Meet Zeke

Zeke is a charming, polite and bright young man who invited us into his room and pulled out chairs for each of us, asking us to "please sit down." He is a wonderful host, a happy boy and desperately wants to be adopted. There is an adorable picture of Zeke and Skippy together that I wish I could post on here, but it's a close up! They're like two peas in a pod, or perhaps more like Larry and Mo:-)

Zeke's group went outside to play one day and I peeked out the window to take some pictures without being seen. That didn't last long--they spotted me and soon were doing superhero poses to get my attention. Zeke is a bit of a ham--always the first to pose in front of a camera, or recite a poem or sing a song to show off. He's smart! This is a boy with a lot of potential in life! Surely there is a family that would be thrilled to find Zeke!

Zeke is not only an older boy, which is essentially a special need in itself, but he does have a minor special need. This type of child is the hardest to place. Can you help Zeke's dream to come true?

Caught in the Act

Jake is all boy! He is active, funny, determined, focused and goofy all rolled up into one. He is outgoing and once he saw us walking down the hallway, proceeded to welcome us with some superhero moves. He is very active and social and follows instructions well. He is able to multitask and I think this boy might be destined to be a lawyer! He is a determined negotiator and doesn't give up easily:-) He doesn't have much opportunity to follow his dreams where he is now, but with a family, there is no doubt he can go far! To consider Jake, contact me: marcisk@asiadopt.org

Susan and I snuck up on Jake, Donna and Fei during their evaluation and I caught Fei demonstrating the wheelbarrow with Donna:-)

Hello, I'm Charlie

Charlie was another boy who any of us would have been happy to take home. He's a happy little guy who has the most determination of any of the kids we met. What a sweetheart! If you could see the close up pictures I took of him, you would fall head over heals in love with him, too! He is truly a gentle boy with a very loving personality. He's not outgoing, but friendly nonetheless and always smiling. He wants to please, so he always tries his hardest. Doesn't that sound like a perfect son and addition to your family? Charlie does have some challenges, but with some treatment, this boy could thrive. He is fully functional in his daily living tasks and very willing to learn. See our password protected website for close ups of his sweet face. If you would like to take a look at his file, email me: marcisk@asiadopt.org

Meet Jeremy

Jeremy is another boy that stole all of our hearts! He was so sweet and caring with the other children in his room. You could tell he was a teacher's helper kind of boy. He would patiently show his friends how to do something they were having difficulty with, or he would open their snacks for them if they couldn't. He was outgoing and responsive and he really doesn't have much of a special need. This boy is such a sweetheart! If you're a mama wanting a girl because they're cute and cuddly, this is a boy who is cuddly! He'll shower you with kisses and hugs once he gets comfortable with you. I have no doubt this boy would thrive in a family with younger or older siblings. He's so gentle and kind and thoughtful. If you have any interest in Jeremy, please contact me--his file is currently available as I write this: marcisk@asiadopt.org

Meet Skippy

Please meet Skippy:

This is a typical picture of Skippy, as he is a happy-go-lucky boy who laughs a lot! In this picture, he was looking at picture of himself on the digital camera and thought that was really funny:-) He is such a sweet boy who sincerely enjoys life to its fullest. He wants a family of his own and would make a very sweet, loving son and bring a lot of fun and laughter into a family. Skippy stole all of our hearts and every time we saw him he would give us a big smile and wave hi! In fact, he was one of the very first children who came out to see us when we arrived. His special need is pretty mild and Skippy is fully functional in his daily life. I have no doubts that he would thrive in a family. Could you be the family for Skippy? Please contact me if you would like to consider him: marcisk@asiadopt.org

Plugs for the Older Kids

I want to put in a plug for the older kids. We are advocating for 7 kids about to age out of eligibility for adoption and they all have grants attached to them. If you're interested, please contact me right away--they don't have any time to waste!

Here's a few pictures from Fei's visit to the CCAA (now CCCWA).

We also have some kids from Baotou. The password has changed on our waiting child list, so if you would like the new one, please email me the form again with your information filled in marcisk@asiadopt.org :

Name:

Mailing Address:

City/State/Zip:

Phone Number:

E-Mail Address:

Your ages:

Are you married? If so, what was the date of your marriage?

Have you or your spouse been divorced? If so, how many times?

Annual Income:

Do your net assets reach $80,000 or more?
If you are single, do your net assets reach $100,000?

What are you and your spouse’s highest levels of education?

Do you or your spouse have a criminal record?

What are you and your spouse’s Body Mass Index: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/adult_BMI/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.htm

Do you or your spouse have any health conditions, or a history of any health conditions? Do either of you take medication for anything? Please explain:

Number of children in your home:
How long have you had them?

Do you have a home study completed or in process?

Is your dossier in another country?
If it’s in China, with what agency?
Do they have access to the shared list?

Why do you want to view ASIA’s waiting children?

How did you hear about ASIA?

State that you “agree” or “disagree” to the following statement:

“I recognize that ASIA regards the information about children in its Waiting Child program to be private and confidential. If I am granted access to this information, I agree that I will only use this information personally in my own quest to adopt a child with special needs. I will not give the password and access information to anyone. I will not share or disseminate (including cut and paste) any of the information contained on the site.”

We have 8 files from Baotou!

Here's the little guy with the heart condition pulling my hair:-)




Here's the babies' room where they get lots of attention:

We expected not to get files for at least a few months for the kids from Baotou, but there were a few kids who already have files done, so we now have them on our private list. After our families in process take a look at them, I will be introducing them to you:-) Meanwhile, here's a few more pictures from the trip to keep your attention.

