Nine and Seven

A busy week yet again. This time of year is always very busy because of school starting and we have two birthdays in the house. It’s hectic even if we weren’t leaving for China in three days.

Last week, Caleb had a birthday and he turned nine. How did that happen?! Wasn’t he just looking like this?

And now, he’s like this:

Okay, not really. But he has grown so much. Sometimes, I look at him, pouring over a book or working on a project, or even just standing somewhere, dressed like a college student with his flip-flops, slouchy jeans, and t-shirt, and it feels like he is growing so fast. Sometimes, too, he is so…nine years old. He loves Lego’s and Nerf and Star Wars but also animals and playing tag and digging in the dirt. It is such a fun age. As always with children, the days are sometimes long but the years are short. He is my oldest and we will always remember that crazy day when we met him in Lanzhou…when we thought we would meet him the next morning but they brought him to the hotel a few minutes later. Our lives have been a whirlwind ever since.

Asher is having a birthday soon, but we will be in China for it. Not that it’s that bad…in fact, we thought it was kind of cool. But then again, a 7 year old does not necessarily think it is quite so neat. By the time he has his birthday, we will most likely be feeling ready to come home from China, a little tired of Chinese food (as much as we really like it) and just feeling the effects of living in a hotel for a couple of weeks. So, we celebrated his birthday last night, two weeks early, so that he could have a chance to enjoy cake and ice cream and play with his gifts for a couple of days before leaving.

Asher is also all about Lego’s; he’s really good at building things, as well. Sometimes, I think he may end up becoming a mechanical engineer. Ever since he was a toddler, he could pick two or more items up and just fit them together to create something. That’s how his mind works. And since we don’t want to bring Lego’s on our trip (sorry…but no. We will most likely lose half of them somewhere along the way) we celebrated early so he could build with them for a while. He is such a dichotomy sometimes… he has sensory issues and is almost constantly on the move; he has a lot of trouble sitting still. But, he can also focus and work very hard at things that he enjoys, or he will set his mind to a project and see it to the finish. He is almost seven and still such a wonder to me sometimes. Last night, he was telling a joke at supper and laughing so hard and for a moment, I saw him as the 17-month-old little boy who was so confused and sad when we first met years ago. Those days, I wondered if he would ever smile. Today, he smiles a lot and he makes us smile, too.


These boys….they are so busy and crazy and difficult and joyful, all wrapped up together. And now there will be one more boy added to the mix! Only a few more days until we leave to meet our new son. It may be rough at first or it may be an easy transition, we don’t know. But I’m pretty sure that eventually, JQ will work himself into this crew and will fit right in, too, where he belongs.