What I Didn't Expect

My ten year old son in a mystery....

The one page of information that we got with his referral, does not even
scratch the surface. The information gives minimal information on how he
got his burns and even less about his life since then....

After knowing him for three weeks, I want to know...

Where did he learn to give back rubs?

How does he know the difference between peach trees and apple trees?

Who taught him that the best answer in a new situation is "no"

Where did you spend your time? You knew which animal you were smelling
at the fair.

Why do you think you will get hives from a long sleeved shirt...is it
the idea that it was wool?...or didn't you like the shirt?

How allergic are you to shrimp and mushrooms? Why didn't the paperwork
mention it? (c'mon people this could have been important)

Who taught you to prepare food?

Why do you seem to know that God is very important to us? You remind
your siblings to pray before they eat, when they would charge ahead and
start stuffing their mouths.

Yet you say you had no religious education of any sort.

We took you to Chinese Church today, you sang the songs, what did you
hear? what did you learn?

The other things I didn't expect...
The child I expected to have outbursts over a new sibling...is not the
child having the outbursts. They happen about every other day, mostly
when she is tired, plus she was sick when we came home. Hopefully, this
week is better.
I did not expect to be quite so BUSY almost like a newborn...except he
can get into the refrigerator by himself! :^)
I also did not expect to fall in love so fast.
I did not expect one of his first words to be "careful!" (am I
over-protective?)

This boy is determined! I don't think he ever shot a basket before
Friday and today he managed to get a few shots in the basket! He was
very pleased with himself. My camera skills were not good enough to
catch the actual shot.

Last night he met his 13 cousins on my side of the family....he was a
bit stunned, but seemed to blend right in.

Brothers

Someone gave Liang (now Joseph) a nice Lego set....while he loves
Legos, he waited until brother came home and asked him to help out.

Thanks!

I have been following blogs for over a year, especially those
involving older child adoption...
I want to say thanks for the things I learned along the way....Thanks for telling me that kids rub their faces in the watermelon rind
after they are finished eating it....
he did exactly that....Thanks for reminding me that these kids don't ride in cars very often
and might get car sick....
he does....Thanks for reminding me of the cultural differences with spitting and
snorting....I knew it, but the voices of experience ring louder than all
the "experts" in the books we read.Thanks for discussing the possibility of him needing to call someone, so
we could be prepared when he asked to make a phone call.Thanks for mentioning that some orphanages almost never use the stairs,
but instead use the elevators...stairs are going much better now after 3
weeks.Thanks for mentioning that I might not fall instantly in love, that it
takes time, and you may feel as if you are baby sitting at first....Thanks for mentioning the need for food constantly at first....that has
tapered off quite a bit.I have another post about the things I wasn't prepared for, but I'd
better get to bed so I can enjoy another day with the family God gave us.

He Called Me Clever

We are home a few days...yesterday I was catching up on things and
decided to make a batch of cereal (granola). Liang was watching,
sniffing and asking for translations, after I was finished he asked for
the translator and the word was "cleverness"
Made me smile.
I am in awe of homeschooling moms...how do you do it? I am trying to
keep him busy and catch up on the laundry and baking, not to mention the
dirty corners. He would be happy playing computer games all day with a
bit of scooter riding in between, but this mama knows that isn't the
best....
We didn't have a curriculum lined up before he came home, simply because
I really didn't know where he was at in terms of grade level. I am in
the middle of enrolling him in an online charter school.

Today he read part of "Go Dog Go" not that he comprehended all the
words, but he could sound out the words.
I will be glad for the days that little sister is in school, it is hard
on my brain to stay on HIGH alert making sure there are no problems.
When the others are home, so is daddy so I have some help. So far we see
nothing inappropriate, but I guess it will be awhile before we can relax.

Little sister is not real happy these days, she is getting over the
fever/cold she had the last few days and probably still suffering jet
lag makes for touchy feelings "mommy he frowned at me" "no deary, he
was just trying to figure out what you are doing"
Liang does not like when the girls cry, the other night when big sister
started over something he gave the "time out" sign and said "no sister".
God allowed us to find a doctor, who speaks Mandarin and takes new
patients, and has an office only 20 minutes away. We saw him today and
sees no medical issues other than his feet and hand.
He has a great sense of humor, it will be fun when he can understand all
the table talk, he seems to have the same kind of humor we do.

We Are Home!!!

