One year ago yesterday....

Charlie, Annie, Bethany and I were in Hefei, China. We had flown into Shanghai a few days earlier, to acclimate to the time change and do a little sight-seeing. Then we took the high speed train and after an amazing trip of just a few hours, we were in Hefei.

The next morning we were supposed to meet our guide to do some paperwork. Instead, she called early and said we were going to be going to the Civil Affairs office right away to meet our new son, Lu Chun Ke.

In 2006, when we started on our second adoption, our agency had a list of children to be adopted. One little boy caught my eye. He was 3 years old and had a special need that seemed scary, a congenital heart problem. Because we were already in the midst of an adoption, I just kept an eye on him and was very glad to see him disappear off the list, as that meant he'd been matched to a family.

A few weeks after we came home with Bethany in June 2007, this little boy re-appeared on the list. It turned out that the family he was matched with could not proceed. There were new pictures of him and he was such a handsome little guy. I kept thinking about him and mentioned him to Charlie, who was (rightly so) very reluctant to think about another adoption after doing 2 of them in 2 years. Still, at our agency's summer picnic, I said something to the agency director and the next thing I knew, I was getting pictures and medical reports emailed to me.

A few weeks later, we sent a Letter of Intent to Adopt to China and very soon received Pre-Approval to adopt the little boy. We hadn't said anything to our friends and family and they (rightly so) also had concerns. But they were soon won over by pictures and information about Ke and by our joy at adding a son to the family.

Agency rules required us to wait a year before sending in our dossier of paperwork. During the wait we were blessed to receive many pictures of Jack from families visiting his orphanage. We even had a had a little video of him looking at a photo album we'd sent and saying "Mama, Baba."

By September 2008, we had our final approval and began to make plans to return to China. Amazingly, the day we were to meet Jack was exactly 3 years and 1 day after we'd met Annie.

When we walked into the Civil Affairs office that day, a shy little boy was sitting at a long table working on a puzzle. He looked up at us but could not meet our eyes, though he clearly recognized all of us. This province had a very fast process and just a few minutes later we were in the van going back to the hotel. Jack was almost instantly comfortable with his new sisters. He really started warming up to us later that day when we went to a little toy shop and bought him a set of Ultraman figures, his absolute favorite thing in the world. By the next morning, several Ultraman limbs were detached and spread around the room, but he loved them anyway. That night, he cuddled up with Annie and Bethany under a fluffy down comforter and fell deeply asleep.

By the time we came home, it seemed like he'd always been in the family. He started kindergarten a few weeks later and his caring teacher and classmates helped him learn English and how to curb some of his energy to behave well in the classroom. This year he is in kindergarten again because he had only a few months of it last year and he has a late birthday. He is doing well and enjoys math especially.

Things that Jack loves: Spiderman. Bananas. Watermelon. Swimming. Spiderman. Riding his bikes. Spiderman. Building things. Batman. Ultraman videos. Spiderman pajamas. Food in general. His sisters (most of the time). And Spiderman. He's very, very energetic and sometimes gets a little out of control and has to have the dreaded time out. We tease him because he screams like a girl. He has sometimes let his sisters dress him up (one memorable time in a pink tutu) but has lately been resisting all things even slightly girly. He was amazed by the concepts of birthdays, Christmas and Halloween, but embraced them immediately and whole-heartedly. He is more reserved than the girls but still loves to be hugged. He leaves a trail of things behind him at all times and it takes many, many reminders to get him to pick things up. He loves it when his Daddy reads him a story before he goes to sleep.

He's gained 10 pounds since he came home and has grown about 5 inches. He's famous at his school for being able to eat more school lunch than the 7th grade boys. He's patiently (kind of)endured testing to check on his heart condition and to try to figure out what's going on with his knees. He doesn't let any of that get him down. He never complains when walking is harder for him. His bravery will be such a help when he has to undergo surgery and other treatment down the road.

He is the final piece of our family and makes us complete.

How lucky am I that I get to post two messages like this in the very same week?