The Horse and Jiangxi

Well, we met the Horse for the first time at about 4:40 p.m. on Sunday, December 14, 2008. Mrs. Wu, the assistant Director of the orphanage brought him to Nanchang on the train and to our hotel. James, our wonderful guide, called us when they got to his room, and they came right over to our suite. He was so excited which really made me happy. He had all his stuff with him and was a little hyper but smiling from ear to ear. Mrs. Wu was really nice and told us all about him. We videotaped the time and this meeting was very nice with hardly no tears. He weeped a little when Mrs Wu was going to leave, which was normal. She brought us a gift and that was really nice as well.
The rest of the evening was nice and pretty calm. He really liked the pajamas that we brought him and went to be really good and slept through the night. I didn't -- I was still worried and kept hearing things and was worried that he would be scared or try to leave the room. He didn't and last night - our second - I slept way better.
The Rooster and the Horse are getting along really well. They play together constantly and seem to really be hitting it off. I am so glad that we brought her as I believe that it has made the transition alot easier for him. He calls her Mei Mei most of the time and she seems to really like it.
One funny thing is that the Rooster keeps trying to imitate his Chinese! He is mimicking us saying things in English some and is already starting to understand some things -- like the word NO. He has had a few "meltdowns" that are very much like Carlie's used to be - crying when he doesn't get his way or what he wants, and then
"The Statue"
I find it hard to believe that I now have 2 children that turn into statues when mad!! I need to research to see if this is normal child behaviour or if it is more common among orphanage kids.
Mostly all is going really well - better than I expected.
We went swimming this afternoon after nap and I don't think that he had ever been in the pool. He had a good time and so did the Rooster. Afterwards, the two of them were in the warm shower in our room for a really long time - and I got told to "go away" by both of them as I was clearly interfering with their fun.
Walmart was visited yesterday and is a crazy place here. We got another suitcase and a couple of pairs of jeans for the HOrse as the clothes that I brought are mostly a little too big. Today James took me and my Mom to the stores where the locals shop for clothes and we bought a couple of pants. The shirts fit him OK and so do the socks and underwear.
Tomorrow we go to the playground/park and today we went to the Zoo which was fun. More swimming will be in order tomorrow and the next day as well. Nanchang is very different from Chongqing - more local and not as many people speak English and if they do it is broken and difficult for them. Crazy streets and I don't want to walk anywhere for fear of getting killed by a scooter or bus or something.