China Day 12: One our Own - Day 2

(Temple of Heaven)

(View from Temple of Heaven)

Tomorrow the therapists are back and we will resume a more rigorous schedule again. I am proud to say that we did pretty good on our own today. I worked Dan's legs this morning and he worked on his OT and Speech as well. I am working on a schedule that includes doing some extra work in specific areas, his right leg flexion, his shoulders and his facial muscles. We would like to work each of these three times a day in addition to the regular Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapy (and TCM). We really want to do all that we can to make progress during this time, so we are adding some extra sessions for Dan. I am getting it all organized so that when the children come over, they can pick up and know what is needed at certain times throughout the day.

We were able to go out about 3:30 this afternoon and we walked down to the Temple of Heaven. It is within a short walking distance from the hospital, in fact, we are on the same block (it is a very LARGE block--) We experienced the street vendors – they can be quite aggressive, especially if they see you buy from someone else – I bought a color picture book from a guy and then there was another selling Gucci and Rolex watches and another selling handbags, and another selling Olympic hats, etc. One lady kept putting a hat on Dan – I had a hard time getting away, but we did it! (Good thing I am not a 'handbag' kind of girl – the lady selling handbags kept following us and kept saying that I could get two Gucci bags for a great price. I kept turning her down and out she would pop with another style.. still included 2 bags... but I don't EVER carry a handbag, so it was EASY to turn her down...!)

The Temple of Heaven was quite impressive – it covers a lot of ground though, and a lot of the walkways were kind of rough – which means I have to pop Dan on his back tires and push him while holding him up. We did ok for the most part, but Dan couldn't climb all the stairs to look into the buildings, so I would just have to go up and take some pictures for him. My dream when I saw the Temple of Heaven staircase on the hospital web site (before we came) was that Dan would be able to do a 'Rocky' up those steps before we leave China – now wouldn't that be cool! I better bring the iPod over with the Rocky music loaded so we can get practicing!

We got home and ate at the in-house Western cafeteria, it was pretty good. We had chicken with potatoes, carrots and broccoli, stir-fried vegetables and some fried rice. We had too much, so we have leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow. I was going to try some more Chinese food, but when the lady came around I got looking at the menu and some of the selections were roast suckling pig burger or yellow mud eel with ginger over rice... we decided to eat Western tonight!

We also got news that Dan's Grandma Schenk is in the hospital and is not doing very well. We will call in the morning and check in on her, but wanted to pass this on to others who know her – please keep her in your prayers as well. We love her very much – she is a very special Grandma.
Can you find Dan? (Where's Waldo?)

Chinese Echo

Dan and his icecream

LaNae at the Temple of Heaven