8 Months and Counting

Last Sunday February 17th marked the 8 month since Paul William joined our family in China.

It's really amazing what a difference 8 months makes.

Paul William goes to school everyday. Now he is even taking a nap on his mat when the other children do. He has apparently retired as the "nap police". Friday mama took him to a tumbling class after school and he participated and had a great time. This will be a regular Friday afternoon activity.

Since we last posted we have celebrated Chinese New Year. This is the year of the Rat. Paul William handed out traditional red envelopes with money and tangerines to all his classmates and his mom's students to celebrate. We ate a Chinese dinner that night then attended the performance of the New Shanghai Circus at the Princess Theatre in Decatur. There were many other families with Chinese children in attendance. The Circus was great. Some of the acts were better than those we saw at the Chinese Acrobat show in Beijing last summer.

We also had our 6 month follow up at the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham. Paul William has moved from the 3rd percentile in height and weight when we brought him home 6 months ago to the 50th percentile now. He has grown 2 inches in height and his weight increased from 28 to 35 pounds.

We have added a slide show to the blog of some assorted photos since Paul William came home. Enjoy!

Check out my Slide Show!

Foster brother????

Monday night Mary Louise was checking email with Paul William sitting on her lap. She then went to the homepage of the Wuhan Adoption group and when the page loaded there was a picture of a little boy on it. Paul William looked at the picture and immediately said "dede" (little brother in Chinese). Mary Louise asked him if he knew the little boy and he said "yes, that's him". We questioned him further but he clammed up the way he does when he knows something but doesn't want to tell us. Something clicked in Mary Louise's mind and she took out the photo album with the pictures taken with the cameras we had sent to Paul William's foster family before we traveled to bring him home. After flipping through a few pages there the little boy was! Standing holding Paul William's hand.

The little boys name is Noah and he will be coming home to his family in Minnesota next month. We have contacted the family. We believe/hope this may be the younger foster brother that we were told Paul William lived with. Noah's mom said they have been told Noah lived in a foster home with an older foster brother. We will keep you posted.

Click here to visit Noah's blog.

Paul William meets Santa

Tuesday night December 18th, 2007 Paul William met Santa for the first time. We enjoyed dinner with our friends from the Decatur FCC group and the children each talked to Santa and received an early gift from Santa. Here are a couple of pictures.

Getting ready for Paul William's first Christmas

Here are few pictures of Paul William getting ready for Christmas.

Please help other children

Please click "Walk of Love" above to find out how you can help other "special needs" orphans find families of their own.

November update

Yesterday a friend gave Paul William the train table you see in the photos below. He was napping when they came by so we set up the train table so he would see it when he woke up. When he noticed it he asked us, "what is this in my house?". It was so much fun to see his reaction and watch his face light up the way it did. Thanks Andrea!

Paul William continues to amaze and entertain us. It has been 5 months today since we first met him. He is a different little boy than the one we saw in China in June. Yesterday for the first time he corrected Baba when Baba called him "Feng Feng", he looked at Baba and said "Paul William". He really has become Paul William. We will miss "Feng Feng".

It has been a few years since we experienced the fun and joy of Christmas morning with a little one. We are really looking forward to Christmas morning this year. We can't wait to watch him open presents. We wonder how he will react to Santa Claus. Mom's guess is that it won't be very well.

Paul William's favorite song to sing is B-I-N-G-O, except the dog has become a turtle. He is so funny! He also likes to sing She'll be Coming Round the Mountain.

When riding in the car he will sit in his car seat and have pretend conversations with Gege (big brother).

He still loves being held and snuggled. Especially when he wakes up in the morning. We hope that will continue for a long time.

We are sitting on the couch as we write this and just now he heard a train blowing it's horn near the house and he immediatley said "TRAIN"! It's really hard to describe just how much he loves trains. He's really almost obsessive compulsive about them. We have trains all over the house now. His other favorite things are a stuffed Curious George and Mickey Mouse that he calls "Shuma". That is apparently his Chinese word for Mickey Mouse or a stuffed animal. The only 2 Chinese words that he still uses are "Shuma" and "Baba" (daddy).

We are having a great time with him and still can't believe he's really here, although more and more it seems like he has always been here.

Pictures!

