Meet Jack

On Friday, May 23 I received a call at work from our adoption agency about a referral for a potential match for us.  It was a normal Friday like any other.  I was at work just doing my thing, when CCAI popped up on my cell phone.  The lady from the agency went on to tell me all about a child's sex, name, birthday, height, weight, physical development, personality, medical special need, favorite activities, physical abilities, mental development, and so on.  I was in shock because I didn't think we would get any referrals until all our dossier paperwork had been turned in.  Brandy had told me that we could be matched at any time, but neither of us was prepared for this so soon.  As she went on all about the child, I began to fall in love.  After she finished telling me everything, she asked if I was interested and if I wanted her to send an email with all of the info and pictures!  Absolutely!

The email only made me fall in love even more.  As I read all of the documents, I thought, "This feels like the perfect child for us."  We were told that we could take all of the info and consult a pediatrician, but they needed an answer within a week or so.  Brandy and I have been on such a whirlwind of emotions over the last week, but excitement tops them all.  God has been so good to us throughout this whole process.  He has taken all of our fears and anxieties, and shown us a picture of His love in the form of this little child.

For legal purposes at this time, we can't disclose too much information, so no photos that we can share just yet.

Meet Jack

Edited to show what we are allowed to show

Jackson "Jack" James Paul was born September 25, 2010 (estimated), was abandoned on September 28, 2010, outside the Zhengzhou City University.  That same day, he was brought to the Zhengzhou City Children’s Welfare Institute.

After entering the institute, Jack has continuously lived inside the institute.  Below is his most recent development report.

Motor development and adaptability: Jack's thumbs and forefingers are nimble and his fingers can accomplish some meticulous tasks.  His left and right hands can play with toys simultaneously and he can take toys out of the toy box; After he’s finished playing, he will put the toys in the toy box.  His motor movement is normal and the child can sit, crawl, stand steadily and walk freely.  The child can also go up and down stairs.  The child can grab a pen and draw lines and he can imitate drawing circles and straight lines.  He can flip through a book on his own.

Language and social abilities: The child adapts to strange environments very quickly and if he’s interested in something, he will reach out his hands to touch it.  He understands what the nannies say and he listens to what they say.  If the nannies don’t want him doing something, he won’t do it.  The child can use simple words to answer a few questions and he can say 3-5 word sentences.  He can also count from 1-10.  When he hears his given Chinese name called, he will turn his head to look for the origin of the sound.  He can distinguish between strangers and acquaintances and when he sees someone he’s familiar with, he smiles.  He’s not afraid of strangers and he likes to communicate with them.

Personality characteristics: Jack is a lively and active child.  His personality is very extroverted and he really likes to smile.  If someone plays with him, he will smile.  If he’s curious about something, he will go pick it up and research it.  He really likes to play with toys and he’s not picky about the toys he plays with.  He responds quite quickly and when he sees the TV or hears music he will become very happy.  He likes to play in places where there are lots of people and when he sees other little children, he becomes very happy.

Jack is an extremely active and cute child and we all really like him.  We hope that he can quickly find a loving home with a mother and father that will give him a happy childhood as well as a beautiful future.  We are confident that he will bring bundles of joy and good fortune to your home.

By now you must be asking a few questions.  

How long till you can go get him? Unfortunately, it will be eight to nine months before we can bring baby Jack home. There is still a lot of paperwork and rigmarole that must be gone through before we can travel to China. In the meantime, we can request updates and send care packages to him.

We are sorry we can't share more information and pictures of Jack, but this is all we can say for now. We should have authority to do that very soon, though. Brandy and I got all of the paperwork done to officially lock baby Jack for us last night. CCAI is going to translate it and let us know when we can share pictures soon. Maybe you guys can even see the videos of him!