We have the best agency, CCAI! They are wonderful and especially the ladies in the waiting child department as they have been the ones that we have been dealing with the most. We have been waiting over 100 days for our LOA. A few weeks ago, our agency began e-mailing to check on our LOA. They were given the response that it is in process. Then, we still did not get it. They contacted their liason in China who personally checked on our paperwork. They called yesterday to give us the update. The first words out of our agency representative's mouth were, "We are not as far along as we want to be but...". Apparently, there have been staff changes in the special needs program at the China Center for Adoption Affairs. Our paperwork has been in the review room and spent extra time there due to training of new personnel. It has now been reviewed and is awaiting the signature of the head of the review room. Then it will move to the matching room. There is no information as to how long the rest of this process will take. We are hopeful that it will move quickly and that we will get it soon and still be able to travel in May. At least we know though, that it is somewhere in process and not lost in translation! I am just so impressed with the ladies working in the waiting child program. There have been lots of changes to the program recently and this has to be stressful for them but I sure couldn't tell when I was on the phone with them. I feel that we are in such good hands!
Later that same day, I received an update on Graeme. He is now 25.3 pounds and 33.5 inches tall. It stated that he had not been sick recently and that he started walking at 14 months. He can feed himself finger foods and is saying some simple words. He enjoys noisy or moving toys and moves to music. He likes to look at picture books and is affectionate. He can wave and clap. He shares a room with 12 children. We did not receive any new pictures with this update but are so thrilled with the information. I just can't wait to get him in our arms!
So we are back to waiting. I hope the wait goes by quickly. There is another family from our agency who should travel soon to get their daughter and they will try to get more information and pictures for us when they go and that will help. In the meantime, we will do all we can to stay busy. Mikie if you are reading this...a nice bottle of Cabo Wabo could halp ease the pain of the wait too!
Frannie the Model
5 weeks ago
