Jack - May 2011 updates

As I indicated in a previous blog, we are heading back to China. Really sorry to everyone looking for pictures of Jack. We can't post them yet as we aren't logged-in yet with China. We have pre-approval, but we still have paperwork to process before posting pics.

We started looking at Great Wall's special focus children list in April after reading weekly updates from them about all the older children waiting for their forever families. Their special focus children of the week included Jack and about 8 other young boys from the Shenzhen SWI. We were particularly drawn to two boys on the list, but after much deliberation, we felt Jack would be a great fit for our family. The other boy was much closer in age to Victoria, and we felt that Jack being closer in age to Carter (3 months older) would work out better. It gives him a few years of grade school to get adjusted before heading off to the big, "bad" world of junior high. Of-course, if John and Carter had their way, we'd go get everyone on the list and bring them home. But, reality dictates that 4 kids will be more than enough to handle! :)

The orphanage has been great at responding to all the medical info, pics, and even a video that we requested. The doctor at CHOP asked to see a video to see if he has any mobility issues from his spinal surgery. He was dancing, running, and walking on his tip toes in the video!! Appears to have a very lively personality, and according to the orphanage paperwork, he works very hard at school!

Important Dates So Far:
3/31/11 - first contact with Great Wall that we were interested in finding out about the successive adoption option.
4/5/11 - specifically requested information from Great Wall about Jack
4/8/11 - Homestudy review completed
4/10/11 - medical review with CHOP completed
5/8/11 - LOI submitted
5/20/11 - Pre-Approval received from CCWA