Take it from me...
June 30, 2011
one who traded the sports car for a minivan...it's really this simple.
Read more...
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4 days ago
Simple Pleasures
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| back (yard) walk overs... |
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| twist and shout... |
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| girly giggles... |
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| kart wheels in the grass... |
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| turning big boxes into "forts" |
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| smart ass brothers. You ARE clicking right...I mean you wouldn't just read and NOT click would you? |
Care Package #2 for The Butterfly
June 29, 2011
While in China I was able to pick up a few things for The Butterfly. Of course I have no idea what her sizes are but I figured it was worth a shot and if not her than some child there could use a new dress or pair of shoes. BUT I really hope the shoes fit. I would love her to have a sturdy pair of shoes. I think that would be so good for her.
I sent my goodies to Ann at Red Thread by Chinese post and it cost me a whole 20 yuan or about $3 bucks to get it to her the next day. Ann forwarded The Butterfly's package today.
It is extra special knowing she will have something from me that I have touched. (Ok, KISSED, as I placed each item into a box for her.) Hoping to get photos of my baby butterfly opening her gifts but that's always hit or miss.
Pray for hit.
The most important part of the package was a letter written to the orphanage director. I was polite and appreciative AND BOLD.
I asked if he would allow me to send in a private speech therapist for The Butterfly.
PRAY HE SAYS YES TO THIS.
There is nothing I worry about more than we are missing a critical window of opportunity to teach The Butterfly to talk.
*******
Good News On the Paperwork Front!
Our home study update was approved and Dart drove to pick it up this morning! Our I800a will be filed by overnight mail today!!!!
Read more...
I sent my goodies to Ann at Red Thread by Chinese post and it cost me a whole 20 yuan or about $3 bucks to get it to her the next day. Ann forwarded The Butterfly's package today.
It is extra special knowing she will have something from me that I have touched. (Ok, KISSED, as I placed each item into a box for her.) Hoping to get photos of my baby butterfly opening her gifts but that's always hit or miss.
Pray for hit.
The most important part of the package was a letter written to the orphanage director. I was polite and appreciative AND BOLD.
I asked if he would allow me to send in a private speech therapist for The Butterfly.
PRAY HE SAYS YES TO THIS.
There is nothing I worry about more than we are missing a critical window of opportunity to teach The Butterfly to talk.
*******
Good News On the Paperwork Front!
Our home study update was approved and Dart drove to pick it up this morning! Our I800a will be filed by overnight mail today!!!!
Numbers
June 28, 2011
143 Million Orphans in the world
More than 87.6 Million of them in Asia
6% of ALL children in Asia are Orphans
Here are 2 Less...
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Read more...
More than 87.6 Million of them in Asia
6% of ALL children in Asia are Orphans
Here are 2 Less...
(Adoption) # 3 is NOT Charmed
June 27, 2011
Guess this is going to be stressor number one for this adoption. See if you can follow this (because honestly I am struggling with it).
We are running a race against a deadline to get our Log in Date (LID) with China by October 1st. The log in date is issued by China after you submit your dossier.
Problem is I can't submit my dossier (which is one from 2007 that we are reusing) until we get a new immigration approval from USCIS.
But I can't file for the immigration clearance until I get an updated home study.
And I don't have my updated home study yet from my social worker and I really cant push her for it. (Crazy horrible situation... earlier this month my social worker's son died and then just 3 weeks later she lost her father. It's been beyond tragic and I cannot not hold any hard feelings about the delay. It's understandable and all the way around awful.)
The reason we are up against the October 1 deadline is our current home study agency is not Hague accredited which wasn't a problem until now (or October 1, 2011). Its a change in procedure that happened (or was communicated to us) after we had already committed to Mia.
here is the time line assuming best case;
Get home study update and file our I800a with USCIS this week lets say July 1st.
Get immigration pre approval from USCIS and immediately send Dossier to China. Since its now taking between 60-90 days lets say this will bring us to September 15th.