A trip to the pumpkin farm included a hay ride for (left to right) Nicolas, Benjamin, Paul William, Meg, and Grace.


Here is Gege being a good sport and posing for a picture with Meg, Paul William, Nicolas, and Benjamin.

Paul William loves trains and anything to do with trains. He even makes mom drive by the train yard on the way home from school each day.

He is the little boy with a thousand facial expressions.

Hangin out with Baba!

All I need is George, a bug box and 2 drinks!

Update from October

The other day a friend asked me if it felt like we were back to “ordinary times” for lack of a better way to put it. This past Saturday, I told Greg, “Now it really seems like he has been here forever.” He had eaten breakfast and had decided to go out on the back porch and then through the doggy door! During all this, he was talking (to no one in particular, you know just jabbering) and he was playing with the dog. (Well, the dog was hiding from him) Then we went to a birthday party for another friend from China, came home watched the Bama game, yelled Roll Tide, took a lonnnggg nap (yeah!, I worked on my lesson plans for this week).

On Sunday, he had a breakdown. Just like when we first came home. Long, LOUD, crying and screaming, run down the hall and hide from me crying and screaming. All I had done was tell him his cap was on the kitchen table. He thought he had left it in the car but the last time HE had seen it was at the grocery store earlier. He just collapsed and all I could think was We are back at square one. And I guess we will periodically have these type scenes until maybe one day they just go away.(that is my hope, anyway.)

Today, though we had a good day at school. I actually stood by while he told a first grader “an alligator bit my arm” and then he pointed to HIS LITTLE ARM!! Can you imagine?!! On the way home from school, he sang the “Toota Ta” song and could not stop talking about the train we saw on 4th Ave. He is train crazy, by the way. As we got home, our next door neighbor came out and gave him a picture she had taken of him. When asked who was in the picture, he replied, “Paul William”. This is one of the first times he has done that. When we got inside, he got out a yogurt, and of course, we have many spills because he carries so much under his little arm. Today tho’ he insisted that he clean it up and he got a paper towel and smeared it all around but he did a pretty decent job of cleaning. Then he fed the dog. He requested a peanut butter sandwich with his rice and soup. When I told him to be careful the soup was hot he said, “mine has cooled off.” Right now he is with me in GeGe’s room playing his xylophone and singing e i e i o very loudly. It is just amazing to me to see him grow. I hope this wasn’t tooo long or boring. I am really trying not to be an obnoxious parent but I don’t get to talk to any of you all near as much as I wish I could. Thank you for being such good friends. I love you all. Mary Louise

Update from the Ogle's

I know we haven't posted much lately, but there really hasn't been that much to post.

We have settled in at home with our new son. Greg Jr. is back at school in Tuscaloosa. Greg Jr. came home last weekend and he and Paul William were glad to see each other. We were afraid how Paul William would react when Greg Jr. left for college but it didn't seem to bother him although he did ask and look for him some. We were worried about his reaction when Greg Jr. left again but he seemed to take it in stride and has not seemed to miss him too much.

Paul William started attending the 3 year old program at his mom's school 3 weeks ago. He has stayed all day a few times and half the day most of the time. We are still working on getting on a better schedule for bedtime and getting up in the morning. Mom goes back to teaching next Monday and Paul William will be going to school all day with her. One funny thing that has been going on at school is that when nap time comes he refuses to lie down and instead sits quietly with one of the teachers. When one of the other children stirs or starts to wake up he tells them sshhhh and shakes his hand side to side indicating no to them. His teacher has dubbed him "the nap police".

The best improvements lately have been that he has been sleeping in the bed with us for just over a week now. That has really helped Mary Louise get better rest. He now seems happy about getting in our bed at night. The next step will be the transition to his own bed.

Food continues to be a challenge. Our pediatrician did say that no 3 year old eats real well. He definitely does not.

Over the last 10 to 14 days his language skills have REALLY kicked in. It almost seems like he just decided one day to start speaking English. He will repeat anything you say to him and picks up new words quickly. He is also beginning to string words together into simple sentences. We have taught him to ask for help instead of screaming at us. His comprehension of English is VERY good and his ability to speak English is improving daily. He is able to identify MANY different objects when he sees a picture of it in one of his books. It's really been fun to watch him develop. I feel like we are seeing development that with Greg Jr. happened over the first 3 years of his life compressed down into a few weeks. It is amazing to witness. Of course like any "new" parents we think he is VERY smart. He picks up on things and figures things out on his own very quickly.

