The Prince

Did you know we have royalty in our family?  Other than the amount of time four men spend on the “throne”, neither did I until we came to China.  It turns out that Rowan, despite his age and stature, is quite the prince!  Everywhere we go, women and men both fawn over our youngest.  He has mastered the words "ni hao" (hello) and "zai jian" (good-bye), which makes him particularly alluring. 

He has gotten used to the attention and really does his best to entertain.  He really only fusses when they try to pick him up and hold him.  That, and when the landlady tried to kiss all over his little creased wrists.  And it's not all bad - someone even gave him a candy bar out of sheer joy over his cuteness; there goes our “never take candy from a stranger” policy.  Hopefully he won't be too disappointed when he gets to be his brother's ages and he's not quite so popular anymore. 

A new friend in the neighborhood said her daughter, who has lived in China over two years and is now four, has a weird obsession with touching Chinese women.  She attributes it to the fact that her daughter no longer gets as much attention from the Chinese as she used to.  Ahh, the life and times of a child star!