A New Normal

This morning Little Man woke up grieving. He has lost all that was familiar to him and is probably realizing that this little field trip, while fun, is not temporary. This is very normal, he just doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. It’s especially hard that as we work to establish our new normal, we are lacking any semblance of a routine, which is imperative to cocooning.

It can’t be avoided. Today was another long day of paperwork errands. We rode the bullet train to Xinyang, where Little Man was born, and has resided until just two days ago, to apply for his Chinese passport. All three kiddos are total champs and such great little travelers. By the way, bullet trains? The bomb. Come on, America, get with the program! The train was quick, clean, comfortable, and affordable.

Though today was long and boring, Little Man has continued to let what little remains of his guard down. He (and all of the other children here) are incredibly resilient, and you can almost see God working to heal their little hearts. We are delighting in his blossoming personality– he is inquisitive, mischievous, affectionate, and fearless. He is allllllll boy.

I wore him in the front pack most of the day, and boy is my back sore! I guess six years of mommy-muscle atrophy will do that.

Later, we introduced Brother to ice cream. He’s a fan.

We then went back to the hotel where all the kiddos in our group frolicked in the hallway to shake their sillies out before bedtime.

In other news, Little Sister FINALLY has her first loose tooth. She is giddy with anticipation and eager to wiggle it every waking moment.