Re-Redirecting the Thank You gift

OK, so it turned out that DC's Child and Family Services Agency had "enough" donations. But we are proud to announce the clothes happily made their way to St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children right here in Norfolk! The woman who accepted the three boxes full of clothing was so kind and thankful (and a bit taken by Jack's chattering on). She said they share resources with Norfolk's child services so anything St. Mary's couldn't use would be provided to them.

We want to once again thank our colleagues, friends and family for their generous donation of such beautiful clothing! What a wonderful thing you've done!

Redirecting the Thank You gift

As it turned out, our three boxes full of clothes for the Chengdu CWI got caught up in customs in China and never made it through to the CWI. So we are redirecting our gift to Washington, DC's Child and Family Services Agency!

A Thank You to the Chengdu CWI

In lieu of presents for both Jack's birthday and a "Welcome Home, Jack" party held at my office, Chris and I requested that our families and friends instead provide new clothing to be donated to the Chengdu Children's Welfare Institute (CWI) where Jack was raised from the time he was a few months old until he came home to us last July.

"...we want to give back to the Chengdu Children’s Welfare Institute in return for the precious gift they gave given us in Jack. Nothing could come near to giving the orphanage what they gave us ..."

What resulted from our generous families' and friends' hearts was 37 pounds of clothing! All those clothes are now in three boxes on their way to Chengdu!

Thank you, dear friends! We will never forget your thoughtfulness! Ahhhh, to think of the smiles when these packages are opened!

All Good Here!

It's been all good here, and here are a few pictures!

Fun at ChristmasTown, Busch Gardens with Uncle Mike, Aunt Carol, Cousin Hailey, and Daddy.
Jack's trampoline is by far his favorite Christmas present!

Just a goofy picture:

Sacked out asleep after a day with Grandma Joyce and family!

FOR MOMMY

DH here. Since Carol has been out of town the past few days, I thought she needed to see a least a few seconds of Jack. I hope she enjoys it.

Chris

October pictures

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with Jack in full Chinese garb!

Chhaya and Jack sharing a Moon Pie and looking for Daddy's ship.

Jack enjoying his birthday cake.

Pumpkins and Wheelbarrow

Strong boy!

Jack had surgery this morning and is napping now. Let me just say he was making me soooo nervous when we got home from the hospital because he wouldn't stop running and jumping and climbing. Obviously, all went very well; so much for anesthesia jelly legs! Also, get this: he weighed in between 27 and 28 lbs and measured about 34 inches! Two and a half months ago, he weighed 23 lbs 8 oz and measured 32 inches. I allow for some error in measurement, but still, that's a lot of growth!

Here's a picture that Carol (who we thank so much for being here) took of us in the recovery room:

Whirlwind, Part 3 - Meeting Granny

And then, lucky enough to overlap with Grandma and Pop Pop's visit, Nai Nai returned to visit and brought along a very special person: Granny!!! (Jack's great grandma)
Jack thoroughly enjoyed showing Granny how many words he knew and how much he could eat and eat and eat. And when he was through with that, he would take off with Granny's cane across the yard. What patience Granny has! We can't wait to see you again soon.

Whirlwind Part 2, - Grandma and Pop Pop

After the Gumble cousins visited and we went to my brother and sister's house for the Welcome Jack party, my parents came to visit for the week! We prepped Jack by telling him that Grandma would say to him, "Good boy, Jack!" and Pop would say, "Hey you!" in a gruffy voice. Jack sure caught on to mimicking "Hey you" in his own gruffy voice.

We enjoyed a trip to the botanical garden where Jack took the opportunity to identify facial features on Pop Pop. Pop Pop now wears an eye patch. (Just kidding.)

There were lots of giggles with Pop Pop! And Jack latched on to how Grandma's little piggy goes "wee, wee, wee" all the way home.

As their plane home flew over our house, Jack blew a big kiss up into the sky. Awwwwww.

Whirlwind, Part 1

It's been a whirlwind the past few weeks, and here's Part 1:

Cousins Lauren and Dave and their daughter, Hailey, arrive with a climber slide for Jack! He can climb up it himself, exclaim he is up on top, and slide down - head first, too! They also brought a bajillion puzzles and books and -- most exciting for Chris and me -- gave us the gift of a date night out!!

Hailey loves her baby cousin Jack and has been reported to have cried twice since leaving because she misses him.

Then we whisked off to a "Welcome to the Family, Jack" party in Richmond where Jack did stunningly well meeting... let me count... 18 members of my family from as far North as Allentown, PA, to as far South as Columbia, SC. Carol and Mike, my sister-in-law and brother, ALWAYS throw an excellent party, and I think this one topped them all! We can't thank them enough! Below Jack shows a custom frame made by cousin Jill. Too cool!

