Where We are Now`

Hi Everyone,

This is An ne, and I wish I had more time to write, we will use this blog as a journal as much as we can. Yesterday was crazy and wonderful. We arrived in Nanchang at 1 pm and had Luke in our arms at 5pm. Every moment before that was frenzied unpacking, counting of money, meetings, and preparations. I thought that I was going to have a heart attack I was so excited! The people we are traveling with are so nice, and it is very comforting to be going through these huge life changing events with them.

When the time finally came, we were in a meeting room in our hotel (more about our hotellater). Evelyn our babysitter/therapist/accountant/friend told us that the two families with kids from Le Ping would be first. The through the door came Hudson, an adorable 2 1/2 year old holding hands with a lady who also had an infant in her arms. We overlooked the infant, looking for Luke who is 14 months. After Hudson was given to his family they called our name and I went up looking for ANOTHER big baby, and they gave me the tiny one!! Luke! Oh he is so small. He looked at us so solemnly, each of us in the eye likehe was thinking "What are those animals?" He has very expressive eyebrows, and although his face was frozen, every time Mike talked to him, his eyebrows would shoot up. I doubt he has ever seena beard like Mike's. We took him quickly upstairs and made him a bottle of his milk/cereal mixture which he sucked right down. and then we took off all his clothes and I mean all, he had layers and layers, and a big silver jingly necklace that to us looked like bling but I know it is a symbol of good luck for boys. He cries quite a bit when we mess with his clothes. He also smelled quite bad. Like nobody had ever washed behind his ears. But he has no diaper rash, and his tiny nails are neatly trimmed. After awhile he was grinning (without opening his mouth) and playing a copying game where Casey would shake her head and he would shake it back. He is holding back quite a bit of emotion, we can tell and we can't get him to open up his mouth except for his bottle and if he is crying. Today we we able to get him to really laugh a little bit and we saw gorgeous dimples! His eye contact is good, and it is obvious he likes to snuggle. That said, he is VERY delayed. I think he is like a 4 month old in some respects. He cannot reach out and grab something well. He cannot sit on his own well. We have been told that this is perfectly normal for an orphanage baby, but we are having the doctor come visit today. I will keep you updated. What is not normal is that he won't eat solid food, and we MUST get him eating it immediately. Because he only drinks milk, he is weak. I will write more when I can, there is so much more to say. We can't access ouir blog, so can't read comments. Please e mail us at millsmore@aol.com , we need encouragement, we are in love with this sweet child, and also are worried for him. Love to all, Anne Mike Casey and Luke