Silas at Shepherd's Field

It feels like we’ve lived a life time in the last 12 hours. Pretty sure that has to do with the lack of sleep. Silas went to bed around 9 and slept through the night (relatively) until 5 am. I was already up and Skyping with Dan and the kids when he woke up. We have spent more time in bed than out of it, but not nearly enough of that time asleep. Silas and my mom are napping now. Pray for my mom, if you think of it. She is having some stomach issues and seems to be hit pretty hard with jet lag.

We were able to go visit the “house” at Shepherd’s Field , where Silas lived. It is a big compound with gates around it with buildings that house different kids, offices, therapy center, dining hall and guest house (I am fully aware that something is grammatically incorrect with that sentence, I lack the wherewithal to discover what – if it makes it to the blog without Dan correcting it, it will be a miracle).

note from Dan: now why did she have to go there : )

Anyway… we walked into the house and all the ayis (nannies) start clambering and yelling for him. He was so cute and pulled at his shirt to show them that he had new clothes on. The ayis continued to compete for his attention and try to get him to come to them for quite a while. We saw the crib that he slept in. Note to Sophie (she’s a faithful reader, ya know): One of the ayi’s pulled out the blue bear that you sent to Silas so he can bring it back home to you! I will sleep with it every night : ) . I mentioned to the ayis that he hadn’t eaten lunch. They were happy to feed him some congee. I got to see his personality a little more over there, where he is more comfortable. He is very personable and perhaps a bit demanding – don’t get me wrong, that is celebrated by me. He will need that where he’s going : ). All the kids in the house were trying to hold him and play with him. It was reassuring to know that he won’t be overwhelmed by any of the goings on at our house. We are leaving here at 5:30pm Sunday night (5:30 am back home on Saturday) to drive the hour back to the airport and head to Hohhot, where bright and early tomorrow morning we will get the wheels rolling to bring this baby home. I’d do a countdown, but I am WAY too confused about what day it is there vs here and how many days till I come home. You’d be amazed at the brain power I use up trying to figure that out.