Here is another funny story about Paul William and speaking English. While we were visiting her parents one of Mary Louise's aunts answered the phone. She handed the phone to Paul William and he said "hello". She then told him to "say hello in Chinese" and he promptly put the phone back to his ear and said, "hello in Chinese".

One thing that has not changed, and we hope it never does, is his dogged determination. He tries to do everything on his own before asking for help. He is also very adamant about how he wants things to be. Everyone must have the same food and utensils on the table at meal time. Never mind that most of the time he won't eat the food, he just wants to see it on his plate like mom and dad. Everything must be in its place and not changed.

This morning when dad was leaving for work dad asked for a hug and kiss, which he got, and when he started towards the front door Paul William became upset and then we realized he was telling dad that he forgot to hug and kiss mom too. Those are the things that make you realize how special this little guy is and how lucky we are to be his mama and baba.

The thing that is most encouraging at this point is not necessarily where we are in the adjustment process, but that progress and improvement happen on a daily basis. We still have our moments but all in all things are progressing nicely. We will have more issues to face in the future.

Thanks for checking in,

Greg, Mary Louise and Paul William

A new post . . . Finally!!

Sorry for taking so long to add a new post to the blog. We have suddenly found ourselves with much less free time on our hands than we were used to having! Wonder why??

Paul William is adjusting wonderfully. We are truly blessed to be this little guy's parents. We stop and pinch ourselves every day asking, "did we REALLY go all the way to China and bring him home?". It truly has been an amazing journey and it just keeps getting better.

Paul William is now sleeping with Mama, loves to take a bath, likes to change clothes and wear new clothes and is just as happy as can be. He loves to play with all his new toys.

We recently had our first photo session with a professional photographer. Her name is Carla Blankenship. We did the session at the Green Mountain Nature Trail in Huntsville on Sunday afternoon August 5th. It was hot as blue blazes outside and Paul William was not wanting to cooperate. I can't believe that Carla was able to get the pictures of him that she did. Some of the photos are posted in an online gallery. Click the link below to take a look.

http://www.carlabphotography.com/Ogle

We will try to post more later as time permits. HAH!!!

More Pictures

A kiss from mom in the front yard.


We took him to the grandparents pool for July 4th. He never got in but had a great time playing around the sides.



One happy family. This was taken on the "Red Couch" in the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou China on our last night there.





Below is a shot of the "North Alabama" encampment at the Detroit airport Wednesday June 27th. On the left is Monica Carter with new daughter Lily Mei, and son Landon.

Our little guy has more facial expressions than you would believe. Here he's copping an attitude with Baba in the kitchen pantry.

Wednesday July 4, 2007 was Paul William's 3rd birthday and 1st Independence Day as a new American citizen. He was automatically granted citizenship when he passed through immigration at the Detroit airport on June 27th. Below he is blowing out candles with the help of mom.

So far his favorite spot at home is on the couch. He even sleeps there at night. Here he's just chillin' out.

Monday at home

Sunday wasn't too bad. Paul William was in a pretty good mood just very tired. He finally crashed on the couch at 4 pm and slept till 2 am. He woke up for about 30 minutes and then went back to sleep till 8 am this morning (Monday). I think the lack of sleep and rest finally caught up to him. Mary Louise and I were able to get a little rest also. He woke up in a good mood this morning. He was laughing and playing.

Mary Louise is at home with him by herself today for the first time. I am back at work for a while at least. We both are still feeling the effects of jet lag and lack of sleep, but things are improving.

I will try to post some new photos tonight when I get home from work.

More later . . .

Big Greg

Our second full day at home

Well we finally got our luggage yesterday at 5:30 pm. We are so thankful it made it. We were really worried we would never see it again.

We were still pretty exhausted yesterday. Mary Louise got a few hours sleep Thursday night and got up and relieved me about 3:00 am. I tried to sleep but managed only 2 or 3 hours. Last night Mary Louise stayed up with him. They both eventually fell asleep on the couch. Today we all feel better and are up and at it with clean clothes and showers. We gave him his 3rd bath since we got him. Bathing him gives new meaning to the old cliche, "I have to wash my cat". It finally feels good to be here.

