7/23/08 - all going well

Riding between official meetings, consulate, police station, adoption stuff, with two boys who both want to be in my lap. Daddy in front seat!
A note from a friend that I will explain later.
The boys finding ways to play without language while hanging out in hot, unairconditioned "official" buildings.










A good and interesting day so far. We went walking to a pavilion near the hotel this morning. Out with both boys! They are very aware of each other and interacting a fair amount. DS2 watches everything ds1 does, which means DS1 has an easy audience for all funny faces. The fun part, or tough part, of being out and receiving all the stares and touching. DS1 doesn't like it when people touch him which is fair, but he is getting better at people looking/staring. DS2 is amazed by the world, and wants to run around like DS1, but simply doesn't have the muscle tone. I've noticed that there is a lot of whispering in Chinese after people note DS2 and I think its because they wonder how I got a boy. His lip repair is really that good. Our agency handler doesn't know what to do with all ds1's energy.

It was/is hot again today. Looking at 95-100 degrees for the next week. Thick humidity. There was a major cloud burst of about 2 hours late in the day yesterday, which came with big winds and then disappeared. Shortly after it was gone, I noticed we could see mountains from our hotel window. However, within 30 minutes, the smog, pollution, or humidity returned and the mountains were gone. You'll see what I mean, in that none of the attached photos offer great depth.

This afternoon I gave ds2 a bath while ds1 swam with daddy. Which means everyone has had a chance to wash the sweat off today except me! We were planning to go for a walk as I have no shoes that fit ds2 (the ones he was wearing from the orphanage are too small, and the ones I brought are too big) and only has two pairs of shorts that fit (this kid has no butt!). However, I decided ds2 was wiped and we would give him an extra bottle of formula, which he drank in 30 seconds and then blissfully went to sleep. Accordingly, a post before the end of the day. Ds2 asleep in crib and ds1 watching cartoons with daddy.

When we finally get out again, we are in search of fast food, franchise style. The hotel here is nice but ds2 and I are the only ones enjoying the Chinese food. Dh and ds1 need a bit of a change. I think we saw a KFC, it had a picture of the kernel (I know its the wrong spelling, but spell check can only go so far when you really screw up a word!) in neon although the lettering was in Chinese and not "KFC" that I could tell.

Updates on bonding - shockingly well. DS2 insist that I'm within 2 feet of him, but that's cool. He doesn't want dh to pick him up or hold him. However, this afternoon, he did venture into the hall a bit with dh and not me, which was a major break through. Ds1 is only marginally jealous, but keeps telling dh to stay back and not upset DS2, which I think has dh down a bit. Ds1 and 2 can be touching and playing with no problem. I have both boys sleeping in cribs, seperately. It is funny, but it works for them so its fine with me. DS1 views it as a fort, DS2 is simply accustomed.
Ds2 had two blister like things on his fingers yesterday, but four today. So he got a bath in warm antiseptic, a neosporin application and band aides. He is totally iron deficient and sweats an unbelievable amount. He can run and play for a while, but then the lack of muscle tone catches up and he's wiped out. He slept through the night, and his cough seems to be abating. He's generally happy, but I think I need to do the formula more than 2x daily like the orphanage said. And although I've stuffed him full, still no poopie, so tonight I start the prunes!

DS1 is having fun and very conscious of ds2. He kepts and eye on him, and gives him toys and things. DS1 is loving all the pool time. He can now thro out the floating kick board, jump and get it and swim back to the pool side. He did let go by accident today and tread water for a minute before going under, but it didn't phase him. Daddy was in the water and got him as DS2 and I watched. DS1 is getting better about putting his head under water. Amazingly, ds1 still doesn't recognize people are "Chinese". Every once in a while he notes that someone is very short. He did say to me our waitress the other morning had black eyes, but nothing more than that. No comments about how his brother looks.

DS2 will have to grow into his head. It is huge. I think this is part of the malnutrition, that the head grew but not the body. Also the back of his head is totally flat. There's no hiding it, you'll see the photos, he has a big, broad head, that I happen to think is adoring.

Ok, I know, you skipped the commentary and only looked at the photos.