Photos From Ben's Orphanage

These photos came from a camera we sent with a care package for Ben over the winter months. The staff took photos and sent the camera along with Bennett. We are grateful for the good care our son received there.

Two Weeks at Home

We had snow on Easter!

I can hardly believe it's two weeks already we have been home. Ben has made many friends and now waves and says bye bye to others when we leave. He has learned to play by himself a bit better so I feel like I am getting my act together.

The best way to get Ben interested in something is to model it. Ben wanted Brad's toast this morning and ate most of the slice, jelly side down. He usually shows little interest in bread. Writing thank you notes for gifts has had good side effects! Ben has let me hold his hand to write his name and showed interest in crayons again today. Brad is happy Ben will finally take a bath by himself with out Brad in the tub, too.

There continue to be lots of firsts, like first shots at the doctor's tomorrow! But it's nice to be seeing some little friends and cousins a few times now. We are settling into some nice patterns.

Dozing At 3:00 AM

Ben went down for a nap at 1:30 yesterday afternoon and didn't wake up until 10:00 PM!
Brad fed him some of his favorite food, noodles, and he went back to sleep until 2:30AM or so. I took over Ben duty and peeled a small orange for him. Ben wanted more so I showed him how to peel it. So he peeled and ate three more! Of course after not too much play time, I wanted to relax on the couch. The big equipment DVD got his attention. I don't remember him asking to be picked up and put on the couch before, but he did it for this big event. He would make motor noises and look over at me smiling. I was not as excited about it as him, especially at 5:00 AM!

Back In Town

cs Home at last! Bennett immediately found many things to do. We didn't get to bed until midnight or so till we got ourselves settled after arriving in PA at 8:00 PM. I slept in a single bed next to Ben. He sleeps well, but likes to know someone is there during the night. Brad and I will take turns sleeping in Ben's room for a while.

One of Ben's favorite things to do in the hours and hours of flying time. He would probably say he doesn't want to fly again for a long time!

Ben was up early ready to eat. He could finally eat with his own spoon and fork. He was excited to work at it, like he is excited about learning most new things. Ben ended up sleeping all afternoon, missing a visit from cousins. We'll see how much he wants to sleep tonight!

First impressions on coming back is that it seems so quiet and dark here at night.

We Love It Here

We are enjoying the grand and beautiful White Swan Hotel. Blooming orchids, mums, and all sort of other plants in peak form fill corners. The indoor waterfall and pools are alot fun for Ben. We were a little surprised the see the Easter Bunny here! We saw Christmas decorations in Nanjing several places. Every time you turn around you see another American company here - Crest to Ford to CAT backhoes to Lipton tea. (I thought tea came from China!) I cannot imagine the generation gap between the grandparents who lived in a true socialistic society to today's young adults who know capitalism and Western ways.

The medical exam was a painless event, even though watching Ben you wouldn't have known it. So, we have a nice photo of him walking in!

We enjoyed the wonderful sunshine at Lucy's for lunch. Ben copied how I dipped my fries in ketchup. He would carefully get just the right amount on each fry.

We borrowed a stroller for the few days that we are here. Ben loves it.
Brad says he's valuing it like a guy's first car.

This will be our last post before home. (Home, sweet home!)

The warm days here are great - gotta get out and enjoy some more before going back to the PA jacket weather. Ben loves his strolls in the park and watching the boats on the Pearl River.

Our most challenging day with Ben was Tuesday with our four and half hour flight delay. He did fine once we got on the plane! He is a very curious little boy that loves checking new things out. Pray with us for a smooth trip home!

Intersection Action

Last Day In Nanjing

The view from our hotel room on the 19th floor. Ben likes to stand on a chair next to the window and watch the action outside.

Fast food on the corner. It's interesting to see the old and the new right next to each other!

Ben enjoyed this yesterday. He was happy to stand and watch and then be held and watch the other kids in the bouncy castle. I was happy to be on solid ground after all that.

We got our bags almost packed and we fly out in the morning for our last stop before home. This part of our trip should go the fastest! We're staying at the White Swan Hotel that has special things for children. We'll be with the other six families that we were with in Beijing and get to meet their children.

More China Adventures

Ben loves to snack his way through the day. East meets West on his plate! Cheerios and some sort of pickled egg. Maybe soaked in Soy Sauce? The orphanage packed a little backpack full of food and sent it along with him. Ben enjoys playing with it and eating the food they sent.

