Thursday, June 14, 2007

“It is a special wonder and a joy to care for, love, and nurture a child. It is an even greater wonder and joy, to watch your children do so.”
~ a father who visited Shepherd's Field Village

Kaylee and Madison woke up today and couldn't wait to go and play with the babies that were out front in walkers. Immediately, Kaylee asked again if we could adopt one of the babies (“the one out front that was wearing pink yesterday and was so cute--or the one that was really happy that was chasing me and Madison at her house. She was really happy--she probably wouldn't cry.”) When we reminded her that we were adopting Jenna this time, she said, “But we need to get TWO babies. We could get another cradle. That's all you have to do.” (Oh, if it were only that simple!)

Later in the day, Kaylee completely and utterly fell in love with a little boy named Cameron, and Madison fell in love with Cadence, a little girl with a paralyzed right arm due to birth trauma. Cameron has Progeria (sp?)--the disease that makes you age rapidly. He will most like only live into his early twenties, when he will look like and have the body of a 90-year-old. He will be living at Shepherd's Field for the rest of his life. Kaylee, however, decided that we were going to adopt him, and it was a done deal. (Now for those of you that don't know, you cannot pre-select a child to adopt in China, and they reminded us of that when we took our initial tour yesterday. It's unfortunate for these children, because I know that every single one of them would be adopted in a heartbeat by the people who come here to visit. You can't help but fall in love with these kids.) Regardless, Kaylee thinks she's in charge of everything, and was convinced that she wanted to bring Cameron home. “I'm going to ask the owner if I can adopt him”--and went searching all over for Leah, the Guest Relations Director--until she found her. Oh…and she also informed me that we would need to get another pacifier and another bib, in addition to another cradle, so Cameron and Jenna could both have one. (I'm glad we've got everything covered now!) And, by the way, Madison decided that we needed to adopt THREE babies--Jenna, Cameron, and Cadence.

It was heartwarming to watch Kaylee and Madison hug the babies and say, “Wo ai ni” (I love you) to them. They had fun feeding them jellybeans and crackers, giving them toys, and playing with them. After a couple hours of playing with the babies, Kaylee went over and sat on the couch. When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “It's hard work taking care of all those babies!”

Later, Kaylee (who had earlier been frustrated because the nannies kept talking to Madison and her in Chinese, which they couldn't understand) said, “Mommy, I think they're all talking about me. I think they're saying what a good helper I am.” :)

All too soon, it was time for us to leave so we could get dinner and the babies could get fed and bathed. It was so cute to hear both of them saying “Zi Jian….Wo ai ni” (Goodbye…I love you…) All of the nannies waved back to them with big smiles--and they got SO excited when some of the babies waved, too.

As we were walking out, Kaylee said, “I love this place. I think I want to come here again. We could come and take care of the babies every morning. Could we come here every day, Mommy?” And tonight, before she fell asleep, she said, “I think I want to stay here forever.”

I knew exactly what she was feeling. And I knew that we would be returning here in the future. This place, and these kids, are a part of us now.