Pray that somehow China issues a LID before October 1...oh yeah its been taking them MONTHS to issue the LID's.
Itseems is impossible.
And I really think I'm going to have to redo my entire home study with a new agency.
THIS IS NO A SMALL DEAL.
And just to add to my growing sense of doom I'm now hearing it will take 6-9 months after I get my LID before I can expect to bring Mia home.
At that rate she will not be home in the fall, not make it here for Christmas and could DEAR GOD actually have another birthday without us.
(I honestly think I will have a break down if I have to send a second birthday cake to an orphanage.)
I'm going to wallow in a bit of sell pity for a minute.
Then I've got to make the call to start a new home study now or just pray the timing will work out.
Tell me, what would you do?
Read more...
We are running a race against a deadline to get our Log in Date (LID) with China by October 1st. The log in date is issued by China after you submit your dossier.
Problem is I can't submit my dossier (which is one from 2007 that we are reusing) until we get a new immigration approval from USCIS.
But I can't file for the immigration clearance until I get an updated home study.
And I don't have my updated home study yet from my social worker and I really cant push her for it. (Crazy horrible situation... earlier this month my social worker's son died and then just 3 weeks later she lost her father. It's been beyond tragic and I cannot not hold any hard feelings about the delay. It's understandable and all the way around awful.)
The reason we are up against the October 1 deadline is our current home study agency is not Hague accredited which wasn't a problem until now (or October 1, 2011). Its a change in procedure that happened (or was communicated to us) after we had already committed to Mia.
here is the time line assuming best case;
Get home study update and file our I800a with USCIS this week lets say July 1st.
Get immigration pre approval from USCIS and immediately send Dossier to China. Since its now taking between 60-90 days lets say this will bring us to September 15th.
Pray that somehow China issues a LID before October 1...oh yeah its been taking them MONTHS to issue the LID's.
It
And I really think I'm going to have to redo my entire home study with a new agency.
And just to add to my growing sense of doom I'm now hearing it will take 6-9 months after I get my LID before I can expect to bring Mia home.
At that rate she will not be home in the fall, not make it here for Christmas and could DEAR GOD actually have another birthday without us.
I'm going to wallow in a bit of sell pity for a minute.
Then I've got to make the call to start a new home study now or just pray the timing will work out.
Tell me, what would you do?
Sucker for a Happy Ending...
June 24, 2011
Last night I got an email from a wonderful family letting me know that they just got Pre Approval to adopt a child found here on Five of My Own.
Can I tell you how happy that makes me.
One less orphan.
One more forever.
mmmmm...melt my heart and make me all sorts of warm and gooey.such good stuff dont you think?
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nice job click nation ...we are back to #2. keep it up please...we have a long way to go!
Read more...
Can I tell you how happy that makes me.
One less orphan.
One more forever.
mmmmm...melt my heart and make me all sorts of warm and gooey.such good stuff dont you think?
There are still a couple Five of My Own Kids Waiting for someone to step forward and make them part of a family.
Please don't forget them...
they need their happy ending too
they need their happy ending too
Team Chenzhou: Ruined
June 23, 2011
Just had to share this awesome post written by our fabulous mission trip team leader...
Read more...
"I traveled with a team of 13. And together we all feel ruined.
I hoped that YOU will search your heart and be in prayer over if the Lord wants to ruin YOU too. For Him. For His children.
You are not too old.
You are not too poor.
You are not too busy.
Well maybe you are, and if that is the case, then you have a problem.
We can all do SOMETHING. We can be their voice. We CAN change their world.
And maybe in the process, change yours too."
Yikes!
Ok I need some help...a boost, a bump a big ole CLICK
Today my blog dropped to the number 3 position on Top Mommy Blogs.
I will be honest the woman with the top blog right now is incredible and writing about the death of her 6 month old son. It's important and heartfelt stuff. And I'm glad people are responding to her. They should.
But I too need to do some important work. Just back from china I have so many pictures of kids who need families I need to post AND I NEED TO FIND FAMILIES and a high ranking in TMB helps me to reach more potential families.
