progress of sorts

Last year, when we were in the midst of the dossier process, I asked Ryan if he wanted a little brother or a little sister.  He very enthusiastically replied, "a dog!"  Instead of believing he really wanted a dog instead of a sibling (especially since he and Abby sometimes bicker like siblings), I assumed he didn't understand the question.

Now for the past few months, we regularly look at pictures of Anna (did I mention we are naming our daughter Anna Jing?) and we include her in our prayers.  If Ryan sees a picture of Anna, he says, "hey, that's Anna!" with enthusiasm in his voice.  Clearly, he knows who she is.  And once in a while, I venture to say, "Anna is your little sister".  His replies range from smiling to puzzled looks to "yeah".  All of which I interpret as non-negative responses.

Today, our conversation went like this:

me:  do you know you're going to have a little sister soon?

ryan:  yes!

me:  what's your sister's name?

ryan:  candy!

Tell me, how do you interpret that?  I still take it as a non-negative response, although it's clear he is not understanding the entire picture.  But I do take that as progress.  At least he didn't call her a dog.
 
We are still working on government forms.  DS-230, I-800 Provisional Approvals, Visa applications - it's all quite mind boggling at times.  We're hoping for an estimated August departure, shortly after my third summer tradeshow in July and August.  And it looks hopeful that my cousin Joy might be joining us (fingers crossed!) on the second week in China. 

Just like every step in this adoption, we have had to adjust to obstacles in our travel plans.  My mom was going to either watch Ryan or join us in China (or even possibly both!) but that plan is now out the window.  We're still not sure who will be watching Ryan although we have a couple of possibilities.  But we will likely have Tony fly home we meet Anna and after the initial paperwork is completed and just before the fun touring begins (sad).

And because traveling from China  alone with an 18 month old who may or may not like me is absolutely terrifying to me, my cousin Joy might switch places with Tony so he can come home and be with Ryan.

It's still a work in progress...fingers are crossed, and prayers are still be prayed.

But in the meantime, these are two new pictures that our agency sent us last week.  Isn't she just darling?  You can see she will need some "work" on her nose.  Tony is already smitten and he tells everyone that she "has his nose."