Check out how tan his little hands are!

Our bright transportation for the week.

The biggest remote control car I have ever seen! Great idea that Ben loved!

Nanjing is known for duck. Take a dozen with you!

We went out this morning to a free market. It's good we went early because it gets crowded. And was really getting full by lunch time. And when you say FULL in China it means FULL.

Brad felt like we had successful bartering today!

Life in Nanjing

Nanjing is famous for it's Brocade fabric. We visited a factory and museum.
Ben and I ended up going out and watching traffic before too long.

Pool at the hotel on a bit of an unusual table

Daddy loves nap time! We put the crib betwween the beds to keep Ben from tipping it over!

First tantrum!

Saturday we visited the Prince's palace that had a traditional music performance.

One Week To Go!

It feels good to look back and see how well things have gone on our trip so far! Even though I am looking forward to home, we really are enjoying being here. The weather has been good - our first rainy day was today. We have been healthy - Bennett came with a small cold that is almost gone. All our paperwork has gone well. And most importantly, things are going well with Bennett. We thank God for all of these blessings! Thank you for your prayers - they made a difference.
We ate at the hotel buffet for lunch today and had interesting things like eel, pig's feet, goose, bone soup, pig ears and There is actually stuff we did not try. I loved it (well, not all of it - the eel's head wasn't so good). I am happy to eat at KFC most of the time, though. Once is enough for that kind of a buffet. It is very popular to have kids parties at KFC, Burger King and McDonalds here.

Life In Nanjing

Our group enjoyed a dinner together Thursday. All of us liked the food. (no squid included)

All of the children have cleft lip/palate.

Mama's smiling because we survived our formal dinner pretty well.

Ben ate his way through the afternoon. I was surprised he ate a bowl of noodles, too.

I have not found a rice dish he want's to eat yet!

More play time in our room. Ben complains when we come back after being somewhere else.

Get ready little PA friends, Ben is ready for action!

Our Little Man

I think Ben looks a little more petite than then the other three children in the group. At 25 months, he fits the 18 month clothes and then the size 2T fits nicely over top, as is the custom here of layering clothing. And it can be cold in the buildings that are not heated. Our guide tells us we came here the right time of year. In August it gets to 100 degrees and stays there for the month. It's in the 50's now and it's been pretty nice for all the outside touring and getting to places to shop and eat.
I thought kids from orphanages would eat about anything. Ben does not like bland food. It's good potatoes have recently been changed to the vegetable group because fries are about the only vegetable he'll eat. Jane says the area he comes from, Suzhou City, is know for cooking everything with a little sugar. French toast was the hit from this morning.
As you might expect from a 2 year old, he does not want a nap. It's amazing how easy a lot of the communication has been. As soon a he sees any hint of “nap” he starts complaining. We are easing him into the bath routine. We spent most of the evening last night convincing him bath time could be fun. Maybe they used cold water at the orphanage or something. He is also used to room temperature beverages. With his cold box of milk at McDonald's, he had to stop and think between sips. I got a strawberry sundae and we weren't sure we were going to give him any. He started complaining as soon as I started eating it. I scooped small spoonfuls for him. After he had it in his mouth a bit he would cry but soon stopped, and would reach for more.
Today he was a little bored with this hotel. I think if we bought some chairs and sat in front of our grand hotel watching traffic he would be happy. I'm glad he has a hood on his jacket, that way I can hang on to him as he runs in between the usual business customers who are here. We do garner stares, but I can't say I blame the locals. We do stand out!!
We did see some good signs for bonding. Yesterday when someone reached for Ben, he responded by snuggling into Brad's shoulder. Then in the afternoon, I went to go do a little shopping and Ben started crying when I walked out the door. Brad was able to successfully convince him he REALLY did not want to go shopping!

Settling In

Meet Bennett

At the Nanjing CCAA office, Daddy and Bennett had some fun.