FengFeng is a typical 3 year old. He is exploring everything in the house and testing us to see what he can and can't get into. Overall he does pretty well. He has a STRONG will and when he makes his mind up about something he is very determined. We hope he holds onto that trait. It will serve him well in the future. He seems comfortable being here and being with us. He still wants sweets all the time and we are working on that. The sleep issues will take some time but we will eventually work that out as well.

We have never been so glad to be in our little house in Decatur.

More later . . .

Big Greg

We made it! We are home!

Have you ever had one of those moments when a thought goes through your head about something bad happening and as soon as it does you think, "I shouldn't have thought that, now it will happen"?

Somewhere about half way over the Northern Pacific Ocean, as our Boeing 747 cruised east, I thought; "this entire trip has gone perfectly. Not one single tiny glitch". OOOHH, I didn't think that. I really didn't think that. Please let me have that thought back!!! Too late.

We arrived in Detroit to rain and flight delays. The Huntsville flight is pushed back then pushed back again. Finally it is cancelled. Steve Carter and I descend upon a Northwest gate agent to find out what our options are. The next flight to Huntsville with seats for 4 or more people is not until Friday night!!! No way. Where else can we go close to Huntsville. The Carters opt for Nashville later in the evening and we opt for Birmingham a little earlier. Then it really started going downhill. Flights are being cancelled and pushed later right and left. The Carters finally depart Detroit around 11 pm or so and we are still being told the Birmingham flight will happen it will just be very late. I call and reserve a rental car at the Birmingham airport. I shouldn't have wasted a call. Around 1:30 am everyone waiting on the Birmingham flight notices that ALL the Northwest employees have disappeared and the flight has been taken off the status monitors. Until now we were just simply mad. Now everyone left waiting for the Birmingham flight are forming lynch mobs. We have to call the Northwest toll free number from cell phones to try to find out what's happening on the ground at THEIR hub!!!! Finally the annoucement that we all new was coming, flight cancelled. We have now been in the airport for over 12 hours. We have been traveling with a 3 year old for over 30 hours. We are exhausted, hot dirty, hungry and fuming. We are given vouchers for meals and rooms at the Ritz Carlton. Great hotel. It's a shame we only used the rooms for 4 hours. We were able to take a shower and put on the same dirty clothes we had been wearing for a day and a half and get in a short nap. Back to the airport and finally catch a flight to Nashville arriving at 10:30 am. Our friend Theresa was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and loan us her car to drive to Decatur. We finally arrived home today at 1:30 pm. 45 hours after leaving the hotel in Guangzhou. We have never felt this type of exhaustion. Paul William is going great guns tonight. We think it's just a 3 year old that is so tired he can't do anything but full speed. The 3 of us are walking (staggering) zombies.

We are so very disappointed that we missed one of the things we were so looking forward to, that being arriving at the Huntsville airport with our family and friends waiting to greet us. For that, Northwest Airlines will always hold a "special" place in our hearts. Particularly when we saw on the Detroit news this morning that the biggest cause for all the chaos yesterday was the Northwest employees who are apparently doing everything they can to destroy the very company that pays their salary. How stupid can people be? It's like they are saying "hey, I know how to get even with management. Let's make as many of our customers mad as we can. We don't have our luggage tonight. It was lost in the chaos. Northwest claims it is currently on a flight from Detroit to Nashville and will be delivered to us early Friday morning. We'll see.

We want to thank our friends and family for the food and gifts we found when we walked in the house today. Thank you so much. Driving down from Nashville we were dreading the prospect of having to go to the grocery store after what we have been through.

I will post more late, including pictures and updates. I have to go now since I keep falling over the keyboard from lack of sleep.

More later . . . .

Big Greg

Goodbye China

Where do you start the beginning of the end? Or is this the end of the beginning?

Today we had a late start to the day after another hard night of not wanting to go to bed. Other than not wanting to go to bed or sleep, Paul William is a very happy little boy. He loves to laugh and play. Especially with his new big brother. After finally waking up and having a little breakfast we left the hotel and explored Shamian island where the hotel is located. To our friends who told us while we were in Wuhan to hang on that things are better once you get to Guangzhou, thanks, you were right. Things here have been much better and the adjustment has become smoother.

