We made it to Guangzhou. After a VERY long day yesterday, we made it. Yesterday, Friday, we shopped around Chengdu in the morning, let the kids have naps in the mid-morning to afternoon and got ready to leave by having a "farewell Chengdu" lunch via McDonalds! Matthew is warming up to us everyday. His "blank" look on his face comes every once in while (same look that he had when we first got him, but I tell ya, he's a LADIES man! Already smitten the ladies no matter where we go. He sings almost daily now and Marina (our guide in Chengdu) said that is a good thing. It means he is happy. I hope so.
Matthew and Rebecca get along real well now. Bickering as sister and brother. (That didn't take long to do.) Matthew did well on his first 2 hour flight to Guangzhou. He sat with momma and was ok for most of the time until he realized he could NOT get up and move around as we were descending!! Papaya snacks got him to relax a little. Met some really cool Aussie men on the plane ride from Chengdu to Guangzhou. Don't know their names but they were just talking with the kids, with us and having a good time.
Well, it's breakfast time and all we had for dinner last night was some muffins at the airport. So, we'll "talk" later!
Important dates:
Friday, March 09, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Thursday afternoon, 3/8/07 - PANDAS!
Well, we were up early. Matthew had a so-so night. Apparently he had a bad dream or something because he was sleeping but at the same time, crying. He did that about 3 times throughout the night. After that, he slept. We then got up, went to breakfast, and hit downtown Chengdu! (waiting for Marina/Mr. Wong) We actually drew more attention to ourselves today for just walking in the square! Imagine that!! A lady came up to us saying a bunch of stuff in Chinese and I honestly thought she was going to get me for not dressing the kids warm enough. Come to find out, her and Roy started a conversation in CHINESE! Lucky Roy studied those CD's! It's paid off more than once! She was nice. Said lucky babies. (little did she know WE are the lucky ones) Then went off in the square. Meanwhile, more folks came along to see what she was looking at and well? You know the rest!
Ok, I have to tell you about this! As we were heading back to the hotel to meet our guide and the driver, we stopped in front of Ito Yokado (a department store/Walmart/ grocery store). Well, apparently they were having ONE MASSIVE SALE ON SOMETHING because there were about 150 people standing in line waiting for the store to open at 9am. Well, the store opened and even with police around and security guards posted throughout the line, the people MOWED one another over to get into that store! It was like BLACK FRIDAY in the US! Or David's Bridal $99 sale, the first day! OH MY GOSH.....young, old, didn't matter, they were literally walking on one another to get into that store. Roy and I couldn't believe what we were seeing and Roy asked one of the policemen what was it (he couldn't speak english). We figured a sale. But MAN......stay outta their way!
PANDAS....... PANDAS......... and more PANDAS! We saw little baby pandas that were 6 months old (who were the most downright beautiful little creatures God's ever made). At birth, the pandas are about 1/5 a pound.
At 6 months, they are about 50 pounds, so I guess you could say we saw the toddlers! LOL....It was mating season so some of the male pandas were inside their "bedrooms".....for obvious reasons!
The red pandas were just so darn cute, we just had to hold them! They are truly babies! Rebecca weighs more than them!!! Holding them was such an honor! They were enticed by apples! We had to wear gloves as to protect not only ourselves, but mainly for them! Not to get them sick or pass germs to them. It was an awesome experience.
Rebecca had to do what mommy did!
The Chengdu Panda Reserve was an awesome experience and it took about appx. 4 hours to go through the whole thing. Even "Swan Lake". They have BLACK SWANS there. They are the most gorgegous swans! The baby chicks are just as cute! I LOVED seeing them. You don't see too many black swans in the US (or Norway for that matter). The kids got plum tuckered out as the photo shows.
After the Panda reserve, we went back to the hotel to clean up, get a fresh diaper on our mister Matthew, let Rebecca go and off we took our guide out to a nice Sichuan meal at one of the local restaurants. I think she liked that, VERY MUCH! We let her pick some stuff for us and it was WONDERFUL! (didn't like the vegetable plate, but ok.....looked like some kelp or seaweed) We actually closed the place down! Apparently here in China, workers get a "rest period" of one hour after the lunch rush. (to then prepare for the dinner crowds) Now we are back here writing to you.
