The Boy Who Never Smiled

TJ could not believe the gingerbread house was really all made of cookies and candy.

In the handful of photos of TJ we received before we met him, there was not even a hint of a smile. Since Monday we have seen hundreds of smiles, 8-year-old boy smiles showing new front teeth growing in, top and bottom, and just as many tears, some of them surely crocodile tears, but tears nonetheless. And some very loud protestations, most in public places, and a few tantrums, sitting down in the middle of the Guangzhou Women's and Children's Wear Mart, standing up in cab and leaning out the open window, refusing to get on the bus because it frightened him. He told us, in Chinese, that he doesn't want to learn English, he doesn't want to go to school and he doesn't want to eat vegetables. I expect the vegetable ban may be the hardest to crack. He also said he was not a good boy but a monster.

The biggest smiles of the day came when he reconnected with a buddy, a child whose foster family lived next door to TJ's. On Wednesday he had denied knowing Max and even said he hated him. Today, they had a joyful reunion at the waterfall behind the hotel, took off their shoes and socks and plunged their feet into the icy koi pond. Max, who is a year younger, told TJ it was OK to dangle his feet in the water because the koi had only one tooth. TJ replied that one tooth was plenty.

TJ is kind and sweet, always telling us how pretty and cute his sisters are. Meimei is now Xiao Meimei (little younger sister) and Jiejie is now Da Meimei (big younger sister, which may be a promotion of sorts).

At the clothing market we pretty much failed to do any of the tasks we set out to accomplish. We did, however, end up scoring a very hip Batman outfit with hood and mask and two Supergirl dresses, a couple of pairs of pants for TJ, who will only wear sweats, an odd sort of running suit purchased because of the action figure attached, and two frothy party dresses for the girls.  For the rest of the day, TJ was Batman, complete with mask, even at dinner. He conceded to take the mask off for bed tonight.

A grandfatherly merchant, minding his tiny grandson, offered the children balloons while we were shopping. After a lively game of balloon volleyball, TJ kept his balloon firmly under his arm, until we got out the door. The wind snatched it from his grasp, and the balloon bobbed along as TJ vainly chased it, right to the curb of an insanely busy street. We managed to grab him just in time, although we had to hold him tightly for a long while until the balloon was out of sight. "Stop" is the word I forgot to put on my list of essential Chinese vocabulary.

Tonight, after Meimei's nosebleed (in her new party dress) and Jiejie's orange juice regurgitation (Max and TJ were competing to see who could drink a huge glass of orange juice the fastest, and Jiejie beat them both) the girls were asleep and TJ was in bed with Meimei's Leapster Explorer. "One, two, three," I heard him say. "Go!" In my halting Mandarin 101 Chinese, I told him again that I loved him and blew him a kiss. He blew one back. We held hands for a moment, then we played the snoring game, making outrageously loud, whistling snoring noises, then bursting into laughter. Soon, he was asleep, and in a minute, I will be too.