Adoption Little Updates

Here are a few updates for our adoption journey:

We finally received LID (Log In Date) after our dossier was sent to China on December 21. It took 23 days!! ACK, others I know took less than a week. That wait was a bit hard. But we got logged in on Eliza's birthday, January 14th. Our coordinator even emailed us late that evening, to tell us the news, as she knew how anxiously we were waiting to hear.

So now we wait for LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China to say we may adopt both Elliana and Isaiah. The average wait these days is about 2 months. But it very well could take a little less and lot longer. I am trying to be patient. Today our coordinator received some paperwork from us that we sent a week ago, for our next step following LOA (I800, back to US immigration). Anyway, she sent an email to let me know she got it, but she titled it "LOA paperwork received".. My heart skipped a beat for a second thinking "We got LOA already in 8 days!" but then I quickly read the email and realized it was just the paperwork we sent her for after LOA. oh well wishful thinking. I guess you know what will be on my mind for the next couple months.

We still had not gotten Isaiah's update request, which was the 2nd one we had asked for since being matched with him 3 months ago. I asked the coordinator if there could be some miscommunication with it? She said she would ask the In-China Representative about it. Lily got back her to and said she will call the orphanage directly and ask our questions. How cool is that?
So about 1 week later we got our questions answered. Still no pictures, but here is the long awaited update: (all in red, black is my comments)

1. Weight and Height Measurements,    82cm and 11kg (that calculates to 32 inches and 24 lbs, which is quite the contrast from the last measurement we had of him, which could be feasible, but not the little man we expected nor the photos we have display.  China is often incorrect in measurements though, so we will see. But I took back some smaller clothes that I had bought him.)
 
2. What does he like to eat and drink?    He likes to eat meat, soft bread or bun, he likes to drink juice and milk. 

3. What calms him when he is upset?    If you pick up him and hold him, he will be fine soon. 

4. Is he walking yet?     Yes, he can walk quite well. But he prefers to be held all the time. (We have been told by a lady that has seen him through Fuling Kids International that back in June he was quite the ham and active little boy. I think we are going to have fun chasing him and Asher around. Elliana is going to have to learn to catch up with her brothers!)
 
5. How is his health since his last surgery, specifically his heart and lungs?     Usually he is doing pretty well. When it gets very cold, he is easy to be sick. And it takes longer time for him to be cured.

6. What activities does he like to do during his day?      He likes to play toys and watch TV, of course, his favorite time is snack time. (Liking snack could explain why he has grown so much! We believe he is getting very good care with his specialty trained Nannies)
 
7. Does he still drink from a bottle?         Yes, although he eats table food, he still takes bottle. (yes, again I have said on here before, we want this and really believe this helps with bonding and attachment)
 
8. Is he potty trained.       Not 100% done. He knows when he needs to go to bathroom. So he goes to ask his nanny to help him.

As far as Elliana I found another adoptive mother who is adopting her daughter from Ellie's orphanage just this last week. She offered to take any small gifts for some of us waiting back in the states and she was going to see if she could take photos of the children and pray over them. I found out yesterday that she indeed get to deliver our gifts to Elliana and she has a photo of her nanny holding her with the photo book we sent as well. Ellie looks so sweet even in her nanny's arms. It makes the wait harder on one aspect but easier on another. So much wanting to be with her and love on and seeing that she is growing up without us is hard. However, at least we get to see her little face and that she is being taken care of, even if in a cold orphanage with no Mommy and Daddy.

God knows the day we will go to China. He knows our needs financially, emotionally and physically to take care of 2 more blessings. He knows the needs of all our children at home. I am realizing that Asher just might need some more time not sharing us so much, as he surely will when the 2 littles come home. I am enjoying those days with a little less busyness and chaos, and a little more sleep.