Tomorrow we leave for Guangzhou! HALLELUJAH LORD! We won't be stared at for HOURS on end! More Americans, more American food, more shops that are SOOOOOO cool. I can't wait. Our flight is at 7:30pm and we won't arrive there until about 9:30pm. So no updates until at least Saturday and then we'll have to see if we can get a good connection in the hotel! We are staying at the Victory, don't forget.
OH YEAH, HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY! (Here in China, it's Happy Women's Day today!)
Until we meet again......
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Wednesday morning, 3/7/07 - Our little man is SO cute!
Oh my gosh did we have an interesting day yesterday afternoon. We went back to the Carrefour (like a Walmart) to get some things for Matthew (and ourselves). We got looks galore like you wouldn't believe. Number one it could be the stroller. It's a double stroller (which you don't see very often here in China), number two, we have a SON! He looks healthy enough on the outside, which I'm sure people are wondering about but yesterday, at lunchtime, Matthew and I were playing a game while he was eating. He never opens up his mouth very wide so we were pretending to yawn so I could get food into him. Well, I got to see his palate (or lack there of). Straight through to the nasal cavity. Poor little guy. No wonder he is constantly cleaning his palate way. (sounds like he's snorting or breathing really heavy, but it's not, he's just cleaning the airway/palate way of food or if he drank too quickly.)
The Carrefour was a quickie! It's ok to be the center of attention sometimes, but man, people come up to you and just start rambling in Chinese and I'm standing there with the kids going huh? Marina, our guide just casually walks over and begins to talk to the people and then tells them about Matthew's special need (sn). We bought some clothes for Matthew. I do NOT know metrics very well, so I just held up clothing to him and tried new shoes on him to see what fit and what didn't. He was so happy to get shoes that fit him. Daddy put the first shoe on him and he just smiled like crazy and was so happy he started singing!!! (I just thought to myself, wow, singing over new shoes that actually fit your feet. His little red shoes that he came in were so very worn, toes to the very end and slippery to walk in because of the sole's being almost gone. They are the papery kind of shoes that NO person let alone a child walk in, or play in. But, that's all the orphanage had, that's what they put on him.) We then got some more bottled water, orange juice from DOLE, cartons of warm milk and checked out.
This morning, we all slept in BIGTIME! I got up when I heard Rebecca running to and from the bathroom. (nothing wrong mind you, just running to and from) So I got up, then little Matthew got up and now Daddy is up. This is the most we've slept since leaving the USA. I'm so grateful and told the Director so, for the care that Matthew has received. He is developmentally delayed in alot of things. Yesterday for dinner, we tried to see if he could feed himself and he could, but with MAJOR problems. He acts like more of a 1 1/2 year old in some things and 5 year old in others. We'll catch him up. Just his language skills alone are just surpassing every notion within me! I never thought that within 24 hours, he'd be speaking english. That to me is just mind blowing!
The director of Yibin Children's Welfare Institute is such a very humble and gentle man. He said from the moment we met, that Roy and I were the best parents possible for Matthew. He was glad that we were keeping some of his Chinese name in the English spelling of his name. The Notary policeman pretty much said the same thing. That made us feel very good.
Today we have a free day. We plan to go eat breakfast, get showers, wash some clothes and then walk around Chengdu some more. I tell ya, being by yourself in a province is MUCH better than having 20 some families all trying to figure out where you want to go or something like that. Chengdu is pretty friendly. Our guide Marina has said that anywhere near the Prime Hotel is safe to go. (But there are unsafe areas around here also, but she said we wouldn't have to worry about that.) I like the Prime Hotel. It's in the middle of EVERYTHING! You have a McDonald's across the street (take the skywalk over the traffic filled streets), KFC about 3 blocks away, and Pizza Hut WITHIN the hotel!!!! Had pizza last night and it was AWESOME!
