One Cheerio at a time

a bit of a smile

Statue in the main hall of the museum

This has been a week filled with change.  Shaun has had his world rocked but he is not able to realize yet that it is in a great way.  He will have so many opportunities in life and a family that loves him.  Right now our job is to be the best Nannie he has ever had and to care for him and love him like he has never been loved before.

 

One of the things often seen with children as they are adopted is the hording of food, toys etc.   This week we have been learning to take one Cheerio at a time.  The early part of the week Shaun would grab two handfuls of Cheerio’s at a time and would eat them until you took them away, and then cry when you took them.   We started the process of teaching him to take 1 at a time from my hand.  We would count E, R, Sun etc.  Chinese 1,2,3.   I noticed today that Shaun trust me enough to take one at a time and to stop when he is full.  Progress, we are building trust in many ways.  He knows I will give him what he needs and knows that he does not have to hord.n We will continue to watch this miracle that God is performing right before our eyes.

Today as we were out and about we interacted with several local people, interesting the responses we get.  One man spoke some English and was very curious about us adopting.  At the museum a number of school kids came up to Shaun to play with him and to touch him.   A college age couple wanted their photo taken with us.  Then as we walked back to the hotel a man that was opening a gate stopped smiled and gave us a thumbs up.  Most of the locals understand that these children need families and are happy for them.  They say to us that we are so kind and we respond that we are blessed.  

Some of the school kids that stopped to play with Shaun

This couple wanted their photo taken with us.

 

 

 

Today consisted of a trip to the Henan Provincial Museum.  We were able to see much of the history of the province and to learn about the past here.  Once long ago elephants roamed freely here along with camels etc.   We saw much beautiful primitive art, it was a very nice day.  

The Henan Provincial Museum

 

As usual the hotel room is very hot so after Shaun’s nap we went for a walk in the park.  It was also very nice and crowded with people.   There is one section that is a little pond with gold fish in it.  There are tons of people there fishing and catching these.  They put them in buckets and take them with them. Not sure if they eat them or make them pets but they are small.  It was funny watching the people catch them, they yank them up out of the water and over their heads and onto the dock.  Poor little fish.  

View from the park

Tonight is packing night as we have to be up very early tomorrow to head to Guangzhou for the final leg of the trip.  We look forward to some new sites, seeing a few old friends and some better surroundings hopefully.  Zhengzhou is a nice town but very crowded, smoggy and hard to get around.   There is also not a lot to do near the hotel.

Tomorrow is a new day, Shaun will take his first airplane ride, he will leave the province of his birth for the very first time and will be introduced to many new things as he embarks on this new life.