Beijing Foster Homes

Our last day in China we spent in Beijing visiting foster homes run by Chinacare that had children from Baotou in them. We visited the Chinacare facility as well, which had several premies from Baotou and a few toddlers from Boutou. They were very protective of the children and we're not allowed to post their pictures, so you'll have to wait on those. But here are a few pics from our time there. We could have spent all day with those sweet little babies! Baotou sends their children that are medically fragile or need surgeries to Beijing to be cared for until they're ready to return to the orphanage. All of the babies from Baotou receive excellent care! It was very heartwarming.

Last Day at Baotou Pictures

Donna prepares to spot a boy to test his strength

Yay! What a strong boy!!

Donna makes a new friend

Dr. Meg plays a Dora matching card game with the kids

Lunch time in the baby room

Resting/playing after lunch

Classwork in the Half the Sky school

Last Day in Baotou

Today was our last VERY long day in Baotou. We managed to see all of the children and do some training with the nannies. Donna visited the rehab facility at the orphanage and showed the nannies how to use some of the equipment. I was able to give the nannies some tips for baby care as well and they were all very eager and interested in learning.

I was able to witness another transformation today that amazed me. There is a young deaf girl who is placed in a room with some children who are nonverbal. She has some very challenging behaviors there. But today I saw her in school and she was a completely different child! She was able to concentrate for a half hour on an activity with the rest of the kids and communicate her needs through gestures. She was even very bonded to her Teacher there. It was like night and day! That Half the Sky school makes such a difference for those kids! What a wonderful program!

Joy will post more pictures for me later--some of Donna doing her OT magic, some of the babies having lunch and one of the Half The Sky school in action.

More Pictures from Baotou

Fei checks out the Half the Sky-sponsored classroom

A close-up view of the classroom

A ball pit near the classroom

Fei shows what a big kid she really is

Dr. Meg loving on the kids

Oh boy! Legos!!

Time to show off our creations :)

Comparing notes on the kids at the end of the day

Transformations

It's hard to get to know a child in such a short amount of time, much less 100's of children! Today we got to hear about transformations, and we saw some in person, which was pretty incredible. There's a little girl who was so incredibly nervous that she was shaking and wouldn't answer our questions, even after some distractions and games. Today we visited the Half The Sky sponsored school at the orphanage and learned that although she is incredibly shy, she is doing quite well. It was such a relief to find out how much progress she has made. When we went into her room after the school tour, she came out of her shell again, giggling and sharing Legos with us. I was very pleased to see what a great school they have there at the orphanage, and it's clear they're really making a difference in the children's lives who participate. The teachers were so caring and willing to share about each child when we asked. They keep a binder on each child with information and pictures from each week that they are there participating to tell how they are progressing. Pretty amazing!

We also met another older boy today who really wants to be adopted. I'm not sure he totally understands adoption, but he definitely wants out of there and wants to go to the States. He is interested in learning English and wants a Mama and a Baba. He's a very sweet boy who seems pretty intelligent. Unfortunately they have him labeled incorrectly and he's not getting the attention he so deserves. He kept asking if he would get to leave with us and when he could go to the states. Sigh...if only it were that easy!

Later the Oregon staff will post some great pictures of the kids playing with Legos, another of Dr. Hayes with a few of the kids and some of the Half They Sky school. Stay tuned for our last day in Baotou tomorrow! Then we're on to visit some of the kids who are in Beijing for medical care.....

New Pictures from Baotou

A peek into the infant/toddler playroom at Baotou

(that's Fei in the checked shirt holding one of the

resident cuties)

Little ones showing off their crayon skills

Donna (the therapist) playing/evaluating one of the kids

Time to play outside on the patio

Watch us! We want to show you our latest game!!

Fei, Donna and Dr. Meg take in the local sights

Updates from Baotou

This has been such a busy trip, I've hardly had time to write! We leave around 7:30am and get home around 8:30pm and then deal with urgent issues before moving onto trying to provides some pictures and updates. But I'm sure you don't want to hear about that!

Today Fei and I got to spend time oogling with the babies under a year--I had forgotten how tiny they are at that age! What fun! This orphanage does seem to have a lot of young children! The nannies and the orphanage staff and Directors all seem very interested in learning from our team, which is great! They are so caring and loving towards the children. One baby boy stole our hearts in there. he has a very serious heart condition and is blue most of the time. We need to see if we can find any doctors who would agree to do surgery on him. This boy has fight in him! Even thought I'm sure he doesn't feel well most of the time, and clearly has no energy, he still found the spunk to grab my hair and pull hard:-) He has bright eyes and you can just tell he is meant for great things if he can just get some help.

We also had the experience of meeting 4 newborns today! The little sweeties didn't even open their eyes, they were just so new to the world!

There are a couple of older boys that have stolen all of our hearts! They want to be adopted and the orphanage wants us to help them find families, which I think we are all motivated to do. I have never met such happy go lucky, polite and goofy little guys:-) They bring a smile to our faces each time we see them. The kids have all gotten used to us walking through the orphanage, asking questions, taking pictures and notes.

I have technical difficulty posting pictures from here, so I'm shrinking and sending them to the Oregon staff to help do that. I've taken a LOT of pictures, which I'll post more of when I get back, but for now you'll have to be satisfied with what I can send through email:-) Many of the pictures will have to go on our password protected website as well. Stay tuned!

Baotou Beauties

Today was a busy day meeting kids so I'm going to make this post short (besides...the attached pictures really speak for themselves!) I'll try to write more soon.