More About Hudson

As I said yesterday, Hudson, whom we are still calling Zhe Zhe, was very sad and stoic for most of the day.  However, we did see glimpses of his sweet and cheerful personality shine through.

Playing with Mom before nap time on Monday.

Playing in the hallway with his close friend from the orphanage, Wei.  Wei and his new family are right across the hall from us which has been great for our little guys to see one another.

A really happy boy - for the moment at least.

I noticed a callous on Hudson's thumb and found out why during his nap - he sucks his thumb.  In this photo of him sleeping this morning, you can see his little thumb in his mouth.  The orphanage never mentioned this.  He doesn't do it when he is awake or to go to sleep, but today during his nap, I noticed he was sucking it again.  So sweet!

Not happy about putting his hand in the ink.  And when he cries, he has some tremendous alligator tears.

We just completed all of the paperwork for the China side of the adoption.  Here we are with the Baotou SWI Director.  She was very kind and willing to answer our many questions.  (Sarah - I will email you soon about Bella - Mrs. Xue said she is doing fine, and I gave her your package)

While David and I worked on the paperwork, Ethan, Hudson, and the other 2 little boys from Baotou played very well together.  Imagine - a room full of little boys and there was very little noise or chaos!  Here Hudson was gazing out the window looking at the many cars passing by.  He is now saying several Chinese words that we are learning to understand and one is the word for car.  He says it everytime he sees a car.  On our walk today he kept pointing at cars and saying the word and wimpering.  I thought he may have been hoping for a ride back to the orphanage as that is one of the few times he had probably ridden in a car. He also told me this morning during the paperwork that he had to potty.  Today he has also said in Chinese "dog" and "gugu" for Ethan.  It was so sweet.  The boys have not been very into one another like Shelby and Katie were w/ Lilly.  They play together a little bit but not a great deal, and there's no hugging, holding, or kissing going on between them.  Tonight as Ethan was about to leave the room, Hudson said "gu gu" - brother in Chinese. It was very sweet, and I made sure I pointed it out to Ethan.

Hudson had his first bath tonight - we did not even attempt that last night as it was traumatic enough taking his clothes off.  Tonight he survived what may very well have been his first true bath - as in get all the way in a tub w/ water - he was not happy one bit.  The next time will hopefully be better.  He also hates to have his teeth brushed and gags on the teensy bit of paste on the brush.  Needless to say, this must have been a first as well.

As for Hudson's health, we were told today that Hudson did have IVs several days ago for a "cold".  I specifically asked whether it was for pneumonia, but again the director said "just a cold".  He is eating and drinking much better as well as sleeping great.  Since he has had no fever, I am hopeful that he will soon be over the "cold".  That's all for today.  We had an amazing experience tonight - eating at the home of our guide, Aggie.  I can't wait to share pictures and tell you more, but I have to get in the bed as I was up from 2 AM to after 4 AM last night and the previous night as well.