Zhen

I don't talk much about Zhen. Why? Truthfully, his physical transformation isn't nearly as dramatic as Theo. I love this kid like crazy.

And I'm not the only one.

Zhen is all boy. He likes to play rough. He likes to swing high. And as soon as everyone is having a great time and laughing and smiling...

...he will bonk heads with you, or bite. Arrgh. Teaching him how to play and how to give appropriate affection is an ongoing process.

But check out this innocent face! How angelic!

And check out that hair! Fluffy!

I tried to give him a haircut at Christmas. I got out the clippers and Zhen immediately got nervous. When I plugged them in, he started looking for escape routes! But seriously...

Zhen is either so bothered by the sensation and sound of the clippers that he cannot keep from panicking OR he was so traumatized by his regular head shavings in the orphanage that he cannot keep from panicking.

He panicked.

It made me want to cry.

I've seen a lot of things but I've never seen a child so frightened. All I could think of at the time was three or four ladies holding him down to shave his head. Maybe the clippers were dull and pulled hair. Maybe they cut his ears. I don't know.

I put the clippers away that night without trimming a single hair. I tried scissors, but Zhen was done. We both were.

A few weeks later I sat him in his high chair to watch me trim his big brother Richard's hair. Zhen howled and fussed. Then I put the clippers away.

The next day I decided that I was going to take the bull by the horns and trim his hair. ha! He sat on the bathroom floor and tried to hide his head between my ankles. That was OK. I let him hide while I did the back of his head. Then I turned him around and did the front.

I was quick. I didn't do a great job. But it got done. And we both lived.

Zhen came to us as a frightened little lamb. He is slowly gaining confidence. He's facing his fears, with a lot of help from others. I think that the internal transformations can be just as dramatic as the external ones, if you take the time to look.