April Photo Update

It's getting to the point when I see the agency's name pop up on my cell phone and get a bit of an adrenaline rush -- maybe this is the call. Even though it would be too early to hear the good news, that it's time to travel, I can't help but be optimistic. (FWIW, I'm putting my money on May 10th for the call. Kerry, from our agency, says that I'm crazy, but I'm sticking with it.)

And here are Lu-Yu's (AKA Jasper's) stats for April:

• 4 upper teeth, 4 lower teeth
• weight: 23.59 lb / 10.7 kg
• height: 30.71" / 78 cm
• head: 18.31" / 46.5 cm

Not So Sad

I'm looking forward to getting home tonight to see a video of Lu-Yu (or "Louie" as it sounds with a Taiwanese accent) that we got today. Sheri and the girls have watched it a few times.

I'm taking the liberty of copying an e-mail we received from Nicole, the woman who visited him (jealous we are) last week, and who took the picture above.

Hi Sheri. I wanted to send you the rest of the pics of Lu Yu. He is so cute. He looks very serious at you but then is very easy to make smile but I wasn't quick enough to catch it with the camera's flash delay. He is steady on his feet in the porta crib and makes eye contact very well. It was hard to see exactly what his size was with the big clothes on but he looks healthy and bigger than Shan-Fang who is only 21 lbs and wearing 9-12 months clothes. The caregivers love Lu Yu and carry him around. I think he is getting to be one of the older children there now. There may be just a couple around his age maybe there are 3 others. I just wanted you to also know that he is not as alone or sad as he looks in these photos and he is doing well. I can't wait for you to hold him and love him and him to be with his forever family. He will love his sisters. If you have any questions let me know. He is a doll. His hair is getting longer again and is a bit lighter than Landon's. He was engaging when the caregiver took him out to visit and was very interested in all the people and commotion. Again hope you get that news of travel soon. Talk to you soon.

Sad Boy

We were initially happy to get this photo from a woman who travelled to St. Lucy's to pick up her child. A photo taken taken today -- such immediacy!

But our happiness has slid into sadness. There's something about it -- in the background, trapped in his playpen, combined with our knowing that another child is heading home -- that makes it just plain depressing. Add to it that we got info today from our agency that he was very sick on March 17th, with a fever of 104, and had a fever seizure, and it's obvious that he needs to be home.

Happy Girls

I took the girls to L.A. on Sunday to Camp Darfur, put together by some friends of mine. It was a good opportunity for them to learn a bit more about the crisis in Sudan -- and also just roll around on the grass for a whole afternoon.

For me, the above photo sums up our day, completely. And in the context of this adoption (and all things, lately, do fall into this important context), I think about how blessed Lu-Yu will be with sisters like that.