I am about to scream. I just spent an hour writing a long update about everything, and then I touched something which highlighted the entire post, and deleted it, despite all the automatic saving that blogger does.
I don't have time to re-do this, so I guess I'll hit the high points. Nathan continues to do well in some ways. He actually seems to really LIKE us for the most part, except when we don't let him eat cookies before breakfast. Even then, he recovers quickly. He is so considerate and generous. Last night, Ann gave him some treats, which he shared with every one of us after dinner without being prompted. At meals, he likes to serve each of us some food before he puts some on his plate. At the playground (which we visit daily if not more often!) he helps the little kids on the equipment and is careful not to run over them.
In other ways, we have issues. Nathan seems to have no concept of staying close to his family out in public. We have to sort of 'prep' him before we go out, and it does not seem to help much. He is indiscriminately friendly to everyone. We don't know if this is because he sees all adults as equally useful caregivers, or just his personality. Probably is a bit of both. We also think he had a lot more physical freedom in his foster home simply because they lived out in the country. He could wander off and play and find his way home. He still thinks he can do that in the big city. Yikes.
We still think he is just overloaded by all the sensory stimulation here. Last night, at dinner, we were in a private room and he did so much better than when we are in a crowded restaurant.
Today is Wednesday...haven't had time to post much lately.
Last night was the Pearl River cruise. There are even more beautiful lights and boats along the river this year because of the Asian Games. The food is still mediocre, but that didn't stop Nathan from eating 4 full plates of food. He also took little sweets around the boat and offered them to our guides, Rebecca and Lily, and to others as well. This year, they had a new act on board- a juggling clown! We were really worried that Nathan might throw himself in the river but we actually stayed inside the boat until the last 5 minutes when we went out on the deck. He immediately started acting squirrelly and started talking to strangers, asking them for their cameras, touching them, etc. Back inside we went. Cruise over. Back to the hotel. All was well.
Bedtime is still a little tough. Nathan gets very active right before bedtime and fights getting in bed. He is sleeping on a twin blow-up mattress in our room that we brought with us (to save the extra $40 a night the White Swan would have charged for a cot! Can you IMAGINE?) He always wants one of us to lie down with him, which we do. Last night I decided to read aloud to him while we were lying there. I seem to have a sleep inducing voice, as we discovered when he fell asleep the other afternoon while I was reading Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child aloud to Marc- kinda funny! Anyway, I read the first 4 chapters of Genesis to him and he was OUT! Sorry Pastor Dave, we'll try to keep him awake in church.
Our group went to the zoo today and we decided to give it a go. It went OK! As soon as we arrived, Nathan had to go to the bathroom. As they were returning, I had to laugh at the picture of Marc walking calmly down this long sidewalk, with this little skipping, hopping, weaving, arm waving kid near him. Wish I had a video of it! Also,we had borrowed a wrist strap leash kind of thing from another mom here who is adopting an older boy as well. We have explained to Nathan OVER and OVER that he needs to stay close to mom and dad. Today, after he ignored us and wandered away, we put the wrist strap on him. He was MAD about this. He said some mean things to us (in Chinese) and then pouted a bit but cooperated. After 5 minutes of wearing the wrist strap, we removed it and he did OK. I think he felt a little humiliated by actually having to wear it. I hate to say it, but I guess that's progress. He got the message. We did have to pull the strap out a couple more times as a visual 'cue' that he needed to listen and stay close. Repetition, repetition...
Meeting Ann for dinner again tonight, so will post pics later. Sorry!
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