So please click the brown bar below. As soon as you get to the top mommy site it counts as a vote. You can vote once every day so if you can give it a click anytime you are here (or think about doing it...I mean add me to your outlook calendar if you want!)
I know it's sort of a pain in the butt.
But I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important...especially now.
Today my blog dropped to the number 3 position on Top Mommy Blogs.
I will be honest the woman with the top blog right now is incredible and writing about the death of her 6 month old son. It's important and heartfelt stuff. And I'm glad people are responding to her. They should.
But I too need to do some important work. Just back from china I have so many pictures of kids who need families I need to post AND I NEED TO FIND FAMILIES and a high ranking in TMB helps me to reach more potential families.
So please click the brown bar below. As soon as you get to the top mommy site it counts as a vote. You can vote once every day so if you can give it a click anytime you are here (or think about doing it...I mean add me to your outlook calendar if you want!)
I know it's sort of a pain in the butt.
But I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important...especially now.
Nutrition Survey for Adopted Children
June 22, 2011
They have a great site called Adoption Nutrition that has all sorts of valuable information for adoptive parents regarding the unique nutritional needs of adopted children.
If you don't already know about Spoon I invite you to check out their website and watch this video. I think they are awesome!
Right now Spoon is conducting a quick 10 question survey about transition foods, or foods that help bridge the gap between an adopted child's native diet and what will become their regular diet at home. They will use the responses they receive to provide more information for adoptive parents through their Adoption Nutrition website. They survey is of all adopted children regardless of where they were adopted.
Please help them to help our children by taking the survey by July 7th.
No Training Wheels!
June 21, 2011
Taking a break from China to share a milestone reached in the Printy house. Both girls learned to ride a two wheeler sans training wheels today! It took Macy a bit longer but eventually they both got it. What a great way to mark the first day of summer.
Their big softy of a brother ran up and down the street teaching them. Taking one training wheel off at a time he coaxed then into coasting and then pedaling on their own. So proud of my sweet girls ...
and my sweet, nurturing, awesome big brother, son.
Not long ago Kiefer said to me that he wasn't sure what he would do with his life but that he knew he was going to be a great dad. Got to agree with him on that one!
Their big softy of a brother ran up and down the street teaching them. Taking one training wheel off at a time he coaxed then into coasting and then pedaling on their own. So proud of my sweet girls ...
and my sweet, nurturing, awesome big brother, son.
Not long ago Kiefer said to me that he wasn't sure what he would do with his life but that he knew he was going to be a great dad. Got to agree with him on that one!
Butterfly Blessings
One of the most inspiring orphanages we were able to visit while in China was Butterfly House in Changsa. It is China's only known palliative care center for orphans. Actually calling it an orphanage makes it sound much bigger than it really is because in fact it is a tiny operation taking space in a half dozen small rooms within the Changsa SWI.
Started just two short years ago by Lyn and Alan Gould a British couple from Australia, Butterfly House now cares for 12 children with chronic and/or life threatening conditions. (Sadly two of the children there today are in fact terminally ill.) Since its start in 2010 Butterfly House has been home to 35 children.
Most children come to Butterfly House after being deemed terminal or otherwise being "given up on" by the orphanage authorities.
Butterfly House operates on a shoe string budget but everyone there has a huge heart and their love and persistence is paying off. Right now two of the children at Butterfly House, two that were deemed too sick to provide for, have been nursed to health and are being adopted! An incredible testimony to the power of prayer, the resilience of these children and ability for people like Lyn and Alan (and just like each of us) to make a real difference for a child in need.
Our Visiting Orphans Team with the support of MedWish International in Cleveland Ohio and many of my friends here in blogworld and on facebook, were able to deliver hundreds of pounds of medical equipment and infant care supplies to Butterfly House. The donations were very much appreciated and desperately needed. There were heartfelt tears of joy as we rolled our many cases of goods into the building!
Of course the need is great and much more remains to be done. Right now Butterfly House is searching for a Nurse to join their team! If you are a nurse and have ever thought about living abroad for 6 months or more this is your chance to do something AMAZING!!!!
