adopting Judd

Monday we formally adopted Wang Long Shan in China. We met in a meeting room at our hotel along with eight others (notaries, orphanage workers, translator, basically slew of people rattling on in Mandarin as Anne and I nodded). The whole process was much like buying a house--we signed our names 300 times and had no idea what we were signing. So they asked us questions about our family, our plans for the care of him, and one question that has stuck with Anne: “Are you satisfied with him?” I think I know what they meant, but it does sound like we are buying a new TV which we may want to return. Yes. We are satisfied. So we answered our questions, signed our names, paid them $40,000 Yuan (a stack of red bills about 2.5 inches tall), and they gave us a cool Mongolian hat.

We’ve had Judd for over a day now. Here is what we’ve learned about him so far:

Juddson can eat. And eat. Lots of people say kids from an orphanage devour food, and little man is no different. Tonight for supper he ate a bowl of fried rice, half a big bowl of noodles, a couple pieces of bread, an entire banana, and I’ve lost track of what else. He only weighs 21 pounds, so he can use the weight.

He has a mustache. True story. Lil’ Genghis has a cookie duster. It’s that thin type, like a 14 year old boy. Early bloomer. He’s just manly that way.

Juddidiah is smart. Every person from the orphanage told us that he was “very smart,” but frankly I thought it was polite small talk. It’s not. He has picked up signs quickly and already uses several. He reads people well. He knows that he can do this head-shake dance to make me laugh and ways to make total strangers smile at hime. He picks up things very quickly.

He is determined. I don’t think Micro-Kahn has ever been told no. He gets angry if we tell him he can’t play with a knife, put him in his bed, or tell him to wait while we make his bottle. He gets mad. Angry. Yells. Maybe he is related to the Mongols who came over the Great Wall.

However, in some ways we know less about Judd today than we thought we did a week ago. In our meeting, most of the answers they gave us were nothing like what we had been told before. They talked like he wasn’t part of New Day, but we have monthly medical info on him from New Day, so he had to be. We didn’t get the meet the nanny to ask her questions about his schedule and likes/dislikes. Anne asked numerous medical questions and their answers were very vague. We asked about his clothes he was abandoned in, but they gave them to the orphanage. We sent a care package with several things including a camera, but they never took a picture of him with and the rest is lost. Plus we were told we couldn’t visit the orphanage to learn about where he lived.

So really, we know little about this kid. While it’s somewhat frustrating, I don’t know why it should be surprising. This is why orphans need homes. If the orphanage cared for them well, then adoption isn’t really needed, is it?

-Chris