It just reminds me of DJ...

As we go through the beginning motions of this new adoption, I love to reflect on our adoptions of LJ, AJ, DJ and JJ. With DJ, I remember how we saw his picture the first time and how sweet and content he seemed. Then I remember our first meeting and he was this scared little 3 year old not knowing what the heck was going on.

In retrospect, I still can't imagine what it was like for a toddler who had never experienced having a mom or dad (mamma & babba) taking care of him to be presented to people and being told that's who they were going to be. He had been in an orphanage since birth. Neither of us is Chinese, neither of us speaks Chinese, other than the phrase "I love you". We learned this in Manderine. Of course Fujian Lo (DJ's birth name) didn't speak Manderine, he spoke Lodi, a local dialect. He was given over to us in a hotel in the middle of the night. He had a bag of candy and snacks with him (we find out later that he didn't like anything in that bag; his caregivers were probably just trying to give him something to keep him quiet). He took one look at us as he was being handed to us and starts screaming!

Of course we understand and we do our best to hold onto him and not let him run back to his caregivers, who are doing their best to soothe him with soft words. Then they start crying, I'm sure no matter how many times they have to do this, it breaks their heart to hand over another angelic little baby they realize may never step foot in China again. So I talk to them through our interpreter to tell them that we will care for, love and nurture him.

We take him up to our room and run a much needed bath. DJ gets to experience a flush toilet for the first time and we never had to worry about him turning back from then on. :o) Our only worry was how to pay the forth coming water bill increase! Flush! Giggle, giggle. Flush!