more alike than different

Getting to know the kids has been eye opening in many ways. In preparation to adopt, we did various trainings and read books designed to open our eyes to possible behaviors or challenges kids might have. But what I have found thus far is that these kids are KIDS…more like all kids than different from them (recognizing that there is still room in the future for plenty of “challenges”).

Our visit with Han-han this last time was the first with just Sam, me and him--no translator or caregiver (who, incidentally, gave me a pack of Mentos to bribe him to obey, haha). We went to the park where he loved more and bigger bubbles. He spent at least 40 minutes going down the slide with a little toy cat, saying each time “I’m ready!” in Chinese. GOTOVIDEO He found my chapstick and loved it in typical 3 year old fashion, reapplying every fifteen minutes or so. He absolutely refused to let me take a picture when I was ready…it was his say all the way…he had too much to do and places to go…completely normal (I had forgotten about that).

One of the best of all was walking to get dinner. We were in the heart of Taipei, holding hands, when we walked by a largish pharmacy type store. He immediately stopped and went off in a string of Chinese, none of which I understood. I figured I had communicated pretty well that we were going to eat, but I was really curious what he was so decisive about, so Sam and I followed his lead. He climbed two flights of stairs and walked DIRECTLY to a toy concrete mixer and obviously said, “I want that.” No chinese needed to get that message loud and clear.

I knew there was potential for BIG breakdown, so I scooped him up and hurried out with him saying “boo yaow” over and over (no, no, no). We got out of the store in short order and thankfully he stayed relatively calm. Finally, at the end of the evening, when we got back to Han-han's apartment, Sam was hot and sweaty so he ran his hair under the faucet to cool off. Han-han promptly did the same thing, styling his hair just like Sam. He sure seemed like just your average (of course, average CHARMING ADORABLE) 3 year old. In the video, you can hear Han-han calling Sam gugga (older brother in Chinese). GOTOVIDEO

A separate but fun highlight to the day was that Bentleys (who we stayed with in Hong Kong) came to Taiwan, and we got to spend a few hours at the park with them. They were camping their way down the east coast of Taiwan and at the beginning of their journey. We haven’t had any friends come visit us here in Taiwan (not that they came to see us), but it was a fun outing nonetheless, to see familiar faces.