Well, I better end here. Lots to do and the kids are hungry! (kids....hmmm, I have two!) ;o)
Until next time..........
Tuesday evening, 3/6/07
Whew whee.....lots of documents and paperwork that transpired today. Between going to the Civil Affairs office again, doing paperwork there, and THEN....a HUGE, did I say HUGE Spanish group came in right after us and every one of them had Chinese babies with them!!! Don't know if they all came from Yibin, but boy, those babies were VOCAL! Most of them still dressed in the attire they came in yesterday or the day before. Anyway, we ended up taking the director back to the hotel with us to finish more paperwork and to wait for the police Notary. We actually finished ALL the paperwork TODAY! All we need is the receipts from today, the adoption decree in the redbook and the passport. That's it! Tomorrow is a free day so Marina can go to the different offices to get paperwork done (and give them back to us) and Thursday is the PANDA RESERVE! We get to walk up to REAL LIVE PANDAS and who knows, maybe they will let us feed them?! I'm REALLY looking forward to that.
Masse dokumenter og papirarbeid i dag. Tilbake til Civil Affairs kontoret for papirarbeid. Mens vi var der kom det en stor Spansk gruppe kom inn rett etter oss og hvert eneste par hadde en kinesisk baby med seg. Vet ikke om de kom fra Yibin eller ikke. I alle tilfelle så sørget ungene for at vi ga dem oppmerksomhet. Mesteparten av dem var fremdeles i klærne de kom i igår. Vi tok med oss barnehjems direktøren tilbake til hotellet for å gjøre unna mer papirarbeid og vente på notarius publicus. Vi gjorde unna alt papirarbeidet i dag så nå trenger vi bare å vente på adopsjons dekretet, dokumentasjon om at han er foreldreløs og pass. Det er det hele. I morgen har vi fridag slik at Marina kan gå til forskjellige kontor og gjøre mer papirarbeid for oss. På torsdag skal vi besøke Panda reservatet hvor vi vil få mulighet til å se dem på nært hold.
I have to admit, I'm tired today. I'm eating enough. Trust me on that one, but I'm not exactly sleeping very well. Apparently it's showing too. I saw some of the photos Roy took of me and saw only one thing! DARK EYES! Looks like Roy has been going 9 rounds with me! (which he hasn't, mind you) I need to do something about that. Just watching glucose levels. I've only had rice twice so far. (white rice spikes my sugar, so does regular pasta)
Jeg må innrømme at jeg er trøtt i dag. Jeg spiser nok men jeg sover ikke veldig godt og det synes. Jeg så noen av bildene Roy tok av meg og jeg ser bare en ting. Mørke øyne. Det ser ut som om Roy har gått ni runder med meg (noe han ikke har). Jeg må gjøre noe med det. Må også holde øye med sukkernivået. Jeg har hatt hvit ris kun to ganger så langt. (Hvit ris og pasta sender sukker nivået opp i skyene)
Anyhoo......Matthew continues to thrive! Gosh what a difference from Rebecca. Night and day! Matthew is easy going and saying everything that we say back to us. It won't take him long to speak english at this rate. I will say one thing, I'm almost 99% sure he has some sort of hearing deficiency. He speaks like my cousin Kevin, somewhat. He's deaf. I know through some great BTDT parents, like Wanda G., cleft kids get tubes in their ears to allow excess drainage off the eardrum, of fluid. I'm hoping this is all Matthew needs. He speaks pretty well to be honest. He already says, Momma, Dada, no-no, jei-jei (means big sister), didi (little brother). I think in 24 hours of english, that's pretty darn good!!!! Our boy is such a thinker and inquistive little man! Building things and keeping them in formation, methodically manuevering cups/blocks to do as he wants. It's neat just to see him and watch him. Trust me, between last night and this morning, that's all I've been doing. (Kristen) You can get to know a person really well if you just listen to them and watch them.
