First Week Finished!

Every night this week, I have fallen asleep when I put WeiJ to bed...which means I've missed my nightly computer time. I will try to keep these updates as close to daily as I can, but I'm sure there will be some gaps as I try to settle into our new routine.

Since Wednesday night, WeiJ's been showing off a skill...his Mowgli walk - on all fours with straight legs, he reminds me of a scene from the Jungle Book. My surprised laughter was again all the encouragement he needed to file this one away as something to break out again for a repeat performance. Such a silly boy! His block stacking obsession is still going strong - we're still at 8 blocks before they fall, but he's getting much more adept at placing them lightly. He's also getting much more adept and making my buildings come down with a crash before I realize he was even making demolition plans. His verbal vocabulary continues to swell (to almost 40), as does his letter recognition. I really didn't think it would be this early that I'd have to start spelling things in front of him...and I wonder how long that will last before he's figuring that out too! He's having a great time hanging out with his ShuShu (no surprise there) and has taken his first short trips away from the house without me. I admit I'm a little envious of all the fun he's having while I'm working, but really am so grateful that he's getting this great opportunity. It takes a village...and we're so lucky that his "village" embraces him the way they do.

Yesterday during WeiJ's late nap I sat here at the computer with tears flowing as I read through the profiles of children in Beijing. Each child had a brief video clip posted as well, which just brought them to life and made them so much more than words on paper. These children were between the ages of 8 and 13 and my heart just broke for them. What if WeiJ and I hadn't been so lucky to find each other so soon? It tears me up to know these kids - and so many thousands like them - still wait for families to call their own. They immediately brought back the little faces and sparkling eyes of the children we visited in WeiJ's orphanage, and my heart was once again gripped by the bittersweet combination of ache and hope. In the videos, one particular girl's sobs during her recital of a poem was just crushing...I so hope her family finds her soon and that emptiness can be healed. There just has to be more that I can do - and if I keep chewing on it, hopefully I'll come up with an answer. I thought of my silly little guy's blossoming world and how lucky we are to have found each other. I thought of his laugh and squeals and kisses...and then shuddered at the thought of what if he had been one of these children left behind. In the pre-WeiJ days I used to watch the lists and celebrated a little extra when certain children became unavailable, because that meant their happy ending was on its way. Now that we've been to China and looked these children in the eyes, I feel them tugging on my heart all that much more. Fortunately my time on the computer was cut short by the end of naptime. You can bet that one particular little guy was smothered in hugs and sloppy smooches. Although there has to be more I can do, there's absolutely nothing more I could hope or ask for in this new life with this new extraordinary gift.