Guangzhou

We made it safely to Guangzhou two days ago.  The plane ride went well.  Levi was a little afraid but got over it quickly.  He asked the guide before we flew whether planes could fall out of the sky.  She told him no.  Jacob was not scared at all and was thrilled with how fast the plane went taking off.  He loves toy vehicles of any kind so I figured he would like the plane which he did.

We lost a bag of jackets and 1/2 of our gluten free snacks along with my back pillow on the shuttle bus between the plane and the Guangzhou airport.  That was a bummer and the airline people couldn't find it.  At least it was nothing valuable.  Aaron and James were busy getting Levi off the bus and into his wheelchair so I had the other three kids and in the chaos the bag was forgotten.

Yesterday the boys had their Visa medical appointment.  Jacob did fabulous and Levi did as well until it came time for him to get four shots and a TB test injection.  Our oldest son can be rather dramatic just like his sister.  Isaiah, James, and I went shopping in the afternoon while Aaron stayed in the hotel with the two other boys and Susu for rest time.  Today is a free day for us and we are getting rested up these next few days before the crazy long trip home on Friday.  We have a couple more appointments and a shopping trip planned to replace some of the stuff we lost.

The kids are getting along well considering the very close quarters we are living in right now.  Susu and Jacob are definitely going to be the two most likely to bicker but right now things are good.  Susu really loves being a big sister.  She has always been pretty annoyed to be the little sister so it is fun to see her take on this responsibility with pride.  She likes to help both her brothers when ever she can.  So far Jacob does not seem to mind being the baby of the family.  He has a mind of his own but is very affectionate with all his siblings giving them hugs frequently.  Isaiah has not really lost his place as the oldest because Levi may be 13 years old chronologically but emotionally he acts just a bit younger than Isaiah.  Too be honest, there is a very good chance that Levi is not 13 since he was not a baby when he came to the orphanage and they had to guess at his age. It is very typical for kids who have lived in orphanages to be emotionally less mature than other children.  Levi is very easy going in his nature with other children and both Susu and Isaiah really like him.  I am sure we will have more issues down the road with siblings getting used to each other and their places in the family but is nice to have things relatively calm for now.  We can see God's hand in choosing our children even though it did not initially seem like the best idea to add a 4 year old and 13 year old to our family at the same time.

I can now see comments on our blog and I will be saving the whole blog for our boys, along with any comments, so they have a written record of their adoption.  I will post some more pictures later today.