It only took 5 Children...

... but FINALLY one of them likes me!

I feel a little bad that this post is so long coming, but really, this is the first chance I've had to blog since Lukai came home.  See, when he came home, he very very quickly bonded to me.  Attached so quickly, so much more quickly than I ever imagined.  I was like "Hey, Adoption is FUN!  It's NOT just getting yelled at in Mandarin!"

Pastor Kim and my Fake Brother In Law Nat met us (and Lukai) at the airport ... again.  :-)
As I saw Nat walking in, I noticed he had a CARS balloon for Lukai.
Then, about 30 feet behind him, I saw Pastor Kim with the same CARS balloon.
I thought that was pretty funny.

A whole blog post is going to have to be dedicated to MissG there,
she FINALLY gets to be the Big Sister she always wanted to be!
She following Lukai around the house, takes care of him, is always asking
"Daddy, can I give him a kiss?"  And he has responded SO well to it!
He tackles her with hugs!

This is how he looks 95% of the time with me, smiling, laughing, having fun!

Gets along great with his siblings!

He has a BEAUTIFUL smile!

Another Blog (or two) is going to have to be how this adoption, has helped me
learn more about my other adopted child.  Ping so WANTS to be a good big sister,
but she just doesn't know how to be a good big sister!  She was almost in tears saying
"Why doesn't Lukai want to hold MY hand!"
My first reaction was "Because MissG spends time with him!  You didn't even
want to stay home from school to meet him!"  I did not say this.  And I'm so glad
I bit my tongue.  Because now I see, oooooh, she WANTS to be a good big sister.
But no one has equipped her to BE a good big sister!

Sleeping after another busy day with Dad... because he won't let Mom touch him yet.
So yes, he has been attached to my hip since Friday.  Non-stop.  I'm so freaking tired!
At least the night terrors seemed to have stopped.  The crying has stopped as well.
... well, for the most part... and for me.  

Unfortunately, at the same time, he started to reject his new Mom.  And, I mean, really reject her.

I've talked about rejection before.  So, I'm not going to dwell on that here.  Head back two years in the blog archives here, and you can read about our first adoption where Ping rejected me... and rejected me HARD.  It took months before she would hug me, spend time with me, or even let me touch her.

That was hard.  I don't think that it is really able to be understood unless it has happened to you.  I mean, in your head, you know WHY your child is rejecting you... but it still hurts more than you could imagine.

So, as my wife is having her heart broken, I'm stuck now on the other side of rejection... where I am loved.  And my day is full of hugs, and cuddles and kisses.  Me and Lukai play, and laugh and have a beautiful time.  He is a wonderful, lovely little boy, who is energetic and fun!  He has a beautiful smile and loves to laugh!  We play so much each day and have so much fun!

Is he kind of spoiled?  Maybe.  He cries quick if he doesn't get his way, and he cries hard if he gets in trouble.  But all things being equal, he might just be crying because he is on the verge of tears from all the change in the past 2 weeks...  Even in the 4 or 5 days he has been here, he is doing so much better.

A couple days ago, I went upstairs, and I told him I would be right back (我回来，一点点).  Now, I'm sure my Mandarin isn't perfect, but he should get the idea.  Well, he decided to just scream and cry like he was being beaten!  He actually cries so hard that he gets nose bleeds and can throw up.  Crazy.  Anyway, he was screaming, everyone was stressed, and I was able to eventually calm him down.  Now, if I leave, I can tell him the same thing and go upstairs ... he might stand at the base of the stairs, but he isn't screaming anymore.  So he IS trying to change and to be less scared/angry.  With Ping, it didn't feel like she was trying to change.  It was like "I'm just going to be mad at you until I think you've suffered enough".

Oh, and being able to speak to him in Mandarin has *really* helped.  I know that everyone says "in a couple of months he will be able to speak english" ... but that is a couple of months of pure [beeeeeep] for everyone involved!  The fist few weeks is the first impression, the first bonding moments, and the firsts for a lot of things.  Being able to tell him stuff like "I told you 'no hitting'.  Hitting is bad, you need to tell your sister 'I'm sorry'" ( 我告诉你不打。不打是不好。你告诉她 对不起。), and then have him go and apologize has been HUGE.  Being able to tell him that he is being to loud and needs to stop, what do you want to eat, are you tired, etc. etc. etc. has been great.

I know my wife is hurting.
I know my son is hurting.

But in between that, I have this knowledge that my son likes me.  And it may have taken 5 children, but finally, one of them likes me more than Mom!  And maybe that shouldn't make me happy... but it does.  I've been the runner up parent for the last 4 children.  And it feels nice to be wanted.  I feel I little guilty about this.  But my heart dose break for what my wife and son are going though.

And I know what my wife is feeling.  Because I've been there.  I've been rejected by our child before... but I don't think Lukai is going to be rejecting Mom for long.  I'm sure this time next week will be miles better.

Now, I'm going to go and watch my new son sleep... because he is a beautiful boy!  My heart is bursting with love for this little guy!  This adoption is still really new, but it already feels totally different... I've taken almost everything I thought I knew about how adoption goes, and tossed it out the window.  Because this is totally different.