Plane ride, Medical visit, Down time

Much has happened since our last update. Namely, we left Nanjing for Guangzhou and that means Ben has officially taken his first plane ride. He was a rock star. Waiting is not one of his specialties, so the time BEFORE boarding was a challenge. However, traveling in a moving vehicle is a strongpoint of his, so the actual trip was terrific. There was one point where the pilot announced we would be waiting to take off for at least another two plus hours (then the flight was two hours as well). I think I was in shock. They started serving drinks and I think I couldn't even process the potential chaos that might ensue if that actually happened. Then, all of a sudden within 10-15 minutes, they quickly pulled the carts back and said to buckle up. We were off! We still have no idea what happened, but I just thanked the Lord for his mercy on us. Ben slept most of the trip, so it was all quite peaceful.

Ben is signing "wait a minute". We do a lot of waiting here, so this helps us communicate.
Oh, and it was really sunny. Can you tell?
 

Ben reviewing the airplane safety protocols before take off.

This morning was our doctor appointment. Since all adoptive families funnel out of the city of Guangzhou, we met up with many other families that were in other provinces meeting their children last week. It was uplifting to see so many children in the arms of their new parents today where this time last week they were orphans. It still amazes me.

Thankfully Ben's appointment went really smoothly. We had to visit a few different stations. At one of the stations, the doctor asked him (in Mandarin) if he liked to be called "Peng, Peng". With a straight face he shook his head 'no'. Then she asked him if he liked to be called "Qiu Peng" and again with a straight face, this time he nodded "yes". The doctor chuckled, then translated for me. I asked if "Peng, Peng" would be for babies and she nodded and confirmed he did not want to be a baby. Our tough guy.

The worst station is when they do the blood draw for TB. I guess the U.S. requires it before entry into the country. One day last week, Ben had a tiny paper cut type wound on a finger and he cried and cried. I'm sure it didn't feel good. He kept showing us throughout the day and we put a Band-Aid on it and kissed it many times.  Then, during play that day he didn't use that hand for the whole day. He kept it sort of raised up high. It actually slowed him down, so Kevin and I didn't really mind :) Then, today he gets a needle stuck in his arm, watches the blood be sucked from his vein and doesn't even shed a tear. Again, so much mystery in this little guy. Afterwards, all the kids were showing each other their Band-Aids, as if to compare battle scars. Misery loves company, they say. Lots of pampering today for these kiddos.

There were a few times nurses were having a terrible time getting the veins and one little girl that was not with our group, was in the room for probably over an hour. They poked her so many times, and so many different places. They had about 6 staff in there, plus the head physician. We all felt sick about it. They finally got what they needed, but that little girl went through a lot today. She is just a skinny little peanut, probably 2 years old or so. If you feel prompted to pray, pray for Hope. And her dad, it was rough on him too.

Otherwise, this afternoon we just finished up a very fun game of 'find the monkey'. I hide him in our room and Kevin and Ben go behind a wall until I say "OK".  This game lasted a good 45 minutes. Good "parent juice" as they call it. When we give and receive some smiles and appropriate behavior back. This gives us stamina to press through the tougher moments when we are giving all we have and receiving nothing in return.  I am sure the monkey game will see a reprise. Probably even tonight, if Ben has anything to say about it.

We have locked safes in our hotel room and when you enter the code wrong three times it makes a beeping noise. Ben was very successful at entering wrong codes, so when he got the beeping sound, he considered it a wonderful achievement. I was able to capture a few expressions of this game a few days ago. He's quite a guy.

 

 

And if you're wondering how the kids at home are doing...it sounds like well. We miss them a ton and talk about them with Ben all the time. He calls them "Teemy, Jude AHHHH, and Amy" I think he will enjoy meeting them in a few days.  We have been able to Skype home almost every day, so we are thankful for that touching base point. My mom and dad seem to be having the time of their lives (right mom and dad!?) and their puppy Gracie probably just thinks she's the center of the universe.  Fun quote from the home front the other day by Jude.

 

"First we'll go to Good Times, then to the zoo, then to Mall of America, then dig a tunnel to China and surprise Mom and Dad in the middle of the night."  There's a brief pause, then he asks,  "Grandma Sue, how much cash did you bring?"

We're thankful for our time here, but are starting to really get the bug to come home. Last logistical piece is just to get a visa to get this guy out of the country. We're getting closer!