I alle tilfelle så virker det som om Matthew trives med oss. Så annerledes enn med Rebecca. Det er som natt og dag. Matthew er avslappet, repeterer det vi sier. Det vil ikke ta ham lang tid før han snakker engelsk. Det virker som om han har nedsatt hørsel. Han snakker som min fetter, Kevin, som er døv. Jeg vet fra andre "vært der, gjort det" foreldre som Wanda G. at når unger med ganespalte får innsatt sneller vil hørselen deres forbedres kraftig. Jeg håper at det er alt han trenger. For å være ærlig så snakker han veldig bra. Han sier allerede Mommy, Dada, no-no, jie jie (storesøster) og di di (lillebror). Etter å ha hørt engelsk i kun 24 timer så er ikke det verst. Gutten vår er en tenker og nyskjerrig liten mann. Han bygger ting og holder dem i formasjon. Flytter stable koppene metodisk rundt for å lage mønstre. Det er kjekt å følge med på det han holder på med og siden i går kveld og til i dag så er det stort sett det jeg har holdt på med. Du kan lære noen å kjenne ved å lytte til og observere dem.
Masse dokumenter og papirarbeid i dag. Tilbake til Civil Affairs kontoret for papirarbeid. Mens vi var der kom det en stor Spansk gruppe kom inn rett etter oss og hvert eneste par hadde en kinesisk baby med seg. Vet ikke om de kom fra Yibin eller ikke. I alle tilfelle så sørget ungene for at vi ga dem oppmerksomhet. Mesteparten av dem var fremdeles i klærne de kom i igår. Vi tok med oss barnehjems direktøren tilbake til hotellet for å gjøre unna mer papirarbeid og vente på notarius publicus. Vi gjorde unna alt papirarbeidet i dag så nå trenger vi bare å vente på adopsjons dekretet, dokumentasjon om at han er foreldreløs og pass. Det er det hele. I morgen har vi fridag slik at Marina kan gå til forskjellige kontor og gjøre mer papirarbeid for oss. På torsdag skal vi besøke Panda reservatet hvor vi vil få mulighet til å se dem på nært hold.
I have to admit, I'm tired today. I'm eating enough. Trust me on that one, but I'm not exactly sleeping very well. Apparently it's showing too. I saw some of the photos Roy took of me and saw only one thing! DARK EYES! Looks like Roy has been going 9 rounds with me! (which he hasn't, mind you) I need to do something about that. Just watching glucose levels. I've only had rice twice so far. (white rice spikes my sugar, so does regular pasta)
Jeg må innrømme at jeg er trøtt i dag. Jeg spiser nok men jeg sover ikke veldig godt og det synes. Jeg så noen av bildene Roy tok av meg og jeg ser bare en ting. Mørke øyne. Det ser ut som om Roy har gått ni runder med meg (noe han ikke har). Jeg må gjøre noe med det. Må også holde øye med sukkernivået. Jeg har hatt hvit ris kun to ganger så langt. (Hvit ris og pasta sender sukker nivået opp i skyene)
Anyhoo......Matthew continues to thrive! Gosh what a difference from Rebecca. Night and day! Matthew is easy going and saying everything that we say back to us. It won't take him long to speak english at this rate. I will say one thing, I'm almost 99% sure he has some sort of hearing deficiency. He speaks like my cousin Kevin, somewhat. He's deaf. I know through some great BTDT parents, like Wanda G., cleft kids get tubes in their ears to allow excess drainage off the eardrum, of fluid. I'm hoping this is all Matthew needs. He speaks pretty well to be honest. He already says, Momma, Dada, no-no, jei-jei (means big sister), didi (little brother). I think in 24 hours of english, that's pretty darn good!!!! Our boy is such a thinker and inquistive little man! Building things and keeping them in formation, methodically manuevering cups/blocks to do as he wants. It's neat just to see him and watch him. Trust me, between last night and this morning, that's all I've been doing. (Kristen) You can get to know a person really well if you just listen to them and watch them.
