Oh, boy.

We’ve been getting glimpses of this the last two days, but today Michael confirmed our suspicions.

It turns out this child of ours is a charmer.

He knows how to turn on the cuteness and make these irresistibly endearing faces.



I imagine this trait--perhaps it's an art--helped ensure that he got a lot of attention in his orphanage--and hooray for that! No wonder he loves to be cuddled. But it wasn’t until today that we started seeing how he knows how to turn on the charm to get what he wants.

 

 

He has this way of pointing one finger in the air, raising his eyebrows, and smiling—while gazing right into your eyes. Even he—no, especially he—knows how cute that is. (And, no, I have not captured that with the camera yet.)

 

And we’re starting to realize that although he certainly has legitimate crying bouts, there are other times when he scrunches up his face just to see what might happen. And he's been getting terrific results, by the way.

Just why did he pick today to start showering us with these sweet little looks? Well, he got a three-hour nap this morning, and the extra rest seemed to be key to a great day. He played beautifully with John, walked a little around the room himself—he has been insisting on being held constantly—and he ate three great meals. I am no parenting expert, but I do know that good food and good sleep make Jack a happy boy. Good food and good sleep sounds pretty appealing to Michael’s parents, too, but that’s not on our agenda for the next 10 days, if not the next 10 years. Which is just fine.

After all, look at what we have to enjoy.

Michael and Baba really connected today over toys. Mama and Michael connected in a three-hour nap in her arms. I thought that might have been a mistake, but tonight Michael slipped out of my arms onto bed without any distress, so maybe it was the right decision. Who knows? We just go with the flow.

It was another big day around here. We went to apply for Michael’s Chinese passport, had the breakthrough I mentioned we were looking forward to in yesterday’s blog (whew!), and walked through a lovely park near the hotel to go shopping at a hobby store my toy-train-collecting husband found online.

As hobby stores go, it was fantastic. John was a little disappointed in the train selection. But he left the store quite happy and with gifts for some of the boys on our gift list who are bound to prefer a solar-powered something-or-other or a model-whatever kit over a traditional Chinese dress. Good thing we packed light on our way over.

Michael, who up until this morning had shown interest only in his stacking cups—even as business-hungry shopkeepers have thrust spinning, lit-up, musical Pleasant Goat toys into his hands—personally selected an airplane and a train. His Baba was so proud.

 

Fantastic as it was, the trip to the hobby store should not overshadow the walk through the park, which has a name that starts with L and which I ought to recall. Michael doesn't look happy in any of these photos, although he was quite content, especially once he had a vehicle in each hand.

I would like to share historic and other background on the park, but we just admired and kept walking. The signs were, not surprisingly, mainly in Chinese.

It was a long walk on a hot, humid day.

Still, it was a beautiful, interesting walk, and we were the only non-Chinese people we saw. Somehow on this trip I feel we are interacting more with Chinese people and experiencing a little more of China. (Another blog for another day. Today we're talking about Michael.)

I am enjoying photographing signs, and I appreciate the English translations. John has his hobbies, and I have mine--and I don't even need to go to a store!

Tomorrow we head back to Shamian Island for Michael's medical check and then some shopping time. When we're out and about, Michael is quiet and reserved. We suspect he's concerned about what might happen. He probably left his orphanage rarely, and never for anything enjoyable--and most recently to have his world turned upside-down--so it's understandable that he can be a little tense when we board a bus.

When we get back to the room, though, and he gets over his initial fussiness about the room itself, he'll probably start trying to wow us again. If we're lucky, and if there's a panda cookie calling to him, this is the face we'll see.