A New Gideon

Breakfast was an experience. Don't be fooled by that innocent little face! There is a reason there is nothing on the table within 2 feet of Gideon. It would have ended up on the floor...

Today was a very good day for Gideon and us. We saw so much more of who he is and his personality. I'm sure we just scratched the surface but what we have seen has been so good. Gideon started out having a bad night. He woke up crying every half hour or so from 2:00 am on. Because of that we didn't sleep well either. By 5:00 am we should have gotten up but dozed for another hour and finally gave up and got out of bed.

Breakfast was quite the 2 year old experience. Gideon was very spoiled and had no boundaries so trying to get him to be socially acceptable was impossible, even for Chinese standards. He threw things, spit things on the table, tried to play in his juice and anything else you can think of. He did eat a lot of congee so we knew his tummy was full. I don't think Doug and I will have a good relaxing meal for weeks to come.

Yesterday we gave Gideon a pass on behavior but starting this morning he had a completely new set of rules to live by. No more bad behavior tolerated. By noon Gideon knew how to say the word no and used it on me a few times. Over the course of the day he got quite a bit better and checked with me a couple of times to see if something was OK to do. He has given us hope that this won't be as long of a road as what we thought yesterday.

Gideon finally let me take off his coat, hat and clothes today. Well, remember that I said he was big. I lied. He is tall but skin and bones. There is no meat on his body. When I got out his clothes I was just going to put the normal layers on but looking at his legs I got out another outfit to go under his other clothes. We have also discovered many behaviors that are closer to a one year old than two. Doug and I think that no matter how good the care a child gets without a stable mother and father that put their heart and soul into a child there will be delays of some kind.

This moring we went to the Civil Affairs office again to sign the paperwork to make Gideon official. Just walking into the building was traumatic for him. He had a hard time while there and when we left settled down and gained some peace. The orphanage people were not going to come in and upset Gideon today but one of them had to poke their head in for something. When she saw that Gideon did fine all 4 of the staff came in. It was so good to see them. They all had a spirit of peace and love about them. The Director was a very kind lady, one that I would love to know. They brought a photo album for Gideon and wanted to check on him. He didn't cry for them or even try to go to any of them. He sat right next to me the whole time and played. In the midst of the appointment he threw his sippy cup full of apple juice on the floor. Did you know sippy cups will break when thrown onto a marble floor? I didn't. When the orphanage staff was leaving I told them how much I appreciated them and what they had done. I got teary because I knew they really did love Gideon. They told me thank you for adopting him and getting him the medical care he needs. They then asked us to come back and visit the orphanage if we ever get the chance. They also want us to stay in contact through email. It was a very good experience.

Left to right: Orphanage staff, new dad (standing on a chair), orphanage director, orphanage staff, medical director who has been caring for Gideon. Front: new mom, newest Walker.

After making Gideon officially a Walker we had the privilege of going to the Healing Home where Gideon was cared for last winter. This home is run by Love Without Boundaries. We were so impressed. It was very clean and more importantly had a feeling of love and happiness there. When we walked in each nanny had a baby in her arms. There were 10 babies with different needs and different ages. These precious little ones loved the attention from us. One baby was on the floor for tummy time. She kept looking back and up trying to see me, so I got down on my knees and put my head down at her level. She craned her neck to look me in the eye as I stroked her head and talked to her. She was not happy when I stood up and the nanny had to pick her up to settle her down. Another little one kept crying out until I held her. All the nannies were laughing at this. When I gave her back she didn't like it too well and started whining again so I took her back. It was so cute.

The staff showed us Gideon's crib and told us a little about him. He was very active. We see that in him now. :) He would scoot around in the walker and pull off all the shoes from the rack as often as he could get away with it. He was always smiling. We see this potential as well. He smile quite a bit now but as he gets more comfortable we will see even more I'm sure. It was such an honor to be allowed to be at the healing home and hold the little ones. I couldn't walk by an single child without stroking them and talking with them.

Doug and I decided that we need to do more the help these little children. I had mixed thoughts as I walked around. I reflected on how blessed each child was to be there and be loved and yet how sad it was that these babies didn't have a mother or father and what a difference that would make in their progress.

Mom doing what comes naturally for her.... this baby had an amazing spirit. Repaired heart. She'll find a family fast.

Gideon with one of his ex-nannies. She was so happy to see him. He wasn't sure about seeing her. He was already a little aprehensive about being taken out of mom's arms to have experience his former home. That was a very good sign!