Don't Even Ask...Heeheehee!

Here's a rough itinerary of our trip: First stop Beijing. We will be here for several days to climb the Great Wall and take in the "must see" sights. Our next stop will be Nanjing, Kai's home town and where he currently lives. We will meet Kai that evening and he will remain with us from then onward. We will stay in Nanjing for nearly a week as we tour the local shops and markets trying to get a feel for the culture and history of the place and people that connects us to our son. It is our hope to be granted permission to visit his orphanage. We would be very grateful to pay visit to the nannies and thank them for caring for him. It is important to us to see and appreciate the circumstances in which Kai spent his first 15 months. To conclude our trip, we will travel to Guangzhou and spend the remaining days completing paperwork, engaging in local sight seeing, and getting to know our Kai. Time to sign off for now, but you should expect to see this squirrel again. He's too fun to be a one-time visitor.

More From Nanjing!

I haven't stopped smiling all afternoon! We received more information today about our little guy. The nannies responded to our letter asking about Kai through our care package. This is what we learned today:

When we meet Kai, his nannies will make sure that we get a copy of his "Finding Ad." This is Kai's earliest photo. This photo is taken by the orphanage/government officials within a few days of a child being placed within their care. The photo and a statement about the child's finding location are printed in the local newspaper in the event that a parent is trying to locate a missing child. As I may have mentioned in a previous post, China does not have a system for parents to legally surrender their children. Children are therefore strategically "left" for someone to find. Often these children are found in public places such as parks, hospitals, and police stations. In many cases, the parent may be nearby, observing that their child is safely found.
Kai's mother left him a very special gift. She wrote his birthday on a square of red paper. (Red is a symbol of good fortune). A great many children have "invented" birth dates, assigned to them when it is unknown. Kai's mother wanted him to know this about himself. A true sign of affection. We will also receive this for Kai when we go to China.
We were given the names of his favorite nanny and friend.
They say that he loves for people to play with him and talk to him.
His nanny reports that he is a "very good child." They say that he understands different types of facial expressions. When he cries, the tell him "Kai Kai, you cannot cry, crying baby not a pretty baby." After hearing this he will look at his nanny and then stop crying. How cute is that????
We are told that he has been a very healthy baby.
He is not outgoing. He is initially scared of strangers, but will warm up to them in time.
He loves to smile. :)
His nickname is Kai Kai.

Kai must be well loved by these nannies. They are under-staffed and over-loaded with responsibilities, and yet they found the time and initiative to share this information about our little one. We are forever grateful to those who are caring for him in our absence.

How Flipp'n Cute!

Ann at Redthread, the woman who assembled and sent our last care package out to Kai, really pulled through for us. She made some extra calls to the orphanage and was able to obtain a couple new photos and measurements for us. He is growing to be a big, healthy boy. He weighs about 20 lbs. and is 30" tall. He will be 14 months old on the 14th. We were surprised to also learn that they are planning to repair his cleft palate in China. We have heard many good things about the quality of the surgeries done in China. Although we are sad that we may not be there to care for him as he recovers, it will allow him to begin learning to speak that much sooner. If he doesn't have the surgery in China, his palette will not be repaired for several months after he gets home because of his transitional needs. Our fingers are crossed that we will receive our Travel Approval in the next few weeks. In the meantime, join us in kicking back and admiring the "cuteness" that is Kai. :)

Care Package #2

As I had mentioned in a previous post, we mailed out a care package to Kai several weeks ago. The small box included a few infant toys, candy for the nannies, a baby blanket, cameras and a photo album. Our package also carried a set of questions that we generated for Kai's caregivers in hopes that we can someday share pieces of his past with him. Unfortunately, the shipping slip that we were given did not allow us to track our package. We have no way of knowing if he received it. It was killing us that we might never get those precious bits of information. In my desperation, I solicited the help of one of the businesses in China that specializes in assembling and delivering care packages to orphanages. I really hope our original package made it to him- it was more personalized. In the end, we are glad that we paid for a second package to be delivered just in case. We opted for the "Chinese New Year" package. It included a small toy, silk pj's, a disposable camera, candies for the caregivers, and a letter from us. We re-submitted the list of questions for the nannies. This online store, http://redthreadchina.com, will guarantee that the package is delivered to the orphanage. I think he may get it at the end of the week or the next. I'll keep you posted if we hear anything.

Happy Chinese New Year!