I have witnessed first hand the work done by Butterfly House and can personally attest to its value and worth. If you would like to learn more about Butterfly House or if you would like to sponsor a child there please visit Butterfly Children's Hospices for more information.
Here are just some of the beautiful butterfly babies I met during my short visit.
Won't you please say a prayer for them?
Read more...
Started just two short years ago by Lyn and Alan Gould a British couple from Australia, Butterfly House now cares for 12 children with chronic and/or life threatening conditions. (Sadly two of the children there today are in fact terminally ill.) Since its start in 2010 Butterfly House has been home to 35 children.
Most children come to Butterfly House after being deemed terminal or otherwise being "given up on" by the orphanage authorities.
Butterfly House operates on a shoe string budget but everyone there has a huge heart and their love and persistence is paying off. Right now two of the children at Butterfly House, two that were deemed too sick to provide for, have been nursed to health and are being adopted! An incredible testimony to the power of prayer, the resilience of these children and ability for people like Lyn and Alan (and just like each of us) to make a real difference for a child in need.
Our Visiting Orphans Team with the support of MedWish International in Cleveland Ohio and many of my friends here in blogworld and on facebook, were able to deliver hundreds of pounds of medical equipment and infant care supplies to Butterfly House. The donations were very much appreciated and desperately needed. There were heartfelt tears of joy as we rolled our many cases of goods into the building!
Of course the need is great and much more remains to be done. Right now Butterfly House is searching for a Nurse to join their team! If you are a nurse and have ever thought about living abroad for 6 months or more this is your chance to do something AMAZING!!!!
I have witnessed first hand the work done by Butterfly House and can personally attest to its value and worth. If you would like to learn more about Butterfly House or if you would like to sponsor a child there please visit Butterfly Children's Hospices for more information.
Here are just some of the beautiful butterfly babies I met during my short visit.
Won't you please say a prayer for them?
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| William (defective windpipe, adoption status unknown) |
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| Eve, (Adopted) |
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| Paul (post surgical/omphalocele, available for adoption!) |
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| Sarah, (delayed development, available for adoption!) |
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| Little Swallow, (spina bifida, available for adoption!) |
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| Angel, (Adopted) |
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| Ysmael, (terminal liver failure, not able to be adopted) |
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| Hannah, (thalessimia-available for adoption!) |
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| Isobel, (terminal liver failure, not able to be adopted) |
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| Lyn Gould, my new hero. |
Don't forget to click the banner...need to keep this blog high in the rankings if we want lots of potential families to see (and hopefully adopt) these beautiful babies.
A Perfect Dad
June 19, 2011
Fathers Day.
It wasn’t always a celebration in my house.
In fact for much of my life it was at best just another Sunday.
Because I did not have a father.
At least not that I can remember.
Four months before I turned four years old my father died, killed himself to be more precise; a single gunshot to the abdomen according to the death certificate.
It was the 70’s and frankly my family wasn’t the most functional to begin with so no one talked about “it” or him at all. Ever.
Instead I spent many years imagining what he might have been like; what it would be like to have a “daddy”. While most other girls dreamed about the prince who would marry them one day, I fantasied about (and prayed for) a father who would walk me down the aisle.
In my school girl imagination my father would be the perfect combination of strong and sweet. He would do all the “usual” things a perfect dad would do like kiss me on the forehead and swoop me up in his arms to dance me around the room. He would toss me high in the air and catch me in his big arms. He would build me a swing, tighten the handlebars on my bike, give me rides on his shoulders, help with my math homework, teach me to drive, turn the porch light on in the middle of my first kiss.
And he would be my first love, tell me I was beautiful, be the man I compared every man to evermore.
He would be perfect.
(Honestly it’s a wonder I’m not (more) dysfunctional than I am.)
My only sense of a father was the one I conjured up in my child like imagination. A little girl's fantasy. An mythical creature of impeccable, impossible, paternal perfection.
