He remembers...

We haven't heard his sweet little chinese (minnan) voice in almost 2 years...he doesn't talk much about China and when he does, it's hard to tell if what he has shared really happened...

We will celebrate his 2 year gotcha in 5 weeks...we thought for sure he would continue to talk to us in minnan for several months (and hopefully longer) once we were home...but nope...once we landed on US soil, He chose to us charades to communicate and no words until he knew the english words....

He came to us at barely 4 years old...excited about having a mama & baba...he came running to meet us...dragging his nanny.  I will NEVER forget the huge smile on his face as he looked up at us for the first time...he has never looked back...

The orphanage director confirmed that there was no possible way for him to know mandarin so our sweet boy came to us with no ability to communicate with his new family....we didn't have the luxury of 2 weeks in China with a guide that spoke his language...talk about full immersion :) but he truly did incredible!

TODAY...today we had the gift of spending time with a precious friend who lives in China. She has played a HUGE roll in helping both of our kiddos home. She was the in-China warrior that the Lord used to help get Cana home...she was relentless in fighting for her...she again fought for us when a situation arose during Solomon's adoption...she has become a very, very dear friend of ours...our sweet Judy. She is in CA visiting and came to church with us this morning (along with her 10yr. old son, 15yr. old niece, and another incredible friend of ours, Sabrina).

Judy squatted down and started talking to Solomon in minnan....he turned pale, got goosebumps, quietly responded to her ...he then quickly hopped into daddy's arms...the look he had on his face was a look that I hadn't seen since we were in China on the orphanage visit.  The visit where he thought we were going to leave him...it brought back so many memories & emotions of those first few weeks. I can only imagine what was flooding through his little head.  We had spent several days with Judy in China with Solomon...the thought that our sweet boy, if even for a moment, thought she was there to take him back to China just levels my heart...oh my sweet son...you are ours FOREVER!!!

Judy looked at us and said, "he remembers...he remembers...he just responded to me in minnan!!"  It was all I could do to hold back the tears...our sweet boy remembers...2 years later he remembers...then as I watched his initial reaction...I started to wonder...what is he remembering?

I immediately praised him...we were all in shock...we honestly thought he had forgotten his birth language...he then hopped into my arms and started calling me "mama" in a baby voice.  I quickly realized that he needed reassurance that it was okay for him to talk in minnan and that I would still be his mommy and that daddy would still be his daddy. A sense of relief fell over his face and he begin to interact more with Judy IN MINNAN...we seriously just all stood there in amazement. He spent the rest of the day telling everyone we saw that he spoke chinese. It was so precious...he was so proud.

Oh my sweet little man...you are the most amazing gift...we love you so much and are so proud of you for feeling safe to remember.