definitely would rather me talk in a low voice about anything until he falls asleep rather than sing to him.  He was being so fussy and crying and I knew he was tired, but he wouldn't settle down in his crib. I was singing sweetly to him and rubbing his tummy and thought he should like it, but in the middle of singing, I said to Strider that Kenan didn't seem to like my singing.  Now, whether it's singing in general, or just my singing, I guess we'll never know.  But nevertheless, Strider thought I should just talk to him in my normal voice, and the second I did, he immediately put his thumb in his mouth, and went right to sleep!!  I'm learning new things about my boy everyday! :)

                                     Strider and Kenan are watching the sea lion show (above).

This is Kenan's friend Annie- she is the newest addition to the Wilson family, who is traveling with us! We'll have to take a group picture of our two families with Vivian, our agency representative in Zhengzhou, sometime this week.

 

You may be wondering what this last picture is.  Well, if you remember from my blog post yesterday, the Chinese people dress their toddlers in split pants with no diapers on.  Well, this is what happens when your child has an accident while wearing split pants.  This was on the floor by the penguins at the aquarium today!