Mary came to get us right at 2:30 pm and we rode over to the other hotel where the Civil Affairs Office is. I was feeling a little nervous, but honestly the whole experience was surreal. We took some pictures of the building outside and then went upstairs to where we would meet Parker.
When we walked into the room, there a few Chinese ladies and one baby girl waiting on the sofas. We sat down to wait and took a few pictures of the room. Then a few other American families came in. They knew each other already because they're staying at the same hotel, which isn't the hotel we're at. I offered to take a few pictures of them when they met their kids because Mary said that Parker wasn't there yet. As I was taking pictures of a family meeting their 10 year old daughter, I heard Vuong say, "Honey, he's here" at which point I hurriedly gave them back their camera to look for Parker. And there he was! He was wearing the lavender sweater we've seen in so many pictures, along with many other layers, which I will tell you about later.
I gave my letter to a lady and then she said I could pick him up. When he saw us, he smiled. Right away. He was babbling something in Chinese and pointing and smiling. I reached down to take his little hand and he gave it to me right away and smiled again. By this time, I was dying to pick him up. So I asked him if I could pick him up and he smiled again. I took it as a good sign. When I started to pick him up, he raised his arms as if to say it was ok. The entire time he smiled and talked and was so happy. I held him for a few minutes until he saw the little rocking toys in the middle of the room and then he wanted me to put him on them. Vuong was recording during all of this so I decided it was time for him to meet his son and we traded places.
Vuong got on the other rocking toy and was talking to Parker and they were both rocking and laughing. I recorded for a bit and then I was able to ask the people who brought Parker some questions about him. Some of the questions I asked were:
Q. How does he let us know he needs to go potty?
A. He says baba for poop and nao nao for pee.
So far he hasn't gone to the bathroom so we put a pull up on him.
Q. What time does he go to bed?
A. He goes to be around 11:30. (OO <~~ That would be my eyes bugging, which I know they really did as I was writing it down)
He also takes a nap from 12:30-2:00. He had a big day today so he's sleeping a bit now. He also sleeps in his own bed which is a nice bonus.
Q. Does he have any food allergies?
A. Not that they have discovered.
He drinks milk and eats meat. Also, he is not a picky eater and he feeds himself.
He likes music and to dance. He is always easy going and happy. His foster family was sad when he left this morning, but they didn't cry in front of him so as not to upset him.
We came back to the hotel and finished up some paperwork with Mary. I went first while Vuong and Parker played with the stacking cups on the chair. Then it was Vuong's turn to sign and I played cars with him.
Once Mary left, we decided it was time to check this kid out. He came to us somewhat dirty. Not filthy, but not clean. We took 4 shirt off of him. (One lavender sweater, one green striped sweater, one pink v-neck sweater, and a little cotton long sleeved undershirt, which was damp with sweat.) And for the bottoms, he had on a pair of padded pants, a pair of sweater type pants and a pair of cotton pants that were similar to the undershirt. All of the pants were split crotch. Once we got his stirpped down, he started to get nervous and cry. He wanted to put his coat on. It's the yellow coat you've seen in all his pictures. I had already filled the tub with warm water and put the toys in it so it would be ready to go. I took him into the bathroom and tried to put him in the tub. He didn't like it at all and kept curling his legs up so they wouldn't get wet. He didn't cry outloud which made me so sad. He just tried to keep it in and I didn't even realize he was crying until I turned him around. Vuong, being the devoted Daddy that he is, put on his swim trunks and got in with him. Parker didn't really enjoy his bath, but he didn't cry anymore. Vuong washed him and I took over for the 'special' parts. Then we got him out and dressed. For all you Pitner teachers who told me that he looked WAY bigger than 18-24 months clothes, just know that the 24 month pants aren't even touching his body at the waist and that's with a pull up on! The size 2 shirt is HUGE on him and hangs almost to his knees. So, tonight we're going to next door to the mall to see if we can find him some pants that fit. The shirts will be ok, but those pants are just sad!
After he was dressed, I filled a sippy cup with water and we sat on the chaise lounge chair in our room. I snuggled him down like a baby and he sucked on the cup until he fell asleep. I held him for a long time and just kept thinking about how all of this didn't feel real. I can't seem to get myself to believe that he really is here! The only time he has cried or even been upset was during the bath part. Other than that, he's just so easy going! I'm prepared for him to fall apart in a few days once he realizes this isn't just a temporary thing. But I'm so thankful the transition was easy.
He has a cough and a pretty good wheeze going on. Our hotel doesn't have a doctor and our next option was the emergency room. We didn't feel like he was sick enough for the ER so we've decided to wait until we get to Guangzhou to see a doctor. We've been given all kinds of 'remedies' by both Mary and the ladies at the hotel desk. We can give him some ginger tea and he will begin to sweat and then his cough will be gone. The hotel lady will make it free of charge if we want. Or we can just give him some warm water. He will begin sweating at midnight and will sweat for awhile. We will have to change his clothes a few times, but once he wakes up in the morning, he'll be fine. Hmmmm... I think we've decided to just watch and wait and see. Seems like the safest bet to me.
He's also going to need to see the dentist once we get home. His poor little teeth look like some corn on the cob, they're so yellow. All of them. I mean Every. Single. One. Poor kiddo. Hopefully his big boy teeth will be ok under all that crud. :o(
Well, I think these guys have been sleeping long enough. I'm going to wake them so we can go out for a bit. Thank you so much for all your prayers during this. God really did protect his little heart today. We are so grateful for that!
I'm sending the pictures in another post because they're taking HOURS to load on the email!
Steph
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