Thursday AM, August 2, 2012.

We've had a great morning so far, and it's amazing how fast a routine can develop!  Luke slept more restfully last night, less tossing and turning, from about 5:00PM until 7:30 this morning.  He's becoming more comfortable each day.  I, on the other hand, was awake from about 3:00-5:00 AM... I had a terrible nightmare, that someone had taken Luke from my hotel room, put him back in his clothes from the orphanage, and left the clothes I had dressed him in on the bed.  He was gone, and in his place was a man telling me maybe I could try to call someone, but that he did not see how anything could help me at this point!  It's amazing, we absorb so much stress at different times in our life, and it eventually just presents itself!  This has truly been a stressful journey, but I feel we are all so blessed to have Luke in our lives!

We have the entire day off today, no appointments.  Lucia is processing Luke's paperwork, but we don't need to accompany her.  We went to breakfast this morning, and sat by the window.  I caught Luke occasionally looking outside at the waterfall and pond, but for the most part, he couldn't take his eye off of his plate, and mine!  Good boy, Luke!  This morning he drank his bottle, and at the restaurant he tried a lot of new foods.  He likes waffles a lot (and a little butter is such a treat for him, for all of us really!), he likes dumplings, rice noodles with a touch of soy sauce, hard boiled egg whites, and small pieces of teriyaki chicken.  His favorite was actually a steamed vegetable with a white bulb and extremely dark green, flat leaves... I thought maybe they were leeks?  I combined the vegetable with rice and I could not get them to Luke fast enough!  It was so funny, he started lunging forward, to his plate, to my plate!  He could not get enough of this vegetable!  GOOD BOY, LUKE!  I have the boy who loves his veggies!  We sat outside on the back patio to watch the waterfall and fish for a bit, but Luke's eyes were starting to become drippy and goopy again, so we went inside.  It is so hot and humid in Guangzhou, even in the morning.  I notice Luke was got his first mosquito bite while we were sitting out by the pond.

After breakfast, I like to put Luke on a blanket on the floor, in order to see what he does with his toys... A bit more each day. Initially, he just stared at them, he wouldn't even pick them up.  Today he squished his ball, and made noise with the noise making toys, and played with his lion (he had been afraid of the little lion not long ago!). Stacking cups still seem to be his favorite.  I showed him how to turn the cups upside-down, in order to make a tower.  Well, not yet ready for towers, but it won't be long.  Lack of exposure in a child is such an amazing thing to witness.  What the child needs is typically not much more than exposure to whatever was missing in the child's life in the first place (to put it simply)!  In Luke's case, he is on the fastest of all learning curves now!  We need to play, play, play!  He becomes stronger, more curious, and less apprehensive with each day.  Luke is extremely observant, and quite motivated to learn... I can tell already!  Luke has unlimited play and exploration in his future!  I gave him his second round of antibiotic, a fresh diaper, and put him down for his noon nap.  I was excited that he went down for his noon nap today at noon!

Tomorrow is a big day for both of us.  We visit Luke's orphanage, 3 hours away by car.  Lucia assured me that this car would be quite comfortable, and we both felt confident that Luke would not likely experience the same carsickness as Monday.  He is much more relaxed now, eating and drinking nicely, and 2/3 complete with his antibiotic.  Not every adoptive parent is invited to visit their child's orphanage, or some families are just too far from their child's orphanage.  We are blessed to have the opportunity to visit and take pictures.  The baby's birth mother placed him under the tree at the left side of the gate at the orphanage.  I've been told that this signifies how deeply she wanted the baby found, quickly and without harm... This was very brave on her part, as she potentially put herself at risk doing so.  I'm looking forward to the trip very much, and I will have a far richer childhood history to tell Luke about as a result of tomorrow's visit.  Luke fell asleep on my chest for the first time today.