Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Day 3 with James Paul William

All in all the transition is going pretty well. We do have our moments however. Some we are sure are related to the separation from his former life and some from being a 3 year old.

Today at lunch the hotel wait staff "helped" us. He was being fussy and they began talking to him in Chinese. Very shortly one of the waitresses carried him to the buffet to let him show her what he wanted. Watermelon. After returning to the table with his watermelon he asked for something else in chinese. The waitress was happy to oblige. She returned shortly with a pack of SUGAR which she helped him cover his watermelon with!! This boy has a sweet tooth and then some! We were trying to hold off on the sweets until the end of the meal and put some "real" food in him first. Oh well, as they say "When in China . . .".

This morning we were allowed to visit the Wuhan Social Welfare Institute (SWI). Also referred to as an orphanage. We met one of the assistant directors and presented them with a gift of a rice cooker. We were then given a tour. We visited the 5th floor which is dedicated to Special Needs children. There we saw children from only a few days old to close to 5 or 6. There were a good number of caregivers/workers present. Some were simply spending time with the children and interacting with them. We also saw some that were providing physical therapy to others. We also visited the nursery. There appeared to be around 20 infants there. All had some type of special need. We saw several little girls, (almost newborn age) with heart defects. There were other children with various physical and/or mental special needs. It was one of the most moving things you can ever imagine experiencing. Some of these children would be in neo-natal ICU if they were in the U.S. Some of the problems would be pretty simple to solve in the U.S. These children just need someone to come and get them and give them that chance.

One of the earliest photos we recieved of Paul William was taken of him standing in front of a low iron fence in front of the SWI. The fence is heart shaped. Today we were able to take a family photo in front of the same fence. The small figure in the background to the left is a monkey. Paul William was born in the Chinese year of the monkey.


Early on during the adoption our agency sent us a DVD with Paul William and some other children playing together. One of the scenes in the video was of the children playing in a ball pit. Below is a picture of "Baba" and Paul William at the ball pit.


The man with us below is LiFeng, our facilitator and guide with Cradle of Hope Adoption Center. Lifeng has made our trip very enjoyable and easy. He knows and understands the process and takes care of all the paperwork and details for us.

Below is photo of the Wuhan SWI.

Greg Jr. came down with the sinus infection that Dad just finished getting over. We started him on a z-pack today. He is sleeping this afternoon as is his little brother.

Tomorrow it's a trip to the zoo. Mary Louise will finally get to see the Pandas she's been wanting to see for so long. Lifeng asked us yesterday if we wanted to go to the zoo. We asked him if they had pandas and when he said yes, we told him the zoo is a MUST DO stop.

Thanks for checking in on us. We enjoy your comments. Keep them coming.

More later . . .


4 comments:

Unknown said...

I anticipate the next chapter of your journey every day! You are in my prayers. Love, Anna

Sonya said...

WOW! That had to be a tearful visit to the SWI. How neat to see all the places that Paul William played and spent his time before now.
This day was priceless for you I am sure!

Sonya

Unknown said...

The family picture by the monkey is what I've been waiting to see for a long time. It looks perfect! I've never seen the Ogle family look better. Enjoy every minute of this special family time.

Love,
Anne

P. S. Feel better soon, Greg! I love seeing that CHS shirt!

April said...

THANKS for the complete family picture! I LOVE it! You guys make a gorgeous family. Hope all is going well! Did you see a Panda, ML? Hope so!
Counting down to the 27th with you!
~April Betterton