Becoming family

It has been 2 and a half days since Daniel has been with us and although there are still some challenges, overall things are going well. He is becoming more comfortable with all of us and seems to be realizing that we are his family. He is still hesitant with attaching to Carlyn but is slowly showing signs of affection. 

Tuesday Daniel officially became a Jackson!  After meeting with more officials, signing more papers, and getting Daniel's passport photo we attempted to go out to a restaurant for lunch and dinner. Handling a 17 month old that's only been in our family for a few days, not to mention our 4 year old and two year old, was challenging but we all did pretty well.  Fortunately we have Carlyn's parents here with us to help out.

 
Daniel loves to play and is starting to laugh a lot more. It's so cute to watch him coo and babble in Mandarin (google translate has been a valuable app).  We weren't really sure how he'd do in the bathtub but he loved it.

On Wednesday we went to visit the orphanage Daniel lived in from the time he was a day old until he was six months old. He lived in an extension of the orphanage in a Foster village over the last  year (which we were not allowed to visit). We found out that Daniel's main caretaker in the Foster village was a man, which might be part of the reason he is bonding with Chad faster. 

We decided to take McKenna with us to the orphanage. Chad and I were both apprehensive about the visit, but it was a lot better than expected. The orphanage in Kunming is one of the nicest in China. It was very clean and the ratio of nannies to children was pretty good. We were able to thank some of the caregivers that took care of him. Although the orphanage was nice, the reality that Daniel spent the first few months of his life in an institution was still heartbreaking. 

The day ended on a wonderful note. Daniel continues to amaze us. He loves to play with his siblings and has begun to follow them around. It is so precious. McKenna and Caleb have completely embraced him and treat him as if he has always been apart of our family. It is so wonderful to see how their relationships are already forming.  

To everyone who has been praying for us "Thank You!"  We feel your prayers. Please continue to pray for the bonding process.  As with our other children, loving Daniel has allowed us to see and experience God's love even more. We are so thankful for what He continues to do in and through us and pray that others may see His love- not for our glory but for His.