I alle tilfelle så virker det som om Matthew trives med oss. Så annerledes enn med Rebecca. Det er som natt og dag. Matthew er avslappet, repeterer det vi sier. Det vil ikke ta ham lang tid før han snakker engelsk. Det virker som om han har nedsatt hørsel. Han snakker som min fetter, Kevin, som er døv. Jeg vet fra andre "vært der, gjort det" foreldre som Wanda G. at når unger med ganespalte får innsatt sneller vil hørselen deres forbedres kraftig. Jeg håper at det er alt han trenger. For å være ærlig så snakker han veldig bra. Han sier allerede Mommy, Dada, no-no, jie jie (storesøster) og di di (lillebror). Etter å ha hørt engelsk i kun 24 timer så er ikke det verst. Gutten vår er en tenker og nyskjerrig liten mann. Han bygger ting og holder dem i formasjon. Flytter stable koppene metodisk rundt for å lage mønstre. Det er kjekt å følge med på det han holder på med og siden i går kveld og til i dag så er det stort sett det jeg har holdt på med. Du kan lære noen å kjenne ved å lytte til og observere dem.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Tuesday morning, 3/6/07 - OH WOW!
I never thought in my wildest dreams that having children, this way (by adoption), would be such a unique and heartwrenching journey! Matthew from about the time we got him until about 5pm last night was so in his own little world. Wouldn't budge, wouldn't talk, wouldn't smile, nothing...OH WOW is God great!!! All it took was some food and his baba (daddy) to feed him and mommy sat back and watched this beautiful boy just open up uncontrollably! What a metamorphisis. He not only smiled at us, but called me momma. He's making small, high pitched noises on his own. Once I got some of the layers off of him, OH MY GOSH is he small!! His jacket says 24 months old, but I have news for you! The smallest I brought with us was 18 months and I think those will be huge on him.
He's taken to his daddy since being fed. I purposely let Roy feed him because he was afraid of Roy. (just like Becca was) Men just aren't in the orphanage much. Just the women. He gave Roy many smiles while eating rice. Oh, he loves ORANGE JUICE! He just learned how to drink through one of our bigger bottles we brought with us. (no stopper in the cup though. He has no clue how to work a straw yet.
He hasn't allowed us to see his cleft palate but I know it's there. I can hear it. He breathes with alot of noise. He sleeps with alot of noise also. It's ok though, we have his first consultation with Children's Hospital in Washington, DC March 28th. PRAISE GOD!!
**** For those of you considering a cleft child please let me tell you now, this is a VERY managable special need for a child (and a parent) to deal with. Please don't let the pictures or other people scare you about this. Yes there are a few things to deal with like the constant druel (that's why God made tissues), the cleaning on his own of his cleft palate (which he has learned to deal with outside of us), the softer foods for a menu, at the moment (won't stay like this once it's fixed). Please, please.....talk to some BEEN THERE, DONE IT parents! (including ourselves) I can't imagine being without my son, Matthew!!! I thank God for him!! *****
Ok, stepping off the soapbox now. Back to Matthew. He loves rice! Sticky, glued together, no nothing in it rice. AND BOY DOES THIS LITTLE BOY EAT! (BJ's here we come!!!) Once he figured out the cup we had brought, he tasted Orange Juice for the first time and gave the BIGGEST smile you've ever seen!!! PTL! It's little things like that, that make you just want to love on him even more. His cleft lip has been fixed but I can see that the cranialfacial team may want to realign it with the rest of his lip (with a closed mouth, his mouth is still kinda open) and he has built up some scar tissue (it looks like). I LOVE HIM! He just melts yer heart! I'm telling ya! I wish I could just take my family and live in a remote place and just take care of everyone and play with the kids all day long.
Um, let's see, REBECCA. Oh goodness. No longer the center of attention anymore, she is really pouring it on for attention. I know what this is, and we are handling it as best we can, but GOOD GRIEF! She reminds me of a ping-pong table. Bouncing back and forth, here and there, up and down for attention. It's different, that's for sure. But I will say this, she is MISS MOTHER HEN over Matthew. Don't you dare touch him without consenting her! Matthew is ok with this most of the time, but once he's reached his "enough" stage, he let's her know it. (kinda funny to see)
He's slept through the whole night. He's still sleeping as I write to you all. He clears his palate every once in a while, but other than that, he just sleeps away. In the eyes of some, this child would be a "throw away" child because of his imperfections, but in our eyes? He is a precious gift from God in which we love dearly and will NEVER let him go! Thank you Lord! We feel so honored for being able to adopt this beautiful boy. Deeply honored! Thank you Lord!
