9.29.06
Above are the characters for Mary's given name: Yuan Hui Shan. It's a beautiful, but confusing language.
As I already wrote, we are considering keeping Hui Shan as her middle name, but appreciate the suggestions from all of you who think she should be named after you.
Heck, if what I hear about picking up cheap golf clubs in China is true, her middle name might be PING...I just can't bring myself to consider Big Bertha...that's just cruel.
We are currently having the characters strictly interpreted and will even have a pronunciation key with audio file to post so everyone can hear how it is said.
More on Mary from her Moron Father:
Although highly-social behavior is not unusual for children in institutional settings. Mary's report states very specifically that, beyond playing with toys or even gazing at her own reflection, she enjoys playing with other kids.
It also seems that she is a big fan of balloons. Maybe I should have waited for that little nugget...painting balloons in her room would have been easier than the pandas!
Speaking of little nuggets, I'm still looking for independent confimation of the 102 BMs a day... If she is capable of doing the deuce that often, we might want to begin looking for a tent and half-price barker because she's a circus-quality pooping prodigy!
I'm not 100% sure that I will post anything over the weekend. Sister (now Aunt) Lori is in town and Leigh begins flying practice tonight as Peter Pan. It's shaping up to be a weekend of fun and potential emergency room visits. For a dancer, Leigh is not what one might call, 'classically graceful.'
Coming up: More history on our arrival at this point and what's next.
9.28.06 Update
Today, I would like to share what we know about Mary's daily routine at the orphanage. Because there are a lot of children and very few caregivers, it is expected that she adhere to a very structured schedule. Many orphanages even have the children trained to respond to whistles and horns to indicate meal, potty and play times. We don't know what methods are used at the Yiangjiang Social Institute.
Here's what we do know...
Mary's sleep schedule:
She gets up at 7am (all of China is in a single time zone per The Great Leader, so it might be light or dark at that time. I don't know). She naps from 12pm to 2:30pm and goes to bed at 8pm. She will nap 2-3 other times during the day. It is reported that she is a deep sleeper.
Inbound:
She eats breakfast at 7:30am; mostly milk.
She has lunch at 11:30am and eats dinner at 5:30pm. She has a 3pm snack of fruit and cakes and gets a bottle of milk at midnight.
As for foods, she is served porridge, powdered meats (apparently her favorite, which is gross and will be changed to lobster rolls, dropped eggs, whoopie pies or Buffalo Wings), pureed fruits, vegetables and fish as well as bone soup.
Outbound:
Mary urinates 6-8 times a day and according to the report knocks out 102 bowel movements every 24 hours. I hope that's a typo, or we're going to need a bigger house! I assume they mean 1-2 a day.
That's it for now.
Tomorrow: Her favorite activities and toys, as well as a note on the crazy paperwork Leigh and I have been working on this week.
The Latest
As Leigh and I scramble to get even more paperwork together (while she is also just two weeks from playing Peter in Peter Pan - complete with flying), I will continue to post updates about Mary and our process when I have something to share.
For today, a bigger picture and highlights from her Developmental Report:
At one month, she had weak control of her head, was very timid and scared by any sudden movements. She slept 14-20 hours a day and would stop crying when spoken to softly or had her belly rubbed.
At two months, she could lift her head from the bed, flex and contract her muscles and would respond when spoken to - even beginning to smile. She seemed to enjoy listening to music in bed.
At three months, she was able to control her head movement, even looking around. She could roll from a supine position onto her side. She began recognizing care takers and knew to smile during play.
At four months, she could grasp and take a toy from an adult's hand. Her vision and ability to track moving objects improved and she would stretch for bottle during feeding times.
At five months, she began making and imitating sounds. She would touch, shake and beat objects with her hands; learned "peek-a-boo" and smiled at her image in a mirror.
At six months, she became much more demonstrative, making baby talk and "dancing" with her arms and legs when seeing familiar faces. When being held in a standing position, she would "jump" with both legs. She liked noisy toys and began reaching for hanging objects and recognizing tones in voices.
At seven months, she began making simple words and showed increased interest in the surrounding people and objects. She was able to sit steadily and focus on things and toys of interest and act accordingly.
At eight months, she began crawling but had difficulty coordinating her her extremities at first. She learned to look for hidden objects and remember locations, including dropped spoons. Started to imitate others and had strong body movements and reactions to music.
At nine months, she could clap her hands and wave "bye-bye." She understood the meaning of "no" and could identify herself in a mirror. Seemed eager to walk when held in a standing position.
That's what we know from the transation of the report.
Tomorrow: Her daily routine and eating habits.
Instant Update
Sorry.
I'm sure the question on everyone's mind is, "When will you go get her?"
The goal, for now, with the understanding that things are still "in process" is to have her in the US by January 1, 2007 to watch all the BCS bowl games.
FINALLY!!!
I cannot believe it's been since March that I've updated this thing. As I'm generally e-ignorant, it should come as no surprise. However, it is with great joy that I get "blogging" again.
After beginning the process nearly two years ago and suffering enough delays to force our reapplication, Leigh and I are finally ready to introduce you to Mary. We received our referral yesterday and continue to get updated information on her. From now through our trip to China to bring her home, I intend to use this forum to keep everyone in the loop.
Well, that's Mary in the pictures above (middle name tbd, although we like the name she was given at the orphanage as a way to keep her connected to China). Her given name is Yuan Hui Shan. The Yuan refers to the city the orphanage is in and Hui Shan means (loosely) Bright Coral, so her middle name might be Hui Shan, pronounced Way-Shaan.
She's a very healthy one-year-old. In fact, her birthday is September 19th, so as I type this she's one-year and one-week old.
What we know of her history (and tomorrow I'll update with medical and developmental notes):
Yuan Hui shan was found outside the gates of Yuangjiang City Civil Affairs Office at 6:00am on September 25, 2005. It is estimated that she was just six days old. She had been left in a fruit box wrapped in a flowered cotton wrap. In the basket with her was a bottle, some milk powder and a change of clothes. The report says that for a newborn, she was a bit chubby.
She was brought to the local police station where immediate attempts to locate her mother failed and by noon of the same day, she was brought to the Yuanjiang Social Welfare Institute.
I only wish there were a way to thank Sun Jian Qin, the man who found her, for making sure she was taken care of.
By the time of her first official medical exam at the orphanage, she weighed 15 lbs (7 kg) and was 19.2 inches (49 cm) "tall." These numbers are probably not accurate, but all we have to go on.
When she was ten months old, she weighed 19 lbs and was 27 inches "tall." If accurate, that means she is small by US standards (in the 20-35th percentile), but we still can't be 100% sure of the numbers' accuracy.
That's enough for today.
Tomorrow: a developmental recap and better images (the same ones, but broken into larger, single pictures).
Above are the characters for Mary's given name: Yuan Hui Shan. It's a beautiful, but confusing language.
