Catching Up With Mr Spunk

The LONG day I mentioned in the previous post was followed by a long day of relaxation. Let's start with the long day first. We went to the government office where we were given Lee, to finish paperwork. The first think the official asked our guide was, "How is the boy doing?" Yes, it was that bad. Our guide told her that he was doing well, and honestly he was. Each day, we are seeing more and more of his personality unfold. Well, it is OFFICIAL. In China's eyes, Lee is our son!

After the office business, we went back to the hotel for a short break for lunch. Then we got into a van and drove to Xuchang City, where Lee is from. It was an hour and a half drive through city and country scenery. On the way to the police station in Xuchang (I am still not sure why we were there exactly), Lee started to play and laugh with us.

When we arrived at the police station, we were met by the orphanage officer who turns out to be the woman who Lee was crying for and calling "mama" when we picked him up. He was happy to see her, but content to be with us. He played with us while keeping a close eye on "mama." Our guide told us that the officer said the nanny really wanted to see him. It was kind of spur of the moment, but we agreed to go. He was handling seeing the officer really well, and we were encouraged that he would handle the visit well too. When we arrived at the orphanage, the director was waiting at the gate with another child from his room. When the van door opened, the little boy tried to climb inside. This little guy seemed to go and do whatever he wanted. haha We walked into the orphanage and past the tiny baby rooms to the upstairs. There were so many babies in the rooms. Some with IV drips attached to their heads, and others standing up in their cribs, watching us go by. The little boy who met us at the van, walked in and out of each room. He grabbed a broom and dust pan and was sweeping along the way. It was really cute (he is between 1 and 2 years old).

The nannies (there were several) kept pouring out of the rooms and handing Lee off to the next and taking pictures with their cell phones. A nanny, who was obviously not working and in regular street clothes, came up to Lee with tears in her eyes and picked him up. She was the nanny we recognized in all of his previous pictures. When we arrived in the room, it was empty. All of the children were gone except for 2 little baby girls who were not walking yet. They must have been 5 or 6 months old. They showed us Lee's crib, and pointed out all of his pictures on the walls and bulletin board. They then whisked us away to the playroom, teaching room, and finally the playground. There were children everywhere. It seems like his age group and up were given free time to roam among the halls and to go outside and play. When it was time to go, Lee did not want to leave with us. In all fairness, we were taking him away from the playground that he just step foot on. Our guide was anxious to get back home because if we left then, it would be 7:30 or 8:00 pm when we arrived back at the hotel. It seemed really fast in the orphanage, but we did learn that the children are very well cared for. They get exercise. They go outside. They get out of their rooms. It was totally different from how I imagined his life was. It was better actually. I will point out, that if you have a child from Xuchang, I have noticed from other people's posts and our own experience, that they seem to hold on to the finding notes or outfits for when the parents visit. They do not send them with the child. It is kind of like insurance that you will bring them back and they can see the child. Lee was crying when we left, and continued to cry for a while. Joey pulled out the ipad with Elmo and he calmed down quickly. He was quite somber as he watched it, and eventually fell asleep.

When we got back to the room, he perked back up and was all smiles. He played and played and played until he was tired.

Yesterday, we woke up and had breakfast. After breakfast, we went back up to our room and started playing with the toys. Then we heard a knock on the door. John and Connor came to visit us! Lee perks up anytime he sees Connor. They are such good friends. We went play in the play room at our hotel, and then took a walk to the local park. We are going to try to head out to the park tomorrow to take pictures of it. We forgot the camera, and today it has been raining all day, so no pictures of it so far.

After our walk, we came back to the room and fixed lunch for Lee. We were going through our suitcase and when he saw the cup of soup noodles, he got really excited. He ate almost the entire cup! He has quite an appetite at times. Other times, he will say "no," no matter what we offer him. He is very picky. Once lunch was over, we had a long nap. Very boring for you to read about, I know. LOL We walked to WalMart after nap time, and Lee's eyes lit up when we walked into the store. He was amazed with all of the food and the signs. He kept pointing at everything. We bought some Winnie the Pooh yogurt drinks for him which he really enjoys. He gets so excited when he sees them. When we received information on him, they said he was still on a bottle and drinking formula, but when we offer a bottle to him he refuses it. He also refuses the sippy cup. He prefers drinking from a straw, so we picked up a couple of straw cups for him as well. After returning to the hotel, we met up with some friends of ours and left to have dinner. It was quite interesting. We asked what the different meats were and the waiter told us pig and our friends chicken for the dishes we chose. Ours turned out to be pig liver, and theirs was chicken gizzards. Yummy! :/ When we left the restaurant, we went to the Holiday Inn next door and bought ice cream. Little did we know that the tiny cup of Hagen Dazs was $10!!! Yikes! Dinner was definently an adventure. Lee was so tired, that he fell asleep in the lobby. We took him up to our room and changed his diaper and clothes and layed down with him in the bed. He fell right back to sleep.

I hope to post a little about Lee's personality in the next post. There is alot to say about him. haha Blessings from China, Tasha