Prized Possessions...

There is little doubt that Sprout’s greatest (and likely first ever) possessions are all contained in his tiny Thomas the Tank Engine backpack: 3 Tonka Chuck trucks, 1 mini magna doodle, a sticker album of stuck-restuck-and-stuck-again stickers, and a water bottle now full of rainbow goldfish crackers (useful for both occasional snacking AND feeding fish in the lake).  As of today, Thursday, life is pretty darn good for our energetic little 4 year old at the Lakeside Hotel…

Recapping the week in Fuzhou, Monday was pretty much a ‘business day’ as we headed to the Civil Affairs Building and the Office of Foreign Adoptions just inside.  After a few signatures, an interview, some red thumb-printing to mark the occasion, and one more stop at the notary’s building, Sprout was officially a card-carrying member of Team Ream!  Our sweet guide, Penny, helped us end the day’s activities with a celebratory meal of KFC delivered straight to our hotel room!

There were two ‘hard’ days that we anticipated for Sprout, one being the shock of “Gotcha Day” and second being our visit to the orphanage on Tuesday.  As a family, we had discussed the range of possible reactions and emotions that he might experience when we arrived, so needless to say, we were prepared for tears…BUT prayers were answered, although he was really happy to see his best buddy, it was clear that Sprout had NO intentions of staying there!  In fact, as we were giving our good-byes at JinJiang, the orphanage director spotted Sprout’s snazzy new stroller in the van.  He watched her looking at it, and then firmly explained, “That’s MY stroller!”  I guess even though it doesn’t fit in his backpack, it’s a prized possession, too! 

The last two days have been rather laid back, and our family is spending lots of time walking around the beautiful public park across from our hotel.  It’s been pretty hilarious for us to go walk about, because I think we are the only Chinese-American family in the entire province!  The Chinese people can’t help but to stare at us, scratch their heads, and walk off wondering about the strange family pushing a little Chinese boy in a stroller!  We’ve had a couple of locals to stop us, but since we don’t speak the local dialect, we can’t offer much more than a ‘hello’.  So yesterday, I wore my ‘MaMa’ shirt with Chinese characters, and put Sprout in his matching ‘little brother’ one, doing my very best to help bridge the communication gap.  (Just hoping now that we don’t end up on a local YouTube version for strange sightings on the Fairy Bridge. J )

All in all we’re doing great…Sprout is taking on the challenge of our family quite well…we’re remembering that 4 year olds have an insane amount of energy!  We’re treasuring this time, too, allowing every moment to be tucked into the family folds of our hearts.  Watching Sprout discover the simplest of things – bubbles at bath time, getting pushed wildly in the stroller by big brother and grinning ear to ear the entire ride, the thrill of sitting between his big brother and big sister pedaling our paddleboat-is more crazy-fun than we ever imagined.  Just like my own little Sprout, if I could pack up these memories and tuck them into my own little backpack of motherhood, they, too would be some of my most prized possessions.