Referral

Introducing Jin Qiu Ju

Born: September 2, 2005 in Guangxi province, China
Her first name, Qiu Ju, is pronounced choe (rhymes with "go"), and joo (rhymes with "shoe") Tony was kind enough to take a look at the Chinese characters in her name and the Qiu character means Autumn and the Ju means chrysanthemum--which the kids think is fabulous.
Soon to be: Maya Qiu Ju Beck
What a wonderful day it was when we saw this little girl's face! Our hearts just melted! We knew we wanted a pediatrician specializing in international adoption to look at her file before we made a decision, so we had to try our best to steel ourselves. When Lyle saw her picture he chanted, "All babies are cute. All babies are cute...."
We had our conference call with her pediatrician at the International Adoption Clinic in Seattle this morning and were reassured that this darling little girl is healthy and ready for a family. We told the kids right after they got up and got them on video as they saw their "mei mei's" picture for the first time. They are completely in love and itching to get to China.
Maya is nearly 9 months old and has lived in the Guiping City Orphanage since she was found at their front gate at one day old. She was given the last name of Jin, meaning gold, which is given to all children at the orphanage.
Maya has grown well and been very healthy at the orphanage. At her last appointment, at 6 months, she weighed 16.75 pounds--bigger than both of our other girls at 6 months (Adam was a 19 pound chunk)! Our pediatrician said she would be surprised if Qiu Ju's weight was accurate, but she does look well-proportioned and in good health.
The orphanage workers report that "She likes to smile very much. She laughs and laughs when teased. She is very obedient and she won't cry to affect adults' work. She likes to roll to the side of her bed to grab toys. Once she gets them, she will shake them to her friends as if she were telling her friends that I have toys! When she is hungry, she will roll all over, kick her bed, call 'Mom' clearly to draw attention. She is extroverted and active. She likes outdoor fun things. She likes to play all kinds of toys."
We just had more information faxed to us yesterday and learned that she likes to tear paper, knows her name, imitates sounds, has a ready smile, is attached to her caregiver, and (one of my favorites) is a deep sleeper! Goodness knows the Beck family could use one of those!
She sounds like a wonderful little baby and we can't wait to get to China! Unfortunately we have to wait for travel approval and visas. We will most likely travel in late August or early September--not soon enough! We have 2 other pictures (all taken at 6 months), but they are not scanning in very well. I'll see if I can get those on later. We are on cloud 9 and totally smitten!