...And excited and nervous too! Today we started off by celebrating the Mass of the Assumption, came home to make the famous cashew french toast. The kids found a nice mudhole to play in, in the back yard, and have had to get cleaned up. I'm ripping some music to my laptop, and finishing up the laundry. I thought it might be nice to let Mr. B. and Abuelita start without a mountain of unfolded stuff. We are going to have tacos for dinner with two kinds of pudding for dessert. I'm trying to make it a happy day for the kids, but they are a little clingy, knowing Mommy is going away for awhile.
Last night we skyped with Cheng Cheng for almost an hour. He was shy at first, not saying much but Ni Hao, and waving at us. His teacher translated for us. He was a little perturbed that he couldn't understand us. That may be one of the hardest things for him to adjust to. He is such a verbal little guy and suddenly he won't be able to make himself understood. The kids were so excited to see their new brother and he heard Ni Hao over and over. He said that Baba is very cute, which I've only reminded Mr. B. of about 30 times since last night. The kids showed him some toys and he especially liked the yellow racecar that Thomas brought. The kids really broke the ice. When Catherine showed her stuffed cat, he said, "miaow", and then when the kids made a stuffed dog bark at him, he said, "that isn't a real dog!" Thomas sang the Two Tigers in Chinese and soon Cheng Cheng joined it. That was just so cute. I'm so glad we have been using the Chinese Kindergarten DVD. I asked if he liked watermelon. He only likes watermelon and banana, but not any other fruit. We even took the computer into the boys' room and showed him his bed. He seemed to like the red and blue striped comforter we picked out. Mr. B. laughed when I said that Cheng Cheng looks just like his picture, but it is true. He has such a cute little voice, and made some funny faces, which his new siblings enjoyed and reciprocated. When he put a bare foot up to the camera, the kids roared with laughter. It was so funny to see them interact. I guess it is good I spend so much time with kids this age. Even if they speak a different language, they laugh at the same silly things. I can't wait to meet him. There are going to be a lot of little boys laughing around here!
It is almost strange to be adopting two children who have such wildly different lives in China, and such different levels of preparation for being adopted. It is such a contrast between the sad reality and the better way. It will be interesting to see how they interact. Cheng Cheng has the best life an orphan in China can have, with good food, a small group foster home, he gets out in the community and goes to pre-school. But like Shi Wu, he will be leaving all he knows, and in some ways he has a lot more to miss in China. I'm sure he will grieve and feel stressed, but he is as well prepared as he can be, and he is just a loving and goofy little boy so it is easy to imagine bonding quickly with him. I can't wait to hug him!
