Jie Jie Monica

People drive on the sidewalks here...amazingly, I have seen no wrecks or people splattered. Funny how we drive in lines in America and people run into stuff all the time. Here, they drive, walk, bike, where ever they please and nothing happens...

The grocery store and restaurant from the hotel lobby.

Reese at the fish pond in the basement.

Shot of the lobby of the Shanxi Grand. Pretty place. Try the Fried Pork Shanxi Style...so goood....

The grocery store if you're walking towards the Shanxi Grand...

View more from the direction of the Shanxi Grand. If you go out the door of the hotel, go left and it's on the nearest corner of the next block. You can see if from the lobby.

Awesome Chinese restaurant, only problem is...the menu's all in Chinese. You'll need your guide.

Wider view, see the restaurant? It's right down the alley/road beside the grocery store.

Part of the lobby of the Shanxi Grand.

Reese feeding me My Little Pony fruit snacks

At lunch, playing with the napkin...

Me dishing out the ice cream we were sharing.

Cutie with a mouthful of ice cream

Walking around the town....

Reese is now calling Mom 'MaMa' and me 'Jie Jie' or 'Jie Jie Monica'. She called Mom MaMa first, but she said 'Jie Jie, wo ai ni' to me first. She has said wo ai ni (I love you) to Mom too, but I was first. :)) She is precious...we shared a scoop of ice cream at lunch. It was cute. She also ate ministrone with Mom. We found the 'yue', fish, in a small pond down in the basement. She loved that. We also bought a set of papercuts for 20 yuan (about $2.50) that are made in Shanxi. It's a provincial craft, like embroidery in Hunan or porcelain in Jiangxi.

The waitresses down in the Western restaurant on the first floor, way more expensive than the Chinese restaurant on the 2nd floor, asked how old she was and we said '2' and they were surprised. They said she speaks Chinese more like a 4 year old and is very very clever. She's incredible. There is no way that Jin Jin has brain involvement. There is just no way with the way she acts and performs that she has EVER had a seizure. Also, we're pretty sure she has sight in her right eye, just from the way she moves and everything.

She's asleep on Mom right now, she managed to squish her fingers in the door on the elevator the one time Mom or I wasn't holding her hand or holding her. But she's better now. We put a cold rag on her hand and gave her some Tylenol (was NOT happy about that), but now she's asleep and all is well in our world. We're going to eat supper at a restaurant across the street at about 6 pm (it's almost 5 pm). We're hoping she'll sleep until then. She didn't have a nap earlier.

Some of the pictures I'm posting are more for families going to Taiyuan soon, and staying in the Shanxi Grand. Everyone can enjoy them, but...yeah...