The Latest on Jenny Mei

Our agency contacted Jenny's SWI (Social Welfare Institute, or orphanage) last week for an update on her growth and progress. She sounds like a lot of fun, and we are really ready to meet her and to get to know each other.

Here are her latest stats (as of mid-March):

• 75.5 cm/29.72 inches tall (from 74 cm in January)--our pediatrician says she's gonna be a tall one!
  
• 9.9 kg/21.83 lbs weight (up from 9.5 kg)
  
• 48 cm/18.9 inches chest (from 47)
• 12 cm/4.72 inches foot length--I have no idea what size this is--does anyone else???
• 10 teeth! (up from 7)--expect lots of drooling
  

Dave estimates at her rate of growth that she'll still be in size 12 mo clothing (US sizes), but only just, when we get her in May. Of course, we have no idea how accurate any of this is. So we'll be packing two sizes- 12 and 18 months.

Her development report tells us we have a lively little girl. Some excerpts:

The orphanage director says she's called "Mei Mei" by the staff, and that she's active, can be noisey, loves to go outside (uh oh--escape risk), loves music and wiggles to it (Baby Loves Disco, here we come), enjoys baby TV (teletubbies, Barney), and can pack away a full bowl of congee in one sitting. She also reportedly really enjoys baths (and playing in the water), and playing patty cake. He describes her as seeking and enjoying interaction with both adults and other children--real social butterfly. She's walking with help, and can stand on her own.

She lives in Suixi, which is a city located about 250 miles southwest of Hong Kong. As Dave says, she's about midway between Guangzhou and Hanoi! Suixi is a crossroads town in Suixi County on the Leizhou peninsula. That peninsula separates the Gulf of Tonkin from the South China Sea. Hainan island is just off of the tip of the peninsula. The peninsula was part of French Indochina (just like Viet Nam, which is just over 150 miles down the coast).

We understand that the area is quite rural, except for the large (by American standards) nearby port city of Zhanjiang, which has a population of 7 million.

The SWI appears to be very nice, from pictures taken by other families, below.







We will meet Jenny in Guangzhou, not in Suixi, so we will not see where she has lived unless we take the 5 hour side-trip from Guangzhou, which we are considering. She will definitely determine whether we do or not.