so what’s Isaac like?

I’ve been writing a lot about the day to day stuff here in China, and I know that you can barely wait to find out what we ate or did or saw.  But I thought I’d give you a little info about Isaac himself tonight (or today, depending on where you are when you read this).

He’s got a great smile, and he flashes it all the time.  Just like his mom, his eyeballs disappear when he grins.  He is playful and from the get-go has been joking around, figuring out the little jokey games that we play with each other.  Right off the bat he was warm and open to this weird family that’s adopted him.  He was a little nervous at first, and it showed in his eyes.  But he was quick to get over the jitters.  He and Levi have been sharing a bed, and Levi is SO GREAT with Isaac.  I would guess that one of Isaac’s predominant love languages is touch; he’s always holding hands with someone (usually Levi or Sadie) or putting his arm around us.  That was sort of a surprise–he took to us pretty quickly.  But the teachers at the orphanage did say that he was truly ready for a family.

He and Levi seem to understand each other, even without the aid of Josie the Translator.  They’ve been working on some Transformer-like toys together.  Levi will say something to Isaac in English; Isaac will respond in Chinese.  I think they get each other!  It’s fun to watch, anyway.

Isaac is pretty little–4’9″, 85 pounds.  In fact, we wondered if they might have his age listed incorrectly, so we asked about it.  Our guide in Hohhot called his teacher, who assured us that he’s really turning 14 in a couple of days.  He’s just little for his age.  But he’s scrappy!  We hit the local park today, and he was all over the workout equipment.  He’s strong and energetic.  You should see him bounce around as we walk from place to place.  He’s got a lot of pep, which should serve him well once we get home.

He loves little kids.  The other 4 families here have adopted toddlers, and Isaac gets right down on their level, talking to them, playing with them, making them laugh.  He’s affectionate and tender, and willing to be a little silly to bring a smile to another’s face.  That sort of sounds like a Sublett, doesn’t it?

We’ve been working on teaching him how to say our names, and he’s pretty close on most of them!  Along the way we’re learning (or re-learning) some simple phrases so that we can ask him questions.  I can only imagine how annoyed he must be at the thousandth time one of us asks him, “Are you tired?” but that’s about all we have in our arsenal right now.  We’re working on it.  Of course, Josie and Annabelle are able to speak and understand very well, but they have a little bit of a home-field advantage.

Isaac got shots today–2 in each arm, plus the TB test in his forearm.  He never even flinched, but his arms were a little sore to the touch tonight.  He’s a brave little guy.  He is adjusting very well to a lot of new things in a short time frame, and doing so with grace and class.  He’s going to fit right in to Team Sublett, and bring his own special flare to the Team in the process.