Hey,
This is Kathleen and I just thought I'd send an additional update today as Kristine and I got to chat with Mom, Dad, and Kaleb last night via skype. Unfortunately our connection wasn't great and I don't think they could catch a ton of what we said, but we could hear and see them alright, so it worked for us. I have to say, Kaleb is adorable. Very energetic, talkative, and happy. He was chattering away the whole time (although none of us could understand him of course), and laughed a lot, so hopefully that will last once he arrives and adjusts to the new culture, language, etc... It sounds like there haven't really been any tears yet, except when Mom and Dad tried to take some food away from him. Despite that, Mom said he has been sharing well, and on skype he kept trying to give her a drink from his cup and we could see him "playing catch" with Dad so it looks like that is true. :)
Mom said the size 3T clothes he had on were just falling off him; pretty small and thin, which wasn't really unexpected. It does sound like he was taken care of well in his foster home though, and he can do some counting in Chinese and has pretty clear speech for a 3 1/2 year old (or at least enough that other Chinese-speaking people around him are laughing at the things he is saying). Dad says he also enjoys singing so we're hoping this musical inclination means he won't mind the piano being played at all hours at our house... Apparently there was a translator who was around when Mom and Dad were showing Kaleb pictures of our family, and the translator said Kaleb was very excited to know he had two sisters and a "brother" (Christopher). Needless to say we're happy to finally have a brother as well. :)
I can understand waiting to introduce him to the extended family as we all recall Grace's reaction to one of us -- however, be mindful of our hair color and "style". So on a serious note and maybe Kathleen will be the one answering these questions. Are you still traveling in a group? Do you have alone time with Kaleb? What English words has he learned? Has David supplied him with a pencil and/or calculator yet? Still praying for you and the bonding.
ReplyDeleteWe are 'alone', if you can say being in a town with millions of people
Deletealone :) But we are the only family with our guide right now. There
are 2 other 'Great Wall' agency families at our hotel. One from
Houston, TX and one from Finland. The TX family is dealing with a very
unhappy baby. My guess is she has ear infections. They are not
sleeping and have two other small children with them that are also not
sleeping because the baby is upset. So we haven't seen them much. The
other family speaks very little English I think, so we say hi and
that's about it.
We've had more alone time than normal today since Kaleb had a fever
and we haven't done much of anything. He's also showing some of his,"I want my own way" side. But when I said, "Say, 'Sorry Momma'." He
said, "Sorry Momma". So that's the first time I think he's repeated
after me at my request. He's probably understanding a lot more of what we say than vice-versa. But we do understand his words for going to
the bathroom - they don't spell like they sound, but they sound like
"Nyow, Nyow and Wo-shi" for pee and poop respectively. I used the
first one when I needed to take him to the bathroom at the hotel
restaurant after the hostess didn't understand the word bathroom. She
started laughing - but she showed us to the bathroom.
Kaleb is currently entertaining himself pouring water in and out of
cups and bowls - then stirring them with his straw. He's making
"she-aw", which our guide told us is 'tea'. He's pretty entertaining
to watch.
Thanks for the prayers!
So happy fof the updates! Can't believe 3T is big...he'll fill thlse in no time with your great cooking! His big "brother" can't wait to meet him, when he's ready! So, what Chinese words have YOU picked up?
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing you!
Gina and the boys <><
I know. He's so small. I actually thought today that 18 mo. might be a
Deletebetter size for him as the 24 mo. sweat pants were needing to be
pulled up too. The first day we had him he was so thrilled when he
heard that he had TWO sisters! Then he saw Christopher and lit up and
said the word for brother. I think it sounded a bit like 'guh' as in
good.
We're looking forward to seeing you too!