Tuesday, August 7, 2012. Newspaper Article and Trip to Zoo!

On July 30, 2012, the day I received Luke at The Civil Affairs Office,  Lucia gave me a copy of a newspaper article from November 9, 2010 from the orphanage.  It was published in The YANGCHENG Evening News, announcing the discovery of a baby boy.  His earliest known newborn photograph is included in the newspaper publishing.  The article reads as follows:

"Dong BaoHui, Male, was found abandoned at the foot of a tree which is on the left side of YangDong Social Welfare Institute.  He was 6 days old when we found him."

The orphanage also printed his daily schedule for me, and it reads as follows:

"Dong BaoHui takes 4 meals each day, meal time is:  6:30, 11:00, 16:00, 20:00, sometimes he drinks a little Chinese herbal tea.  His main food is mixed milk formula and rice cereal.  He takes 300 ml each meal.  He likes sweet food.  He can eat a small bowl of congee.  He gets up at 6:00am, nap time is 12:00-14:00, goes to sleep at 21:00.  He can stand up and walk with someone holding his hand.  He can sit up and crawl by himself.  He can say, "A, Yi, Yo" and some baby words."

Today has been a fun-filled day!  Luke and I had breakfast downstairs, and he has such an appetite!  It's as if I can't even move fast enough at mealtime.  He just loves to try new foods, and seems to be doing quite well now with the change in diet.  I did recently add apple juice and raisins between meals, and all is well.  Luke took his first trip to the Zoo today, accompanied by Lucia and the family from Michigan.  On our way, Lucia gave me Luke's passport!  Hurray... We are almost done with the legalities and formalities!  What a celebration to receive the baby's passport!  Luke may have been a touch young for the Zoo, but it was nice to have him out in a crowd for the morning.  He did so well, and just observed all the busy families!  School is out for the summer in China, as well, and so the Zoo was full of families and children, as far as the eye could see.  It was great to see the Bengal Tigers, including the White Tigers, but of course, the Pandas steal the show in China.  There was a large block of ice located in the Panda House, large enough for the bears to completely lie on top of!  We had planned to do a little more shopping after the Zoo, but Lucia suggested we postpone the shops until tomorrow after our appointments at the U.S. Consulate.  It was terribly hot and humid at the Zoo, and Luke was noticeably uncomfortable from the heat. My appointment at the U.S. Consulate is tomorrow, August 8 at 8:30am. Luke's visa then arrives the following day.  It's almost time to fly home!