Whirlwind

Shazam, y'all! What a crazy, rewarding, joyous, painful, intense couple of days we've had. Jon Wiley has gone from a terrified toddler to a playful, involved family member.

Gotcha day was about how I expected it to be. He had already been taken away from his foster care family about a month ago and was just getting used to orphanage life when he was again removed from his surroundings and handed to us. So he was understandably terrified and angry. But within 2 hours he was smiling and playing. He calls Eiley Da Jie, and has made some attempts at saying Eiley. He calls Mia Jie Jie, and so far he doesn't call Devyn anything. But he doesn't ever need to call Devyn because she is constantly right on top of him making sure he is a) safe b) following the rules c) not touching anything that belongs to her and d) not bearing the full spotlight of attention without help. So altruistic. Actually Devyn is doing really well in her initiation to big sisterdom. She shares her food when he reaches for it. She kisses him on his head and tells him she loves him. I'm proud of her.

When adopting in China, you initially take your child to the hotel with you for the required 24 hour "Harmonious Period," and then you return the next day to fill out paperwork, pay fees, and make the adoption final. This second day was really hard on all of us, partly because of how long it took but mostly due to one of the orphanage nannies. She had done some babysitting for Jon Wiley when he was with his foster family, and she seemed intent to play out some sort of turf battle. Psychonanny. I'm just glad it's all behind us now, and the only difficult pieces left are the medical exam and the long plane ride home.

Now more about Jon Wiley. He weighs 23 pounds. He wears a size 12-18 months, depending on the brand. I can't get Gymboree 12 - 18 months pants to stay up at all, but Old Navy and Children's Place are fine. He is small, but not skinny. He has a low, hoarse voice, sort of like Mia's when she was little. His feet are short but very wide, unlike Devyn' ski feet. We're struggling with shoe size -- size 6 crocs fit him, but most size 6s are too narrow and he trips over the fronts of 7s. In Chinese shoes he's an 18.

The Monkey Boy moniker made me worry that he would be hyperactive, but really he just is a normal two year old boy with excellent fine and gross motor skills. He doesn't have any of the institutionally-derived orphanage behaviors, because he hasn't been in an orphanage for any appreciable length of time. So he will reach for things he wants and say "Wo yao" (I want), and he will just throw food on the ground when he is finished with it -- no hoarding behavior.

He eats well, but still takes a bottle. We're not going to do anything about that until after we've been home awhile. It's good for bonding and attachment, anyway. He loves all animals and calls them all mao mao (kitty) or gou gou (puppy). He likes to put his mouth on the hotel restaurant's fish tank (picture a horrified Mia) and go "lo lo lo lo." He loves it when a helicopter, car, truck, train, or plane comes on TV and will point at the screen and whisper "Hoh!" or "Hohkoo!" He is potty trained, including through the night. He has no lice or scabies, but he has tiny marks on him that look perhaps like flea bites. He has a couple of Mongolian spots , which are darker than Devyn's for now.

What I thought was conjunctivitis is probably pseudoptosis (soodo - TOE- siss), normal eyelids that look asymmetric because the upper eyelid crease on his left eye is more pronounced than the one on his right eye. Much thanks to Anne for her very long distance, internet ophthalmology consult and link to the eyelid chart.


JW's right eye is an a, and his left eye is a b or maybe an f.










We were told that he sleeps alone in a crib, but so far he has started in the crib and then awakened crying "Mama" and holding up his arms. Now who can resist that? I know that "Mama" really means "adult female who is with me right now," but it's good enough for me.

He was really filthy at first, but he's mostly clean now with the exception of his feet and his ears. His feet will take several soakings, and he just doesn't tolerate much ear cleaning yet.

All right, everyone is up now so it's time to start the day. Today we are going to the zoo, where the new baby pandas are! We are also going to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart in China is always a fabulous experience.

I'll have more pictures later today.