Gotcha Day

Gotcha day is the day you receive your child. And receive Bennett we did! The day started with flight further South in China. We were met at the Nanjing airport by our very capable guide Jane. We were quickly whisked to our hotel for a few minutes before jumping back on our bus to pick up our children. We arrived at the office to see everyone waiting. Jane mentioned this office was more relaxed than some. So, there was no offiicial presentation of our children. We walked over to the child that matched our photos and introduced ourselves. We were able to play with Ben for some time before we had to pick him up. I think that was much better for all the children. There were three boys and one little girl. The girl cried a bit but over all, things were peaceful. Ben was chatty and giggly as we played with a few toys I had picked out for our first meeting. The nannies did not need to tell us that he is very active. We figured it out fairly quickly. He is tanned from playing outside. His hands have a line where his coat sleeves end.

He surprised me by being interested in his new clothing. He was very excited to put them on!

Bennett came with a bag of things we sent in a care box in January. We were so pleased to see he had received the blanket, toys and most importantly an album of photos of his new home. The nannies were looking at the album with Ben when we came in. It's what Brad and Ben are holding in the video. We also got back a camera that was included in the box. We look forward to a view from Ben's life at the orphanage. They gave us one photo from his second birthday in January.

We had a preliminary round of paperwork on gotcha day and today we files out the last parts. It was so nice to have the rest of the day free! We got time to ease our dusty little boy into the bathtub.

Sunday Stuff

Eastern section of the Great Wall near the Gobi Desert

We were glad for the sun that warmed the mountainsde

Prettiest bathroom yet.

Last day before Bennett!

Beijing really is an incredible city that is 3,000 years old. Kilometer after kilometer of amazing high rises with new ones on the way. You can forget you are in a communist country.
Our hotel has 26 stories and I was surprised how easy it was to walk down.
We toured the the Tienanmen's Square and the Forbidden City. It amazed me how huge the Forbidden City was. We kept going through layer after layer of courtyards as well as hundreds of years of history. We ended the touring here with a rickshaw ride through the historic old town section. Let me tell you, there is no room for a bus to get through there.
Tomorrow we will with travel to the Nanjing with one other couple who has been with us here and meet up with two more families who did not choose to tour beforehand. We will get our children Tuesday afternoon. Yeah! Please pray for smooth transitions!

Some great links!

Here's a web site from one of the families who has done a better job with photos and stuff;
http://web.mac.com/raybeltran/Beltran_Family/%22East_to_Eden%22/%22East_to_Eden%22.html
They are one of the seven families here and they can't wait to pick up thier daughter, Eden. Their daughter Olivia has a great site too:
http://web.mac.com/raybeltran/Beltran_Family/Olivias_Blog/Olivias_Blog.html
We will be in a different Province than us but we will be together again at the last part of our trip in Guangzhou (pronounced "won jo".)
We have so appreciated getting to know these other families in our group. I can't image doing this without their part in our story to bring Bennett home. It has made our time here so much richer as we have been encouraged by thier own life stories. A bunch of us decided that while the touring has been great, we are all ready to move to the next stage of picking up our children!

P.S. We can't see the blog after we post or read comments until we are home.

Weekend photos

Chop sticks really do work when you don't have any other option!

Luggage by the pile. I wonder what percentage of the stuff we
brought along came from China in the first place!

Interesting street scene

Meet Joi, our Bethany guide in Beijing

Wonder of the World

The sun shone and warmed our visit to the Great Wall today. We took a gondola up the mountain and walked on a section of it. I pictured in my head a more flat surface along the top that was not based on reality. It had very steep ups and downs; some parts with high steps and other sections were just a steep slope. There were some women in heels climbing!
We had dinner at McDonald's and saw many Chinese families who all had one child. The menu was somewhat different. Instead of fries, I had corn for a side and a taro pie for dessert. Corn seems to be a favorite here – it was in the spaghetti sauce yesterday! Taro comes in different things also. The fish sandwich and fries were identical to U.S. McDonalds.
The last family to join our group includes parents, four children aged 12 – 17 and two grandmothers. The parents are both doctors, which is a comforting thought.

Sorry - photos later!

Bicycles and More Bicycles

Got out to the grocery store for bottled water and snacks, we got to check out the neighborhood here in this part of Beijing. LOTS of construction going on. Traffic is busy, darting everywhere with horns tooting. The most interesting part of street life was along the edge of the road: all the bicycles, mopeds, rickshaws, scooters and other contraptions.
Our group of seven families is about 30 people. We have a tour bus that shuttles us around. We went to an acrobatic show this afternoon. Incredible show of talent!
There is another group of families here at the hotel who are from Sweden who are in the adoption process. They have their children already, so we are enjoying seeing them around!