Jachin

We are happy to announce the new arrival to the Forrest Family. We, as of Thursday, started fostering a little boy from the FuXin province whose Chinese name is Xiao Kang (which means small healthy). We call him Jachin, which means steadfast. He is between 2 to 2 1/2 years old but is extremely small and only weighs about 6 to 7 kilograms which is around Maddy's weight. He can crawl and pull up on things but cannot walk yet. He sleeps really well at night and is eating solid foods but they are baby food consistency rather than regular foods. When he arrived they told us he may not be able to hear but we have seen that this isn't true because he has become attached to one of Madeline's musical toys. Yesterday he looked through all the toys until he found the one making noise and then he proceeded to find out how it made noise. This toy is now like his comfort toy. He cannot talk or at least we have not heard him talk.

Since yesterday we have seen much growth. Today he has held his bottle perpendicular with his body. He used a sippy cup for the first time today and did fantastic. He has smiled and laughed with Nathan a few times. He has cried, which is a great improvement because most orphans don't cry because they have gotten used to no one caring. He also surprised us today by making raspberry noises with his mouth. Already he is growing, which is great for us. Today I went to the store and bought him new toys and a little push toy to help him walk. It dawned on me as I was coming home that this is probably the first time someone has bought something for him. So far it has been really great. Here are some pics: