Update on Xiao Yu...

Today we got, via email, an update on Xiao Yu (Christopher.)  This is the last update that we will get on him before we travel to pick him up.  In addition to the picture, in the update, we get his weight and height (to give us an idea of what size clothes to buy him) as well as some information about his habits, likes and dislikes (to help us prepare for how to take care of him).

The picture we got of Xiao Yu is interesting, because he looks so different from previous pictures.  To us, it just means that he is growing up really fast and that we hope to pick him up as soon as we can.

Here is the info we got:

--Height: 82cm (about 32 inches)

--Weight: 13.4kg (about 30 pounds)

So if you put Xiao Yu on a growth chart, he is a little short for his age, but his weight is up there.  

Zheng Xiao Yu

12/02/2014 update

Medical/Development:

His current health is good. He can walk now and is not potty trained. 

Personality:

They call him Xiao Yu. He likes to eat bread and biscuits. He loves to play outside.

General:

He sleeps in a crib from 9 PM-8 AM and naps from 1-3 PM. 

The interesting thing is that his sleeping and napping schedule coincides with Gabriel's.  Also, seems like he likes to eat (it's not the first time that we get info from his caretakers about that).  So he will probably fit right in.  Also, we were wondering if he slept in a crib or bed as we were deciding whether or not to take the crib out of the room that he and Gabriel will be sharing.  But it looks like Xiao Yu still sleeps in a crib, so we will keep our crib in that room for a while longer!

On the paperwork front, we received a letter from the US Visa agency that we almost have approval to travel!

After that, we will be applying for our visas.  On the down side, we just got word that the department in the Chinese government that handles adoptions will be shutting down from Dec. 27 to Jan. 8 to do a computer upgrade.  So we are trying to hurry on getting our paperwork submitted to them by that deadline, or else we will have a 2 week delay due to the shut down.  We'd like to avoid the delay because we are trying to get approval to travel to China before Chinese New Year in February.  If we can't travel before then, we will have more delays as the whole country shuts down for two weeks during Chinese New Year, so then we would have to wait till after that to travel.  We appreciate your prayers on this matter!