But don’t feel pity because here’s the point of my sharing this with you.
20 years later I met and married and built a life with a man who, as fate would have it, turned out to be the perfect daddy to our children.
And he healed me.
Read more...
It wasn’t always a celebration in my house.
In fact for much of my life it was at best just another Sunday.
Because I did not have a father.
At least not that I can remember.
Four months before I turned four years old my father died, killed himself to be more precise; a single gunshot to the abdomen according to the death certificate.
It was the 70’s and frankly my family wasn’t the most functional to begin with so no one talked about “it” or him at all. Ever.
Instead I spent many years imagining what he might have been like; what it would be like to have a “daddy”. While most other girls dreamed about the prince who would marry them one day, I fantasied about (and prayed for) a father who would walk me down the aisle.
In my school girl imagination my father would be the perfect combination of strong and sweet. He would do all the “usual” things a perfect dad would do like kiss me on the forehead and swoop me up in his arms to dance me around the room. He would toss me high in the air and catch me in his big arms. He would build me a swing, tighten the handlebars on my bike, give me rides on his shoulders, help with my math homework, teach me to drive, turn the porch light on in the middle of my first kiss.
And he would be my first love, tell me I was beautiful, be the man I compared every man to evermore.
He would be perfect.
(Honestly it’s a wonder I’m not (more) dysfunctional than I am.)
My only sense of a father was the one I conjured up in my child like imagination. A little girl's fantasy. An mythical creature of impeccable, impossible, paternal perfection.
But don’t feel pity because here’s the point of my sharing this with you.
20 years later I met and married and built a life with a man who, as fate would have it, turned out to be the perfect daddy to our children.
And he healed me.
3 Worst Things About My Trip to China
June 17, 2011
#1
#2
#3
Ironically (in the moment) felt like THE BEST...
I would not normally eat this swill but we had a few die hard junk-foodies on the trip who were missing "American food". At first I was a little snobby in my thinking but I have to admit by day 10 that McDonald's cheeseburger was heavenly.
You can keep the KFC though...it was the only food in China that has ever made me feel sick. (And I remind you, I've eaten a scorpion here!)
Don't forget to click the banner...need to keep this blog high in the rankings if we want s lots of potential families to see our Chen Zhou kids. (Pssst: Pics are coming soon!)
Shopping...
June 16, 2011
I'm over it.
Maybe it's because I'm old. Maybe it's because knock off brand purses are just not my cup of tea.
Maybe it's because I just spent the last 10 days with orphans who own nothing. Kids who don't even have a mother to call their own (much less a Coach diaper bag...cripes they didn't even have diapers. )
Sigh.
I'm in no mood to shop.
So I'm checking my "Ugly American" into this coffee shop by the famous silk market. I'll sit here and wait for this bit of the trip to be over.
I'll watch the frenzied shoppers go by.
And I'll remember my babies in Chen Zhou.
Because the thing about being "changed" by an experience like this is .... YOU ARE CHANGED.
Don't forget to click the banner...need to keep this blog high in the rankings if we want s lots of potential families to see our Chen Zhou kids. (Pssst: Pics are coming soon!)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Read more...
Maybe it's because I'm old. Maybe it's because knock off brand purses are just not my cup of tea.
Maybe it's because I just spent the last 10 days with orphans who own nothing. Kids who don't even have a mother to call their own (much less a Coach diaper bag...cripes they didn't even have diapers. )
Sigh.
I'm in no mood to shop.
So I'm checking my "Ugly American" into this coffee shop by the famous silk market. I'll sit here and wait for this bit of the trip to be over.
I'll watch the frenzied shoppers go by.
And I'll remember my babies in Chen Zhou.
Because the thing about being "changed" by an experience like this is .... YOU ARE CHANGED.