This afternoon we made the trip to the US Consulate Guangzhou. After having our identities checked we were given a brief talk and then took a short oath. We then picked up James Paul William's US immigration documents and his Chinese passport with US Visa. This marked the end of the "paperchase". All that is left is flying home tomorrow.

When we returned to the hotel we met up with our friends from Athens, the Carters. Above is the customary "Red Couch" photo of two sets of proud parents with their new children Lily Mei and James Paul William. It's been great to have friends here to share this experience with.

The "Red Thread" is now unraveled. We followed it through a maze of paperwork, waiting, and then half way around the world to an amazing place called China. We have seen and done things we never dreamed of. We have walked in Tian A Mein Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. We have walked on the Great Wall. We cruised through the 3 Gorges, and locked through the new 3 gorges dam project. We rode in "Pea Pod" boats, visited the "Ghost City" and strolled through the Chinese Herbal Medicine market. We have met and encountered an amazing nation of people. The Chinese are hard working, resilient, kind and open. We had a Chinese woman, a total stranger, that we shared an elevator with, say "Sweet boy, you do nice thing", then pat "Baba" on the shoulder. They know the children that are adopted will have a much better future than they would otherwise. They seem to appreciate what the adoptive families are doing and don't seem judgemental. For that we are thankful. But more than anything else we've done here, we have met a wonderful little guy named Wu JinFeng. What a personality! Strong willed, smart, and a great sense of humor.

Today in a little gift shop one of the sales girls began talking to him. After he said something to her she asked him to repeat it. She then looked at Baba with a suprised expression on her face and said, "He told me he wants to talk like his Baba." We can't wait for that to happen.

Greg

When we first came to China, I was so overwhelmed at how big it all was-the country, the culture, what we were doing. I started to have doubts about taking a child away from his culture, his heritage. I had thought about it before but being here really drove home how ancient this land is, the culture, the uniqueness of the people. It was all so different. The longer I traveled in the country, the more I found that we had much in common. Also, the more I learned about the life that my child would lead here, the more I realized God really did send him to us. We are more than ready to bring home this wonderful little boy and have everyone meet him. Be prepared for a little whirlwind!

Mary Louise

Both our babies are napping right now. Greg(son) deserves a nap-he has truly been wonderful since James Paul William joined our family. He has walked him up and down China, played with him, tried to comfort him when he has been unhappy, and done it all with a smile. We have been very proud of him and of his attitude throughout it all. We would not have made it through yesterday and the night before without him, when our little one was so unhappy. After staying up all night and then all day yesterday, JPW finally went to sleep last night about 11:00-with his shoes on, of course. He has only slept one night without them on and that was the first night. It is ok with us if that makes him feel better right now. Today he woke up happy and has eaten like they told us he would-like a little tiger. He has eaten like crazy since he found chopsticks last night that came with our take out. Duh!! We had not had any until then and at every meal he has insisted on feeding himself with the biggest fork or spoon available. (It was not working really well.) BTW, Greg bought a set on our shopping trip this morning. It is all but impossible to have a regular schedule but we are trying. It is hot but I am ok with it. The shopping is fun here and it is easier to do with the less traffic. Lifeng took us to the "shopping street" where all the Chinese were and it was unbelievable the amount of shops and people. The street is closed to vehicles and completely covered from side to side with people. Greg thought that there were more people on the street than live in Decatur! China has been so different than Europe, it is great that he has gotten to experience it with us. We do go tomorrow to the US Consulate, about an hour away, and take our oath and get his visa. We can then leave Wednesday morning and be in Decatur Wednesday afternoon!:O Please pray for us(and everyone on our flight) because did we tell you? he travels worse than I do!! We will fly from Guangzhou to Tokyo, Tokyo to Detroit and then to Huntsville.
Our friends from Athens, Monica and Steve Carter, arrived last night from Chongqing with their new daughter Lily Mei and her two older brothers. We think they will be on our flight home(they may regret that decision). :) They are right down the hall from us in our hotel. We "know" several families here who were with us in Wuhan. It is like a small support group, we are all encouraging each other and have empathy for each other when we tell our stories of how it is going. It is actually rather amazing.
Mary Louise

Hot Monday in Guangzhou

Not much going on today. Lifeng took our paperwork to the US Consulate. Everything was almost in order. Our Homestudy was not sent to the Consulate so Lifeng is having Cradle of Hope send a copy from the States. We should take the oath and pick up James Paul William Ogle's US visa tomorrow as scheduled.

