Henry has been sleeping in Beverly's extra bed (Thanks Nana!)and when he came in our room yesterday morning the first thing he did was run up to James and yell "James! I'm so happy you're my brother!". God answers prayers, people. Henry LOVES his brother. We walked down the hall to let James and Lily see each other. We were SO curious to see what they'd do. Nothing. Surely they were a little confused? James experienced his first life-changing breakfast buffet yesterday. This boy likes EVERYTHING! I am so excited about this! We probably could have stayed at breakfast all day. That sweet boy didn't even know there were so many different foods in this world! At breakfast I decided to try out some sign language with him. Smarty pants! He picked up "more" immediately. And he'll mimic "please" and "thank you" and "all done"...so, technically he knows about as much sign language as I do. When he was done eating I sat him on my lap and we played with a little wind-up car on the table. He loved it! The simplest things bring him such joy. While I LOVE seeing his joy, it is heartbreaking to catch these glimpses of all the things he's missed out on.
Poor Henry is still sick. After breakfast Beverly took Henry upstairs to watch movies while Beau and James and I went back the Civil Affairs office to complete the China side of the adoption. It was fun to catch up with Lisa and Dave and their girls on the van ride and compare how the new little ones are doing with their families. At the Civil Affairs office, there was some waiting around, interrupted by short, strange meetings with Chinese officials. They all wanted to see our passports and double and triple-check that we won't abuse or abandon James. I thought we covered that in the 15 months of paperwork preceding our trip. But I guess you can't be too careful? We took an official family picture, waited some more, and had another awkward meeting with a woman who wanted to know how much money we make, what we thought of James, etc. Again, all stuff we have covered MULTIPLE times. China should consider upgrading to electronic charting.
When we got back to the hotel, I successfully got James down for a nap. It was gut-wrenching. With Henry, I'd let him cry a little. The rules are SO different with adopted kiddos. And in general you are basically supposed to coddle the heck out of them until they form a secure attachment. I knew he was SO SO tired, so I decided to let him cry for a few short minutes and see what happened. Thankfully, he fell asleep after only a couple of minutes. STRESSFUL! Beau sat nextdoor while Henry napped and Beverly courageously wandered Guangzhou alone for a couple of hours.
After naptime we went out to the gardens to blow some bubbles and let James walk around some more. He can walk, but he's not very motivated or steady. He is shockingly wobbly for a 3 year old and has almost no core or leg strength. Henry was pitiful so we pushed him around in the stroller and forced James to exercise! When the gardens got old we went up to explore the pool and playground. Beautiful! And we were so surprised to find that James knew what to do at the playground. Sort of. He immediately climbed the steps to the slides without help. And gave Henry a gentle little push down the tube slide. I thought I'd get James situated for his turn, but in the split second I took my hand off of him he threw himself face-first down the slide, with zero hesitation. And then he got up and climbed the steps again. Noted. Supervise James on playgrounds.
Both kids were exhausted after this so we went back to the room and decided to let the boys watch some Chinese TV while Beverly rested and I did some laundry in the tub. Henry and James were so sweet sitting on the couch together. They played with a couple of toys and we saw James get feisty for the first time when Henry took one particular toy. But they resolved it = Henry gave the toy back. Lots to teach Mr. James, but not now!
We met the Fosters at the elevators (not sure if I mentioned that their rooms are down the hall) for dinner. We walked to a Mexican place that is popular with a lot of adoptive families around here. We sat James and Lily next to each other at one end of the table. And you could finally see that they knew each other! They were SO cute. And they both LOVE Mexican food! It was interesting to see how they fit so perfectly with each of our families. James is SO neat and won't tolerate any food on his face or hands or any crumbs on his clothes (for now, at least). Let's just say Lily doesn't mind any of that. They both would have eaten all night if we hadn't cut them off! Henry slept on Beau's lap through most of dinner. He's had a fever for the last few days and a miserable cough. Poor Henry! And poor mommy. Papa had to carry a sleeping Henry back to the hotel and I had to carry James all the way back. Ouch. He does NOT know how to hang on!
When we got back we scrambled to get both kids ready for bed. I got Henry tucked in nextdoor and Beau gave James his bottle and got him to sleep in the crib. Then I took a muscle relaxer! And you'll just have to wait for tomorrow's post to find out if it worked!
I know you all just want the pictures. Fine. Here.
The hip-carrier. Never leave hotel without it.
Tuesday morning.
Henry is ecstatic!
walking down to Brian & Erika's room to see Lily
They missed the memo about being best buds.
at breakfast
In one of the updates I got his nannies said he "has a ready smile".
He does, and we love it!
waiting at the Civil Affairs office
Mr. Sensory loves those Cheerios but won't stick his hand into the snack-trap to get them!
still waiting
Papa took pity on him and took the lid off.
Safety first, James!!!
Brothers!
2 fewer orphans in this world!
One last thing. Erika's mom and Beverly discovered that they are practically long-lost twins at dinner last night. They were born on the same day in Pennsylvania and are both married to a Brian. Coincidence?
Congratulations on your newest edition! He is such a cutie! Those two boys are going to have so much fun together!
ReplyDeleteLove the update :) Congratulations!!
ReplyDeleteJennifer