Don't forget to click the banner...need to keep this blog high in the rankings if we want s lots of potential families to see our Chen Zhou kids. (Pssst: Pics are coming soon!)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Great(er) Part of the Wall
June 15, 2011
Today was our one day to play tourists. We visited the Badaling section of the Great Wall just outside of Beijing (it is a steep but fun climb to the top and a much more scenic section than the Juyongguan Pass we visited last year). We then had lunch at a jade factory (ie total tourists trap), visited the famous Silk Market in the afternoon and attended a performance by the Beijing Acrobats. I especially enjoyed the climb up the Wall, mostly because it now felt like I was walking it with friends. A friendship I do not take for granted. Frankly speaking, we are an unlikely group. Our backgrounds, where we live and varied ages would not normally place us together, never mind together in China. And I have been the odd team member without prior connection to anyone here. Yet we have shared an intensely emotional experience over these past weeks and it has (as these things tend to do), bonded us in a truly special way. It took a while to warm up, to feel accepted, (for me to learn everyone's name) but today was fun and finally it felt like I was among friends.  | ||
| Team Chen Zhou: (top left), Christy, Megan, Tim, Francine, Elyssa, Amy, Makenna, Lori, Shannon, (bottom left), Tammy, Carmen, Shawn, Katie |
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| Hero GOLD Cards for everyone! |
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| The long climb UP the wall. |
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| Looking very "touristy" |
Don't forget to click the banner...need to keep this blog high in the rankings if we want s lots of potential families to see our Chen Zhou kids. (Pssst: Pics are coming soon!)
Goodbye Chenzhou
June 14, 2011
We've left Chezhou and we're now back in Beijing. We are coming to the end of our mission in China. Tomorrow we will visit Shepard's Field an orphanage about 2 hours away, then it's a day of sightseeing and then home on Friday afternoon.
Hard to imagine the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City being anti climatic but I am sure it will be. Not just because I was there just a year ago but because our time in Chenzhou, our time with these children has been so deeply meaningful.
How can brick and mortar ever compare to flesh and bone?
Earlier this week I was beating myself up. Feeling silly and useless and insignificant.
What was I thinking?
have we really accomplished? What did we change?
But now I realize I am the one who has changed.
There are 147 million orphans needing families. Together they would form the ninth largest country in the world. The crisis is epic, the numbers really too big to relate to in anything more than an academic
way.
And that's really what this trip was about for me...humanizing a global tragedy by putting a face, and a name and a heart to a seemingly hopeless statistic.
Don't forget to click the banner...need to keep this blog high in the rankings if we want s lots of potential families to see our Chen Zhou kids. (Pssst: Pics are coming soon!)
Mu Shu
June 11, 2011
I have a new friend.
I’m calling her Mu Shu. (Like the cartoon Dragon not the entree.)
She’s tough little thing with a MAJOR attitude problem.
As is human nature the folks in our group sort of gravitate to the the kids who want the attention or at least are not openly hostile towards our advances. Mu Shu is not one of those kids.
The first day she walked around glaring at us like a cranky old Chinese grandmother. A dragon lady.
She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes enough to let us know we were not welcome. Any attempt to engage her was met with a nasty screech. No translation needed: she did not like us. That first day her interaction with us was pretty much limited to throwing toys at us. Lovely.
I will be honest, on day two when I walked into the room I did not want the crabby screecher. I know I know, shame on me but there were happy, cuddly babies in the room...give me one of those! But I was too late all the “good kids” were taken: just the cranky old grandmother was without an adult. It was her and me. Her against me to be more precise.
What to do? How to tame this little pot bellied beast?
I decided to take an indirect approach. I didn’t get too close, instead I played just near enough for her to see me stacking toys in a tower.
She noticed. Ha!
She came closer. Ha again!!
She reached out for a toy. GOT YA!!
For the next two and a half hours I inched my way closer and closer to her. I touched her hand when she thrust a toy at me.
Then I kissed her hand.
Then her cheek.
By the end I was nuzzling her neck and getting full on giggles and grins.
Before we left she was cuddled up in my arms. We ended up being the last two in the room. We had bonded and Mu Shu clung tight to me and tried to fight off the nanny who had to peel her away. She cried (ok she screeched) and stretched towards me. It was pathetic and I wanted desperately to pull her back into my arms but at the same time I was too satisfied with our (her) progress to be sad.