Well, I would write more, but we need to get ready for breakfast and get ourselves ready for another round of PAPERWORK in Chengdu (by 9am).
He's taken to his daddy since being fed. I purposely let Roy feed him because he was afraid of Roy. (just like Becca was) Men just aren't in the orphanage much. Just the women. He gave Roy many smiles while eating rice. Oh, he loves ORANGE JUICE! He just learned how to drink through one of our bigger bottles we brought with us. (no stopper in the cup though. He has no clue how to work a straw yet.
He hasn't allowed us to see his cleft palate but I know it's there. I can hear it. He breathes with alot of noise. He sleeps with alot of noise also. It's ok though, we have his first consultation with Children's Hospital in Washington, DC March 28th. PRAISE GOD!!
**** For those of you considering a cleft child please let me tell you now, this is a VERY managable special need for a child (and a parent) to deal with. Please don't let the pictures or other people scare you about this. Yes there are a few things to deal with like the constant druel (that's why God made tissues), the cleaning on his own of his cleft palate (which he has learned to deal with outside of us), the softer foods for a menu, at the moment (won't stay like this once it's fixed). Please, please.....talk to some BEEN THERE, DONE IT parents! (including ourselves) I can't imagine being without my son, Matthew!!! I thank God for him!! *****
Ok, stepping off the soapbox now. Back to Matthew. He loves rice! Sticky, glued together, no nothing in it rice. AND BOY DOES THIS LITTLE BOY EAT! (BJ's here we come!!!) Once he figured out the cup we had brought, he tasted Orange Juice for the first time and gave the BIGGEST smile you've ever seen!!! PTL! It's little things like that, that make you just want to love on him even more. His cleft lip has been fixed but I can see that the cranialfacial team may want to realign it with the rest of his lip (with a closed mouth, his mouth is still kinda open) and he has built up some scar tissue (it looks like). I LOVE HIM! He just melts yer heart! I'm telling ya! I wish I could just take my family and live in a remote place and just take care of everyone and play with the kids all day long.
Um, let's see, REBECCA. Oh goodness. No longer the center of attention anymore, she is really pouring it on for attention. I know what this is, and we are handling it as best we can, but GOOD GRIEF! She reminds me of a ping-pong table. Bouncing back and forth, here and there, up and down for attention. It's different, that's for sure. But I will say this, she is MISS MOTHER HEN over Matthew. Don't you dare touch him without consenting her! Matthew is ok with this most of the time, but once he's reached his "enough" stage, he let's her know it. (kinda funny to see)
He's slept through the whole night. He's still sleeping as I write to you all. He clears his palate every once in a while, but other than that, he just sleeps away. In the eyes of some, this child would be a "throw away" child because of his imperfections, but in our eyes? He is a precious gift from God in which we love dearly and will NEVER let him go! Thank you Lord! We feel so honored for being able to adopt this beautiful boy. Deeply honored! Thank you Lord!
Well, I would write more, but we need to get ready for breakfast and get ourselves ready for another round of PAPERWORK in Chengdu (by 9am).
We have our son! / Vi har vår sønn
Wow, just in a split two minutes, after arriving a tad early at the Civil Affairs office, the actual director of Yibin was there with the "mother" nanny, with our son, Matthew (Zheng Xiong). He knows chinese. He hasn't said one word to anyone yet, but follows instruction in chinese and by following. He is small. He is in about 24 month clothing, it looks like, but then again, he is in about 3 layers of clothes, not sure yet. He's in diapers, which is ok. He's been trying to potty train. Will come with time. He's so much different from the photos we have of him. Much too grown up of a face already. He stands where he is and just stares at us. What a contrast to Rebecca. She came to us kicking and screaming and never stopped. Matthew is quiet. Very quiet. A thinker. Loves the stacking cups. Has already made many structures out of them too.
