Yesterday was another smooth day. Wang Jian plays, laughs and giggles with us. He loves to jump on the bed and then quickly jump off the other side. When one considers the form of his feet, his agility astounds me. He adores Susan's daughter, yet he knows they are not our family. When we split up for the evening, he happily says goodbye to them and heads down the hallway to our door. The first day with him, I couldn't remember which room was mine. He quickly realized I was confused, so he tugged my hand a bit and made the sounds; "R" "E" "E" "Leo". Thankfully, my limited Chinese language understood him perfectly, and we both made it to room number "2116" exactly like he directed. LOL
Wang Jian is great about his self care skills including brushing his teeth and washing up before meals. Unfortunately, he has eight large cavities in his baby teeth. I don't believe this is due to lack of brushing, or a poor diet. Last year, I did not see the kids drinking and eating a bunch of junk. However, he may have been permitted to sleep with a bottle of milk. On the other hand, some kids have weak enamel and are just more prone to cavities than others. What we do know is that he has not been to a dentist and requires immediate dental care. My mom has set up an appointment with our dentist back home, so we will begin to address this dire need.
As a disability professional, I have seen many children with rare physical anomalies. As the mom of Bobby, I have had 26 years worth of public stares and rude comments/questions from others. However, Wang Jian's little feet, present a whole new set of public reaction that makes this "Momma Bear" feel protective. Two nights ago, we went to the indoor pool here at the hotel. The man working the pool spied Wang Jian's feet and promptly went to get his fellow worker to "have a look". It stirred up that flight or fight butterfly feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to say something like "Ni Shur Ban Dan"(you are a stupid fool). But,I restrain due to being a guest in this country, and not wanting any trouble.
Wang Jian sleeps, as I write this, next to his new Baba. He has kicked the covers off, exposing his little feet. I realize he will need some surgical correction, and years orthotics and partial prosthetics. If I allow my mind to wander, worry creeps in and occupies its ugly space, crowding my thoughts, and robing my peace. I begin to think of painful amputation, infections from external fixation devices to pull and stretch bone into proper placement.....and then I remember to embrace the sweetness of Wang Jian and the call from above to make him our very own. We are so blessed with our little guy. He is the perfect son for us and together we will journey down the road of the unknown. Leaving our unique footprints and all.
Wang Jian is great about his self care skills including brushing his teeth and washing up before meals. Unfortunately, he has eight large cavities in his baby teeth. I don't believe this is due to lack of brushing, or a poor diet. Last year, I did not see the kids drinking and eating a bunch of junk. However, he may have been permitted to sleep with a bottle of milk. On the other hand, some kids have weak enamel and are just more prone to cavities than others. What we do know is that he has not been to a dentist and requires immediate dental care. My mom has set up an appointment with our dentist back home, so we will begin to address this dire need.
As a disability professional, I have seen many children with rare physical anomalies. As the mom of Bobby, I have had 26 years worth of public stares and rude comments/questions from others. However, Wang Jian's little feet, present a whole new set of public reaction that makes this "Momma Bear" feel protective. Two nights ago, we went to the indoor pool here at the hotel. The man working the pool spied Wang Jian's feet and promptly went to get his fellow worker to "have a look". It stirred up that flight or fight butterfly feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to say something like "Ni Shur Ban Dan"(you are a stupid fool). But,I restrain due to being a guest in this country, and not wanting any trouble.
Wang Jian sleeps, as I write this, next to his new Baba. He has kicked the covers off, exposing his little feet. I realize he will need some surgical correction, and years orthotics and partial prosthetics. If I allow my mind to wander, worry creeps in and occupies its ugly space, crowding my thoughts, and robing my peace. I begin to think of painful amputation, infections from external fixation devices to pull and stretch bone into proper placement.....and then I remember to embrace the sweetness of Wang Jian and the call from above to make him our very own. We are so blessed with our little guy. He is the perfect son for us and together we will journey down the road of the unknown. Leaving our unique footprints and all.
Beautiful post!! It hurts to think of what our sweet BaoTou babies will have to go through medically, but what a blessing they are!! I would not trade a second of being Lily's Mama. Give Wang Jian a big hug from us!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the last line. I'm unreasonably thrilled to hear the Mama Bear come out in other women as we protect our Dear Ones. And good job on not blowing your language cover...That was a close one!
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out how to post on the blog so I am replying to Dorothy. I doubt Donna can read this in China anyway but wanted to let you know how excited I am for you all. What an amazing little boy Wang Jian is! I admire your restraint Donna because I know I would have blurted that out to those men.
DeleteWang Jian has a long road ahead but now he has your love and the love of his new family to help through all of it.
Hugs and Congratulations - Kristen
Donna, the Dental issues are usually due to lack of affordability of prenatal care by the birth mother and also because they put sugar in the milk in the orphanages sometimes. This is not at all uncommon in Chinese adoptees.
DeleteRemember Macy went to Shands for dental issues.
Not to worry. It will be manageable.
Oh Donna, what a beautiful post! You are an amazing mother!!!
ReplyDeleteSo happy that sweet Wang Jian gets to know love from a mom like you!!!
Praying for you all- Cindy Well from OK
Our little Hohhot girl has the same enamel issues and she got all her teeth (well most of them) after we adopted her. Likely prenatal issues. We are on 11 fillings and counting, and if we weren't right on top of it all the time she would have also had at least 2 root canals. We have had luck with zylitol products. If you are interested PM me when you get back and I'll share. Your boy is just a neat kid. Can't wait till you get him home.
ReplyDelete