Taiwan Day 12

This morning we woke up and walked over to the market again. We accidentally left Evan's bribery backpack with all his toys in the cab last night… my fault, big big big bummer!! :o( So sad. He hasn't really noticed, though, fortunately. So we went searching for some toys and such, but there was nothing that caught our eye. My mom wanted to get a gold rat (Evan was born in the year of the rat) for him just like all the other grandkids got, so we headed over to a jeweler. Evan got a bit antsy and wanted some attention. He pushed sis pretty hard (he's a really strong kid), and got his first time out with us. Hubby put him in a little chair and I went and told him sternly that he was not allowed to be so rough and put him in time out. He cried and cried, but knew he was in trouble. My mom with the soft heart was telling me not to be too harsh with him (hello? Is this the same mother I grew up with??!!! The same one who made me kneel on the ground holding a heavy wooden stool over my head for hours on end??!!!) We thought he seemed to be familiar with the concept of time out, so that was good. Afterwards, I made him go over and hug auntie and grandma. I wanted to have him say sorry but he can't yet. 

After a little bit of shopping, we went over to AIT to pick up his visa. We are officially allowed to enter US with Evan. Yay! We made him take a nap when we got back to the hotel. He slept for about an hour then just sat on the bed. We tried to entice him back to sleep by laying down by him. But he just sat there, for about 20 minutes or so. The enticement didn't work on him, but worked on hubby. He started snoring away. But Evan just sat there quietly and I watched him covertly. He just looked around, looking thoughtful, and sometimes looking sad. I don't know what he might have been thinking. I wonder if he was wondering what's happening with his life. What happened to all those people he used to see every single day for all his life? And who are these new people that are making him go to all kinds of new places, in the loud noisy city? And man, do I have to ride in yet another elevator?!

We seem to be getting more looks on the streets now. Hubby got some before, but now, especially if he's holding Evan's hand, we get lots of looks. One lady at a stop light looked at hubby, looked down at Evan, then back at hubby, then to me. Couple of times seemed to want to say something. Then she finally asked me, 

Woman, "is he his father?"

Me, "yes."

Woman, "he doesn't look like him, huh?"

Me, "I guess not."

Woman, "he looks more like you."

Me, "you think so?"

Woman, "where is he (hubby) from?"

Me, "he's from America." 

Woman, "oh. Does he (Evan) speak English?"

Me, "he speaks Mandarin."

Woman to Evan in Mandarin, "Hi, where are you going?"

Evan just glared at her with suspicion.

Woman, "that's ok, it's best not to speak to strangers."

Then the light changed and we went our separate ways. I don't really feel like I have to explain ourselves to anyone, but afterwards I kind of thought maybe I should have. The lady was well-meaning. I think people are probably making up stories in their heads, trying to figure out what's going on. It's kind of funny to me. But it'll be nice when we get home to not have to deal with the looks. The extra few days here with him will hopefully make the long plane ride easier, but I am looking forward to getting home and being in our own space where we can set a routine for ourselves.