When we came back to the orphanage the next morning guess who made a bee line for me?
My Mu Shu of course.
She is still a little stinker as proven by her swatting and (of course) screeching at another little boy who tried to hug me. Not very nice behavior but actually a good sign that she can (and maybe did) bond. We played all day today and I even got to give her a bath. Again when it was time to leave she cried for me to stay. My heart ached just a bit more today...(I’m bonding too).
Mu Shu is a scrapper, a strong willed survivor of a kid. She is just 20 months old with a very old (and ornery) soul. And I’m in love with her. Her paperwork is done and she should be available for adoption soon. He medical need is so minor I can hardly believe it is a special need at all (it would not be in the US). She will certainly be adopted...at least I pray she will.
My team is joking she will be our number 7. (Don’t worry honey I’m not drilling holes in my suitcase...yet.)
In my heart I don’t think Mu Shu is meant to be mine but what I do know for sure is she is meant to be....wanting to be.... loved.
Don't forget to click the banner...need to keep this blog high in the rankings if we want s lots of potential families to see our Chen Zhou kids. (Pssst: Pics are coming soon!)
Read more...
I’m calling her Mu Shu. (Like the cartoon Dragon not the entree.)
She’s tough little thing with a MAJOR attitude problem.
As is human nature the folks in our group sort of gravitate to the the kids who want the attention or at least are not openly hostile towards our advances. Mu Shu is not one of those kids.
The first day she walked around glaring at us like a cranky old Chinese grandmother. A dragon lady.
She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes enough to let us know we were not welcome. Any attempt to engage her was met with a nasty screech. No translation needed: she did not like us. That first day her interaction with us was pretty much limited to throwing toys at us. Lovely.
I will be honest, on day two when I walked into the room I did not want the crabby screecher. I know I know, shame on me but there were happy, cuddly babies in the room...give me one of those! But I was too late all the “good kids” were taken: just the cranky old grandmother was without an adult. It was her and me. Her against me to be more precise.
What to do? How to tame this little pot bellied beast?
I decided to take an indirect approach. I didn’t get too close, instead I played just near enough for her to see me stacking toys in a tower.
She noticed. Ha!
She came closer. Ha again!!
She reached out for a toy. GOT YA!!
For the next two and a half hours I inched my way closer and closer to her. I touched her hand when she thrust a toy at me.
Then I kissed her hand.
Then her cheek.
By the end I was nuzzling her neck and getting full on giggles and grins.
Before we left she was cuddled up in my arms. We ended up being the last two in the room. We had bonded and Mu Shu clung tight to me and tried to fight off the nanny who had to peel her away. She cried (ok she screeched) and stretched towards me. It was pathetic and I wanted desperately to pull her back into my arms but at the same time I was too satisfied with our (her) progress to be sad.
When we came back to the orphanage the next morning guess who made a bee line for me?
My Mu Shu of course.
She is still a little stinker as proven by her swatting and (of course) screeching at another little boy who tried to hug me. Not very nice behavior but actually a good sign that she can (and maybe did) bond. We played all day today and I even got to give her a bath. Again when it was time to leave she cried for me to stay. My heart ached just a bit more today...(I’m bonding too).
Mu Shu is a scrapper, a strong willed survivor of a kid. She is just 20 months old with a very old (and ornery) soul. And I’m in love with her. Her paperwork is done and she should be available for adoption soon. He medical need is so minor I can hardly believe it is a special need at all (it would not be in the US). She will certainly be adopted...at least I pray she will.
My team is joking she will be our number 7. (Don’t worry honey I’m not drilling holes in my suitcase...yet.)
In my heart I don’t think Mu Shu is meant to be mine but what I do know for sure is she is meant to be....wanting to be.... loved.
Don't forget to click the banner...need to keep this blog high in the rankings if we want s lots of potential families to see our Chen Zhou kids. (Pssst: Pics are coming soon!)
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