Vi ankom Civil Affairs kontoret litt tidlig og etter en liten stund kom Zheng Xiong og barnehjems direktøren og en av passerne hans. Han forstår kinesisk men har ikke sagt et ord til noen enda. Han følger instruksjoner gitt på kinesisk og følger ledelse. Han ankom i klær som er omtrent 2 års størrelse. Han er fremdeles i bleier men det er ok. Han har begynt potte trening. Han er litt annerledes enn bildene vi hadde fra før. Han har tydelig vokst en god del. Han stort sett står på samme stedet og bare stirrer på oss. Hvilken kontrast til Rebecca. Hun kom til oss og startet hylekoret og stoppet ikke på mange dager. Matthew er stille, veldig stille. Han er en tenker. Det virker som om han liker stable koppene som vi tok med til ham.
The actual signing of papers was kind of chaotic! Definitely different than last time. We have "homework" to do to turn in by tomorrow 9am. The kids are playing. Of course, I knew we'd have to tone Rebecca down, but at the moment? She is all over him and trying to keep her "calm" is proving to be a tad harder than said. But, I will say this, Matthew holds his own! His poor face looks like a battle scar. Apparently he had been scraping with others in his orphanage. Or vice versa. The only reason given was he was "fighting" with others. I tell ya, looking at him at the moment, he is so shy and so quiet, it honestly doesn't look like he'd touch a soul!
Underskrivingen av papirer var noe hektisk. Definitivt annerledes enn forrige gang. Vi har hjemmelekse som må leveres inn i morgen klokka 9. Ungene leker for øyeblikket. Vi visste at vi må tone ned Rebecca. Hun er litt voldsom og forsøk på å roe henne ned er letter sagt enn gjort. Jeg vil si at han kan forsvare seg om nødvendig. Ansiktet hans har krigs arr. Han har sansynligvis vært i tumult i barnehjemmet. Den eneste forklaringen gitt var at han hadde sloss med noen i barnehjemmet. Så sky og stille som han virker er det hardt å kjøpe den unnskyldningen.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that we have our son! So far, so good. He's tried to cry a couple of times, but I start to talk to him and comfort him and he's good with that. With Roy? He's timid, very timid with him. I have a feeling it's the same thing as with Rebecca. Matthew just doesn't know or have seen too many men in his life at the moment. It'll get better. We need to get him shoes! He's got paper shoes on. We need a few things. I need a bottle for him, or a sippy cup for his nightly warm milk. I hope he can be comfortable with us to sleep and do his daily routine. Will write later. Right now we want to enjoy our new son and get to know him.
I alle tilfelle så ville vi bare la dere vite at vi har vår sønn. Så langt er alt godt. Han har prøvd å gråte et par ganger men når Kristen snakker med ham så roer han seg igjen. Med meg på den andre siden er han skeptisk. Vi har en anelse at han ikke er for vant til menn. Det var slik med Rebecca og men hun varmet opp til meg ikke lenge etter. Han vil også varme opp til meg med tiden. Vi må ut og kjøpe sko til ham. De skoene han kom i ser ut som papir sko. Vi trenger noen andre ting også. Flaske eller tutkopp for varm melk hver kveld. Vi håper at han vil bli komfortabel nok med oss til å fortsette sin daglige rutine. Vil skrive seinere. Akkurat nå vil vi bare kose oss og lære vår nye sønn og kjenne.
Here's a few photos for ya.......
Bilder for dere......