It's hot here in Guangzhou so we are just hanging out at the hotel during the middle of the day. We did a little shopping this morning while it was just hot. Before it turned very hot.

Here are some more photos from Guangzhou. It's very hot here.

Actually this first photo was taken in Wuhan. It was taken in front of the gate at the hospital. This is the spot where Wu Jinfeng was left on July 8, 2004 four days after his birth.

Sunday we visited the Chinese Herbal Medicine Market in Guangzhou. It is the largest market of it's type in China. What you can find here is truly amazing. Roots, barks, mushrooms, fungi, dried sea creatures. The list goes on and on. It was very hot walking through the market.

Below are bags full of some of the offerings in the very hot market.

Below is a shot looking up the very hot street in the market.

We assume this man was promoting some business or product. Or maybe he just likes to dress up like a chicken on Sunday afternoon when it's very hot. He didn't actually play music on his horn. He just blew it very loudly at random.

Oh yeah. Did I mention that it's VERY hot here?

Hello from Guangzhou

This is the view from our hotel room window.

This picture is a little out of focus but I couldn't resist a shot of our "little" boy asleep on our "big" boy.

Chinese Dragon Boats

Well, we made it. The wait at the airport in Wuhan was no fun. Special thanks go to Lifeng for helping out on our first plane trip. Once the plane was in the air things calmed down and we had a pretty uneventful flight.

Feng Feng fell asleep in the van on the way from the airport to the hotel. We were able to get him to the room and in bed without waking. Then "baba" got real "smart" and tried to remove his shoes. BIG mistake. He was back up for hours. We (I) won't make that mistake again. As we say at home; "let a sleeping dog lie."

This morning we had a nice walk around Shamian Island where the hotel is located. It's a very nice area. We agreed that there were similarities with parts of New Orleans, one of our favorite cities. We stopped and had his picture made for his US visa. We then had his medical exam. He did pretty well. The nurses and doctors were great with him.

We explored inside the hotel. There is an indoor waterfall. (Pictures later.) And the pool at the bottom is full of big goldfish. He loved it.

We have spent most of the afternoon in the hotel. The temperature outside is hovering right at 100 and it's humid.

We had a final appointment this afternoon with Lifeng to complete the LAST of our paperwork. The adoption was finalized with the Chinese government yesterday and the only thing left was US Immigration paperwork. WOW, there really is an end to the "paperchase". (We think.)

This afternoon we started hearing booming drum beats and went outside to investigate. Our hotel is right on the Pearl River. Today was the Chinese Dragon Boat races. Above is a picture for our friends back home who are celebrating the Dragon Boat races with their Chinese children today. The picture is of 2 boats being towed back. The race was actually this morning. It sure was neat to see the real thing but at this point I think we would all have chosen to be at home with all of you.

We are all tired and ready to wrap this trip up and come home. Wednesday can't come soon enough.

More later . . .

Big Greg

Yet Another Trip to the Civil Affairs Office

For the third time this week we went back to the Civil Affairs Office. The first day to pick him up. By the way, the orphanage director brought him there that day. ( He is also on our video.)The second day to do all the paperwork and again, today, to pick up his Chinese passport. We can finally leave Wuhan! Our plane is this evening about 5:30. Before we go to the airport we are going to the spot where he was abandoned. I think it is a gate by a hospital. The Baofeng Police then took him to the orphanage after he left the hospital. He stayed at the orphanage until he was 10 days old and then went to his foster family where he stayed until only 2 days before we met him on Monday. (Our previous information was incorrect.)
He slept all night again last night and woke up pretty happy and hungry! Our helpful Chinese waitress met us at the breakfast table with not one, but two, lollipops. I think that is what everyone needs to start their day, don't you? BTW, by the time we left the table he had 3 of them!! We are anxious to go on to Guangzhou and finish the final paperwork and head back home. He is very active and we want to get to our toys and yard!
Mary Louise