Yesterday started off pretty rough for Jackson. After breakfast he cried nonstop for 2 hours. Finally I took him to the medical clinic here at the hotel just to have his ears checked. They said they looked ok and no need for antibiotics. At least we can rule that out! I think he's just grieving really, really hard.
He is doing lots of eye contact and yesterday he and I had a great play time while the girls napped. Lots of laughing from him. I fed him and he likes McD's cheeseburger (just the meat) and he liked the bread tore up and put in the milk that I was feeding him with a spoon. I would fill the spoon, he would put the bread in the spoon and then open as wide as his little mouth could. You can tell he's used to being spoon fed. He's very careful and holds still. He also doesn't like crumbs or to be dirty.
He still doesn't like me to touch him and certainly not hold him, but I do manage to get in lots of rubbing his head and face which he tolerates if Andrew is holding him which is most of the time. He's getting better with diapering, but it still takes 2 of us. I wonder if it's because he's not used to it (I'm certain he was trained to pee on command as most Chinese babies are and only had to wear diapers at night).
His cleft doesn't seem to be an issue for him too much. His laugh and some babbling are nasal of course. I haven't seen any food come out his nose and he drools very little. I still am amazed at how good his lip and nose look after the repair. His cleft is about as wide as my index finger and goes the length of his palate from front to back. I have no idea of the severity of that. All I know is that Jackson better get used to me pretty quick, because we'll be spending the day together just he and I when we fly to Galveston in 2 weeks for his cleft evaluation at the Shriners there!
Both girls are doing so well. It's been hard because they're not on a schedule. The rice is not doing well for Kaylee's constipation naturally, but we're coping ok! Much better than it could be. Kaylee has been sleeping in the crib with no issues and doing fine. Sometimes she likes to sleep in our bed and I was worried that could be a problem since Jackson is there.
Sydney has her little bed on the floor which she loves. I asked for a twin down comforter which she's on. Every morning she "makes" it up with her dolly, raggy, and lovie (she insisted on bringing that one why I don't know) put nicely on the pillow. Then if she's lucky the maid won't remake it all when she cleans the room!
We've found choosing to stay at the White Swan a good choice for us. They've redone the playroom last month and the carpet is very plush and clean. There's also a new flat screen TV and DVD player on the wall with a few Barbie DVD's! What the kids really love is a big bouncy ball in there. Also the legos and new toys! They love to look at the koi in the hotel pond and look at the waterfall. We've been in the pool once and it was a bit cold, but we'll be back again as long as it doesn't rain which is quite often here. Torrential rains just form often in the evenings with loud, loud thunder.
Jackson was officially made a Clark yesterday and today we're off to the police station (I don't remember what for exactly). I just go where I"m told and say what I'm told to say! So far, so good.
Tomorrow we're debating going to the Safari Park. It was the only place we really wanted to go while here as we've never done that. The only hesitation is it's 45 minutes away and we wouldn't be able to leave if we were ready. If we were the only family it wouldn't be an issue, but there is one other lady adopting a 6 yr old who joined us here in Guangzhou. What they can/would like to do is not as limited as what we can do with 3 little ones and 1 who only wants Daddy!
Jennifer
