Our Little Elf

When YueRu arrived at the China Care Home to recover from surgery to fix a congenital heart defect, she was not familiar with the environment and cried for quite awhile.

She wouldn’t allow anyone to touch or hug her.

Then it came time for lunch. YueRu saw other children in the nursery room eating happily and was attracted by the food. YueRu’s China Care foster mom came to her and asked her, “YueRu, shall we eat now? It’s so delicious.” YueRu looked at her mom and then watched her intently as she used a spoon to get some food and put it near YueRu’s mouth. YueRu began to eat. After lunch, the mom said, “Let’s go to wash hands and then go to bed to have a nap, ok?” YueRu followed her to her wash hands and then went to bed.

YueRu soon became very attached to her mom. When YueRu woke up in the morning, if she couldn’t see her mom, she would cry, but she would stop crying immediately after her mom arrived. When her mom helped her get dressed, YueRu would stand up and put her arms around her neck. Her mom would hold her in her arms and say, “YueRu, kiss me!” YueRu would kiss her on the cheeks and laugh happily.

YueRu also warmed up to other children and loved walking around the room socializing. When someone called her name, she would turn back to look at the person and smile, like an elf. When our preschool teacher noticed YueRu carefully watching the older children playing, she smiled and asked: and smile. “YueRu, would you like to play with us?”  YueRu nodded and quickly joined in, playing happily.

YueRu, who is 16 months old, is fond of reading and very curious. When she reads, she puts the book on her knees and turns the pages one by one.  YueRu also enjoyed pushing the cart in the activity room around. If something blocked her way, she would stop, pick it up, and put it in the cart or throw it away. Then she would continue on.

At the end of May, Yue Ru’s doctor said doctor said that she had made a great recovery and could stop taking heart medications. We felt happy for her, but we also knew that it meant that it was time to say goodbye. We were sad to see YueRu go, but we know she needs to move on with her new life. We hope this smart and lovely girl will be adopted soon.