he's already popular...

UPDATE!! :)

"Mason is a magnet everywhere we go, he is so cute and funny everyone comes up to talk to him and smile, though we do get some rather unfriendly looks - I'm not sure why. This afternoon we went to the ginormous mall across the street for lunch (I bought you a couple of pretty jade bracelets) and thought we would live on the edge and eat at the food court. We kept trying to order food, it was all pointing and gestures, and they all kept gesturing at us to go somewhere else. It turns out that at the food court
you have to go put a deposit on a food card and then put money on the card and then go buy food with it. We did that and then we hadn't put enough money on the card so they couldn't give us the food - we were quite the freak show. Dad finally got enough money on the card, brought it back and we got our plate of weird noodles and dumplings. Then dad returned the food card and got the deposit back. It was pretty good and Mason loved it. By then we were exhausted so we came back to the hotel and Mason and I crashed while dad went and toured an old bell tower with another couple - he said it was pretty cool.
Tonight our guide took us to a nearby restaurant and we had all kinds of Chinese dumplings - they were delicious. Food here is so cheap, our portion of the bill was only 8 dollars!! After that we walked through a huge outdoor market, it is crazy - cars driving on the sidewalk, people just part and let them through. I got a gorgeous silk tablecloth that we won't be eating on anytime soon. We also got Mason a cool little Chinese drum that he has been banging on. I didn't bring him very many clothes because I didn't know what size to buy, and he keeps blowing out his diapers, so I have to wash out his 3 little outfits each night and hang them up. I keep looking for some clothes for him but I can't find any.
Tomorrow we go see the terra cotta warriors, I am so excited. Mason loves the bus rides, he stands up by Dad and bangs on the window and talks. . . really loud! He still prefers Dad, today he cried when he left for a minute - he loves to yell "Dadoo" over and over. I think Dad is sending some pictures to you later, right now he is doing his portion of the days laundry, which is rinsing and finding a place to hang everything. I hope everything is wonderful with you there - we miss you guys but we are staying so busy, when we are in the hotel room we mostly just play with baby Mason, he is so funny! He really wants to walk and is trying so hard, he can walk with our help, but his left leg is still situated a little funny and his knee only bends a little. We are very excited to get him to an orthopedic surgeon and get him fixed up."