More about our little guy...

I've received many questions about William Michael asking about what he's like personality wise, etc. so I wanted to share some things about him. First of all, he doesn't live in an orphanage (like Grace did). Will lives in a small foster home run by an American family. The couple that runs it has 3 children of their own and they've lived in China for 4 years. The foster home is similar I think to Amanda's Starfish foster home in Xi'an, China in that they care for medically fragile children that were previously in the Fuzhou orphanage in Fujian province. This family originally started caring for 5 children and it's grown to about 20-22 children. They have volunteers(some are American) that stay for extended periods of time and help, and local people (employees)who are caregivers to the children. We are incredibly blessed that William Michael has been there for 2 years and I know for sure that he's been well taken care of and loved very, very much. You can tell that by the pictures of him that I've posted. Last weekend I was able to email and send some pictures of us to the directors of the foster home, could introduce ourselves and ask a few questions about our son. I received an amazing, gracious and kind response back to me from the director. It was like speaking to an old friend. This is some of what she told me about Will.

William Michael has the most wonderful personality with a great sense of humor. He loves to sing and dance, and he immediately starts moving when he hears music. His facial expressions are a hoot as well!! He's truly full of joy.

William loves to play outside, go for walks, go to the park, and swim. He really enjoys peek-a-books where he can open the flaps by himself. He loves Donald Duck, Elmo, and the movie "Cars." He gets really excited over anything that has "Cars" stuff on it. He always says "Lightening McQueen" when he sees him in the movie. Very cute!! His favorite toys are cars and trucks. He likes toys that he can ride outside as well. He likes to fix things with tools...thinks he is such a big boy.

William speaks mainly English and understands Chinese. We also found out that his palate was repaired in the Spring of 2007, so that means his lip and palate have been repaired. He will be followed by the cleft team here at Univ. of Wisconsin. I'll have him evaluated for speech and they'll also evaluate the palate repair that was done in China.

There was much more information about him and...it was all good. Today I sent by fed ex a small package that contained a photo album with some pics of us, our home and his room, a 'Cars' t-shirt, some stickers, 2 small toy cars, a book and a stuffed Elmo to William. He's supposed to receive it next week. We will be keeping in contact with these special people who have loved William first. We could never thank them enough for what they've done for him and the other children who live there. I have requested per our agency that we meet these amazing people and possibly can visit the foster home. I am quite aware that this situation is unusual (part of it being that he speaks English) and he is so fortunate to have been cared for and loved in this place.

BTW...don't know where that TA is but have heard from our agency that we may have a July 29 consulate date so that would mean we travel in mid July! :)