"So Sorry"

We went to the Guangzhou zoo today. Eli did not want to go. We were able to talk him into it with the help of our waitress at breakfast who spoke enough English to understand us. Once he was their he loved it. He wanted to take pictures of every animal. He has seen us taking hundreds of pictures daily. It was so cute to see him with his hat on backwards like Boyd and a camera up to his face like me:). Jack is tolerating that Eli is getting a privilege now and then that he doesn't, like carrying my camera! Eli has been good at taking care if things entrusted to him.
It is hot here, humid beyond what we are used to. I love seeing what people are wearing. The little girls walking about the zoo are dressed so cute. Frilly lightweight dresses with bows in their hair. Women dressed in pretty dresses and often high heels! They look so elegant where ever we go.
Eli accidentally bumped on to a little girl, "so sorry" he said! In English, to someone Chinese! It was so funny to me that he's already using English instead of Chinese even when he doesn't have to!
Not things are now always wonderful, but any challenging behavior has been quickly resolved with a firm "no", or a confident parental grip on his arm. He is responding to our boundaries amazingly well. He has not shed a tear. We asked our translator if he has inquired about his foster family and he has not. So we decided not to ask. Another older boy in our group has called his foster family once, which went fine. Eli has not been with the most recent family for too long. This was his 3rd foster family, so we are his 4th set of parents. Our CCAI rep, Jason has been so good with our older boys. He sat them down yesterday to give them a little reality talk about the next few weeks and more. At the end we asked Eli what his biggest concern was. "I have none" he says. We believe him. He is rolling with the flow of things very well so far. Having 4 families by the age of 12 probably has something to do with that. fortunately in his case his coping skills are serving him well.
He is a considerate kid. He is so kind to the younger babies and children. He's gentle and he plays with them at age appropriate levels. He has had younger foster siblings. He makes his bed every morning, let's hope that lasts! I have even had him make our bed to keep busy in the hotel room!
We brought an iPad and psp. It's was helpful the first few days and on the train ride, but we found it does to him the same thing it does to most kids! It's all he wanted to do. So we put it away for this week. We let him watch tv, and we got some movies in Chinese to watch once a day. He laughs and laughs at Home Alone.
The case of shingles I had is nearly healed. It was a mild case! Thanks for all the prayers! I'm so glad we were able to get the Meds I needed, even though I didn't know what one of them was! The first week was tough. The itching was insane, the burning along the cranial nerve kept me awake at night. If I touched it, it was stabbing pain. And I had a mild case, I have a new sympathy for anyone who gets shingles!
We have made it through our last official appointment. Later today we will pick up Eli's visa for entry to the United States. Tomorrow morning we will fly to Beijing, then Friday morning head for home! We have been waiting for the hard part, it hasn't appeared yet! Maybe we will get lucky and things will continue to go smoothly.
We are feeling a huge sense of relief overall, he is fitting in easily at this point. He has 3 more siblings to meet when we get home! He has been in school for only 2 formal years, but seems much more advanced than most 12 year olds. He is quite knowledgable in electronics. His language skills in Chinese are strong. He gets complimented in his Mandriva. Skills often. He can read any sign in Chinese and in pinyin. He can read Braille faster than Jack. We were told his math skills are very strong too. His biggest challenge this year will be developing english and social skills. We have him enrolled in a Montessori classroom that is multiage which will give him plenty of room to develop at his own pace.
Once home I will post some pictures for those not on Facebook! I have lots on Facebook if you want to "friend" me at Teresa Moore Colbry.