Vi ankom Civil Affairs kontoret litt tidlig og etter en liten stund kom Zheng Xiong og barnehjems direktøren og en av passerne hans. Han forstår kinesisk men har ikke sagt et ord til noen enda. Han følger instruksjoner gitt på kinesisk og følger ledelse. Han ankom i klær som er omtrent 2 års størrelse. Han er fremdeles i bleier men det er ok. Han har begynt potte trening. Han er litt annerledes enn bildene vi hadde fra før. Han har tydelig vokst en god del. Han stort sett står på samme stedet og bare stirrer på oss. Hvilken kontrast til Rebecca. Hun kom til oss og startet hylekoret og stoppet ikke på mange dager. Matthew er stille, veldig stille. Han er en tenker. Det virker som om han liker stable koppene som vi tok med til ham.
The actual signing of papers was kind of chaotic! Definitely different than last time. We have "homework" to do to turn in by tomorrow 9am. The kids are playing. Of course, I knew we'd have to tone Rebecca down, but at the moment? She is all over him and trying to keep her "calm" is proving to be a tad harder than said. But, I will say this, Matthew holds his own! His poor face looks like a battle scar. Apparently he had been scraping with others in his orphanage. Or vice versa. The only reason given was he was "fighting" with others. I tell ya, looking at him at the moment, he is so shy and so quiet, it honestly doesn't look like he'd touch a soul!
Underskrivingen av papirer var noe hektisk. Definitivt annerledes enn forrige gang. Vi har hjemmelekse som må leveres inn i morgen klokka 9. Ungene leker for øyeblikket. Vi visste at vi må tone ned Rebecca. Hun er litt voldsom og forsøk på å roe henne ned er letter sagt enn gjort. Jeg vil si at han kan forsvare seg om nødvendig. Ansiktet hans har krigs arr. Han har sansynligvis vært i tumult i barnehjemmet. Den eneste forklaringen gitt var at han hadde sloss med noen i barnehjemmet. Så sky og stille som han virker er det hardt å kjøpe den unnskyldningen.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that we have our son! So far, so good. He's tried to cry a couple of times, but I start to talk to him and comfort him and he's good with that. With Roy? He's timid, very timid with him. I have a feeling it's the same thing as with Rebecca. Matthew just doesn't know or have seen too many men in his life at the moment. It'll get better. We need to get him shoes! He's got paper shoes on. We need a few things. I need a bottle for him, or a sippy cup for his nightly warm milk. I hope he can be comfortable with us to sleep and do his daily routine. Will write later. Right now we want to enjoy our new son and get to know him.
I alle tilfelle så ville vi bare la dere vite at vi har vår sønn. Så langt er alt godt. Han har prøvd å gråte et par ganger men når Kristen snakker med ham så roer han seg igjen. Med meg på den andre siden er han skeptisk. Vi har en anelse at han ikke er for vant til menn. Det var slik med Rebecca og men hun varmet opp til meg ikke lenge etter. Han vil også varme opp til meg med tiden. Vi må ut og kjøpe sko til ham. De skoene han kom i ser ut som papir sko. Vi trenger noen andre ting også. Flaske eller tutkopp for varm melk hver kveld. Vi håper at han vil bli komfortabel nok med oss til å fortsette sin daglige rutine. Vil skrive seinere. Akkurat nå vil vi bare kose oss og lære vår nye sønn og kjenne.
Here's a few photos for ya.......
Bilder for dere......
Sunday, March 04, 2007
We are getting closer / Vi nærmer oss
It is now only a couple of hours till our family goes from three to four. In other words we are getting real close to seeing our son "live" for the first time. We are surprisingly calm though. Has the BTDT gene kicked in? We're as ready as we can be. Thank you for your prayers.
Det er nå bare et par timer til familien øker fra tre til fire. Vi er veldig nært det øyeblikket da vi møter vår sønn ansikt til ansikt for første gang med andre ord. Overraskende nok er vi veldig rolig. Er "Vært der, Gjort det" genet slått på? Vi er så klar som vi kan bli. Takk for all forbønn.
Det er nå bare et par timer til familien øker fra tre til fire. Vi er veldig nært det øyeblikket da vi møter vår sønn ansikt til ansikt for første gang med andre ord. Overraskende nok er vi veldig rolig. Er "Vært der, Gjort det" genet slått på? Vi er så klar som vi kan bli. Takk for all forbønn.
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