Who can go without having "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book in their collection?


My last post referenced the next (this) post as being titled "He poops", and I will spare you the details of Jack's first diaper leakage -- while napping. All I will say is that I am thankful for Lauren's command to me, "Take him into the shower!" Also will spare you Jack tearing off his shorts to try on new ones from Aunt JoAnne and Uncle Joe.

Whirlwind, Part II coming as soon as I download the pictures off the camera.

He eats, he...

Oh yes, Jack's an excellent eater. He must have gained at least 2 lbs over the past two months.

He gets jiggy with it. On Daddy's truck bed, no less.

He draws. Here's one of his drawings from the first week at school.

Stand by for next post: "He poops, he..."

JACK AND DAISY

Here's Jack walking Daisy.

A visit from Grandma Joyce

Grandma Joyce visited this past weekend -- and brought a bag FULL of goodies! Jack's favorites seem to be the teddy bear cookies and the "big truck" (words which Jack says many, many times a day undoubtedly tied to the fact that Daddy has a big truck). We all had lots of fun playing, eating, and watching jack swim.

It was a bittersweet visit without the physical presence of Chris's dad, but I could feel him smiling down on all of us, giddy with excitement at Jack's silliness.

Just hang in there, the rest of the NC family, you will meet Jack soon! Until then, enjoy Jack through the pictures and videos that Grandma Joyce took while she was here with us.

Meeting Cousins

This weekend, Jack got to meet his cousin, Jill, her husband, Chris, and their son (Jack's "second" cousin? Cousin "once removed"?), Nathan. Nathan will be three in December.

Nathan was so sweet to Jack! He shared his pine cones that he found in the botanical gardens and showed Jack how to open a present from Chris's parents.

Random pics for your pleasure

Daddy and Jack after and during their hair cuts a few weeks ago. Yes, that's right, we took him for a trim, courtesy of our friend Natalie, soon after we arrived home.

Who's idea was it to give this boy so much sugar?!?! He is eating a cake topping saved from a baby shower given by my friend Margaret.
Riding on his new horsey from another friend named Margaret. He's learning to swing his leg over to hop on like a real cowboy!
I believe 21 months of age is far, far too young to be given carte blanche with chalk. Note the chalk around his mouth, too. If you could see his teeth, they would be blue, too. Speaking of teeth, he is cutting his first "US tooth" - it's number nine for his mouth.

First Day at the Beach for Jack

Yesterday morning we took Jack to the beach at the bay. Surely it must have been his very first time at the beach, right?!?

At first he was hesitant about walking in the sand, but it only took him a few seconds to get into the swing of it. He enjoyed being in the water, of course - as he is half fish, and quickly became content shoveling sand into his bucket and watching seagulls.

Daddy-O chills with Jack:

"What up, Daddy-O?!? Keep your sand on your own side!!"

Presents and a pic for Ye Ye

Here's Jack with his first set of cars from Wei and family!
And here's Jack with his first desk from the Ludwigs! So studious!

This one is for Ye Ye (Chris's father who passed away earlier this year). Ye Ye was a huge UNC Tarheel fan, and Jack is practicing his layout with this UNC ball!

One month since Gotcha Day!

It is hard to believe it has only been one month!

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks:

Splashing in the fountains at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. We go there a couple of times a week.

Feeding Maxine some Cheerios.

Feeding Daisy some Cheerios:

Splashing in his pool:

Working on the puzzle from Aunt JoAnne, Uncle Joe, and Cousin Danny:

Nai Nai is in town!

Nai Nai came to visit on Thursday. Nai Nai is the Chinese word for paternal grandmother. It isn't enough to say that Jack loves his Nai Nai.. Nai Nai ADORES and LOVES her grandson, too! Here is a picture of the introduction:


Jack may be looking a little woozy in the above picture, but that's because he had doctors' appointments that morning. And would you look at the smile on Nai Nai's face?! If you could hear her laugh when she hears Jack's laugh - it is GREAT, infectious! Nai Nai thinks Jack is awesome and super smart, and that is not a biased opinion.

What is that saying? That grandparents are there to spoil the child? Well... Jack now has the coolest red wagon - with room for two (don't get any ideas Nai Nai)! It is really an awesome gift, and we know Jack is very familiar with riding in wagons in the orphanage in Chengdu. Plus, Jack got lots of hugs and kisses from Nai Nai, too!

We have really enjoyed Nai Nai's visit and will miss her when she leaves. But Skype provided a great way to introduce her to Jack and will continue to be a favorite way to keep in touch until we see each other in person again. And Granny, we missed seeing you and are happy you are doing well!