Nanjing Orphanage Day
We started the day at 4ish in the morning when I became concerned about Wyatt's croupy cough. He had had it the night before, but it had disappeared during the day completely. Then last night I started getting concerned that he was going to suddenly stop breathing (you would think he was my 1st child, not my fifth!) His breathing smoothed out after a while, though, and later in the morning I decided that he did indeed just have a cold.
Our guide, Anna, picked us up with the driver and took us to Wyatt's orphanage here in Nanjing. He was in this orphanage for the first couple of years, and has been a part of the "Half The Sky" program (http://halfthesky.org/en), which I was really excited to hear about. We were able to get two notebooks full of pictures of Wyatt growing up, with descriptive updates in Mandarin (I will have to have translated at some point!) We had originally thought he had been in foster care just from last spring, when we put in a Letter of Intent for him. We found out, though, that he has actually been with his foster family for three years! The foster mother works in the orphanage, but he seemed to be especially close to his foster grandparents, who took care of him during the day. We got to meet the foster family, and it broke my heart to see his foster grandparents say goodbye to him. The grandfather was having an especially hard time with this, and seeing the tears in his eyes made me want to cry as well. They only had one other little guy that they fostered in the home, and he was there as well. The grandfather brought some treats and things along to send with us that he knew Wyatt would enjoy. What a wonderful thing it was to see that Wyatt was so very loved and cared for in the early years of his life!
Next Anna took us to Nanjing's historical museum, and then later to a pearl store, where I purchased a pearl necklace and earing set for Kate, as well as a little pearl necklace for Annie now and a set to save for her when she gets older, and one for Wyatt's future bride (assuming he decides to marry!) On the way back Wyatt said something to Anna, who informed us that he must be hungry because he said he wanted meat. We taught him the word meat, and it was so hilarious to hear him shout out, "MEAT!!" Back at the hotel we took the kids out to Papa Johns next door, and gave the kids their first taste of pizza. Thankfully they both liked it! Tonight we go for a celebration dinner with Anna, and then start packing to leave tomorrow afternoon on our flight to Guangzhou!
Our guide, Anna, picked us up with the driver and took us to Wyatt's orphanage here in Nanjing. He was in this orphanage for the first couple of years, and has been a part of the "Half The Sky" program (http://halfthesky.org/en), which I was really excited to hear about. We were able to get two notebooks full of pictures of Wyatt growing up, with descriptive updates in Mandarin (I will have to have translated at some point!) We had originally thought he had been in foster care just from last spring, when we put in a Letter of Intent for him. We found out, though, that he has actually been with his foster family for three years! The foster mother works in the orphanage, but he seemed to be especially close to his foster grandparents, who took care of him during the day. We got to meet the foster family, and it broke my heart to see his foster grandparents say goodbye to him. The grandfather was having an especially hard time with this, and seeing the tears in his eyes made me want to cry as well. They only had one other little guy that they fostered in the home, and he was there as well. The grandfather brought some treats and things along to send with us that he knew Wyatt would enjoy. What a wonderful thing it was to see that Wyatt was so very loved and cared for in the early years of his life!
Next Anna took us to Nanjing's historical museum, and then later to a pearl store, where I purchased a pearl necklace and earing set for Kate, as well as a little pearl necklace for Annie now and a set to save for her when she gets older, and one for Wyatt's future bride (assuming he decides to marry!) On the way back Wyatt said something to Anna, who informed us that he must be hungry because he said he wanted meat. We taught him the word meat, and it was so hilarious to hear him shout out, "MEAT!!" Back at the hotel we took the kids out to Papa Johns next door, and gave the kids their first taste of pizza. Thankfully they both liked it! Tonight we go for a celebration dinner with Anna, and then start packing to leave tomorrow afternoon on our flight to Guangzhou!
Comments
Post a Comment