Making Strides

Today we saw Maddox really start to open up. I think he is feeling better physically and feeling like he can risk relaxing and enjoying himself some. That must take a lot when you think about this adoption from his point of view. We have started to get into a routine in the mornings. The problem with staying in a nice hotel is that the breakfast downstairs is at a nice restaurant and Stephanie and I need to be showered and dressed fairly nicely before we go down. Maddox, however, is hungry right when he wakes up! So, we usually get up a little earlier than he does and Stephanie starts getting ready. If he wakes up before she is done, I will start him on some milk. Then Stephanie will feed him some Cheerios or other snacks while I get ready. This morning Maddox fed Stephanie the trail mix items he didn't want!

We went to a museum which was interesting for us but not so much for him. After the comments from the last post I will definitely spare you the details, but we did see some beautiful artifacts from ancient Chinese culture. Stephanie took a hip hammock thing we got at Pottery Barn which was a LIFE SAVER. Maddox wouldn't tolerate a stroller yet (he has to be attached to one of us in public), so we had to carry him for 2.5 hours. I was even a skeptic of this hip hammock, but it worked very well. He didn't make a peep and even napped some during the tour. No flash photography allowed there so I don't have any pictures.

After that we ate at a nice hotel restaurant and tried Maddox in his first highchair. Eating has progressed from our feeding him chopstick to mouth to cutting up food for him that he can hand feed from his own plate.He did pretty well, but got clingy toward the end and we had to move him to the lap. Part of the problem was that the waitresses were making such a fuss over him. You have got to realize that we are stared at by everyone everywhere we go, and there are a lot of people here to stare! When we are in restaurants or stores or almost anywhere people come up and want to smile at Maddox and some offer to hold him. He is taking it well, though. We say "ni hao" (hello) and he waves at them with a cute little pageant queen type wave. Then they all smile and laugh and seem to approve. When we leave we say "zai jian" (goodbye) and he waves again. So cute...

We went to a Wal Mart today to get some Pampers, snacks, and a few clothes for him. Fortunately, we hit a home run with the snacks and found these little round toasted bread treats that taste kind of like animal crackers. These have become even more popular than the Cheerios, so I think we will be OK.

This afternoon, we saw Maddox make great strides. We started putting him down in the hotel and in other places where he feels safe and walking with him holding our hands. In the room, we played a game where he would walk back and forth between Stephanie and me to get Cheerios that we had for him. He smiled and laughed and really enjoyed it. More good tickling and laughing and just a lot more smiling in general.

The nasal suction process has really become entertaining. He actually likes it and leans in whenever Stephanie gets it out to use it on him. He then takes his own Kleenex and wipes his nose and face. During one of our playtimes today, he took the suction and put it up to his own nose! Our little future doctor... He is very meticulous and deliberate with his play. Today he took Kleenex and tore it into little pieces and stacked a tower on top of his sippy cup. He always likes things to be perfectly aligned and he doesn't like the food on his plate to touch.

The day ended with bath time which was scary for him the first 2 nights. This time we took our time and introduced a little blue whale bath toy. Well, that was just the thing. Maddox played and played with it. He splashed around and had a great time in the tub. He has probably never had a chance to splash water or enjoy a bath. I think bath time will be a big hit from now on. He took the blue whale to bed with him... Well, that's all for today, please continue to pray for us! JP