Well, we made it! As far as I can tell, we didn't lose anything (not
even any kids).
We arrived at our local airport (about 10:15PM) and were met by my
parents and our oldest son and his girlfriend. Liang knew that "grandma
and grandpa" were coming and he immediately pulled out his photo album
and asked my mom which picture was her. Didn't realize the G-ma's look
alike.
We had about an hour drive to our home, when we got close I tried to
tell him...but when we started in our street he sat up and pointed at
the first house that sort of looks like ours....He was a little unnerved
when we drove in our long dark tree-lined drive, but when he saw our
house and our son standing outside, he said "ohhh! family!" This momma
is going to say that it was a pleased tone of voice.
He did a quick tour of the house and picked up everything ( I didn't
realize how many little things were laying around), but by 12:30 every
one but mom was in bed...they slept all night and some of them slept
till 11AM.
After breakfast of cereal and milk!!?? (first time?) I sent them outside
and Liang found the scooter. I could tell he had never been on one, but
by evening he was doing pretty good.
The swing also seemed to be something new.Last night didn't go as well....people were not sleeping! Faith has a
fever and everyone was wide awake before 6AM....so finally at 6AM I told
them to get up and we made pancakes.
I sent the others off to church and Liang, Faith, and I stayed
home...next week will be soon enough, but I was looking forward to
church again.

Quick Prayer Request

all the bags are packed...I think. I hope I am not forgetting anything. We leave for the airport at 5:40. Please pray for us if you think about it...we have 3 airports and 3 flights to make our way through. we hope to be home tonite by 10:15...lotta miles to go ( more than 10,000). It stresses even experiences flyers, not to mention children who do not do this very often.

Autumn Moon Festival

Today we left the hotel about 9AM with our guide Elvin and went to Shamain Island. We did a whirlwind shopping trip in the rain and humidity. As Elvin expressed it, we "helped the Chinese economy"
I bought 3 coming home Barbies for other people....didn't get one for Liang....somehow I don't think he would be impressed.
After  a quick lunch at Subway....we were craving sandwiches (other than PB&J) we left for the book store
When we pulled up, my first impression was that there must be some festival going on, there were a LOT of people coming out of that building! AND going in!

We were in search of bi-lingual books, we found them on the 2nd floor...spent less than $30. Bought 7 Bearenstain Bear Books and 7 other books like Tom Sawyer, Aesops Fables, Charlottes Web, a joke book (Liang's 2nd choice) after he almost had a melt down over the toy aisle. I would have loved to spend all day, but I was honestly afraid I would lose a kid!  It was crazy.

Tomorrow we get Liang's visa and we try to fit all the stuff back into 7 suitcases....I have a feeling we will be visiting the suitcase store tomorrow....

We Skyped with Liang's friend that was adopted before him and they chatted for about 20 minutes....
Then we dove into the mooncakes that we hauled along from Beijing....the pineapple ones were great, the bean paste ones....um to use DH's words   "tastes like the inside of a closet"   Zeke asked how in the world daddy would know that.
Happy Autumn Moon Festival....no moon here tonite, but lots of happy families out there

Consulate Appointment

Well the US will be issuing 45 more US visas after today's ceremony.
Our guide went to the Consulate this morning and submitted our papers and this afternoon we appeared at the consulate ceremony. It was a bit faster than normal, guess because of the Mid-Autumn festival.
Tomorrow will be a free day so we hire a guide to go shopping, we did not get the mementos for Liang that we bought the other children, plus I have some orders from other people...so we will see what we can find.
We also want to visit a book store to hopefully get some bilingual books for Liang....he does read well, the way it sounds, so I want to keep him reading something until he transitions to English.

Today during the Consulate appointment Liang pulled a tooth. He has been complaining about his teeth and I assumed that he had cavities... here it looks like he has 3 loose teeth!  Maybe that is all the problem!? I hope
Earlier we told him to just pull his tooth and he almost had a fit....not sure what he thought we were saying....we had the guide talk to him and explain that WE won't be pulling any teeth that is his problem/job and maybe he didn't realize that he could pull them out before they fall out...not sure.

Did not get much rain today, but it seemed to have poured during the night...didn't hear wind or rain, so I guess I was sound asleep.
Chris for the Weaver's

Something I Never Saw Before

The exam room completely empty...we were the only adoptive family for the afternoon.

Medical Exam

Medical exam was Monday...we managed to get out of there with most of our dignity intact ( the physical exam was the most traumatic). Only 3 vaccines and they recognized the TB test performed in BJ.
We were  "observed" for a half an hour afterward and then we were free to go...

The doctors took a second look at his feet and held a consultation that I believe involved discussing how the feet could be repaired....poor boy's eyes got big and he started firing questions...apparently no one had ever discussed repairs...I don't know...we were going to save that conversation until we actually knew our options...hopefully it broached the idea and he has time to get used to the idea.

My husband said it also might have been good that the idea was introduced by a Chinese doctor.