The boys are on the move.

Look at Finlay - up on his feet, and becoming more stable every day. He's gaining confidence  - it's taking time, but he is getting there. With confidence will come strength, and soon we will have another walker in the Home.

And Jesse - wow! He is making amazing progress. He has his own unique style on the walking trolley, but it works for him. He's getting the idea, and he's getting braver by the minute.

SWe are so proud of both our " nearly walkers". These little guys are inspirational. They haven't had anything easy in life, but they have honoured us with their trust, and worked hard to achieve their goals. There have been moments when each of these boys would have prefered to sat still in their own safe little corner, but now they are putting fear aside to explore and learn. I wonder if we grown-ups are half as brave in our own lives?  They might be just little boys, but they have giant sized attitudes.

Celebrating Ben.

This past weekend we celebrated Ben's first birthday. In the twelve months he has been on this earth, our Ben has been through more than the average kid. But right now, we are not focusing on the hard stuff - we are just celebrating a sweet funny boy, and letting him know how much he is loved.

Ben seemed to realize that it was his special day, and he just would not settle for his afternoon nap before the party. Thankfully, missing  sleep didn't seem to affect his mood. He helped out by keeping an eye on preparations and supervising the balloon blowing. When the others woke up, it was party time!!

Of course, there was a giant cake - hand made just for Ben.

There were gifts lovingly given.

And this little guy was simply the best party host ever. Wouldn't you like to be partying with a dude as cool as this? Seriously - if the movie stars saw this, they would be ordering great big Bumbo seats, just to try and look as cool as Ben.

The party was great fun. Emily's parents are here at the moment, visiting with her and helping us out. They brought some wonderful musical instruments with them, so we decided to have a music themed party. Emily's Dad played children's songs on his harmonica, and the kids provided percussion to accompany him. There was a whole lot of shaking, banging, clapping and laughing going on. The atmosphere was perfect, and everyone was having fun. Jesse was especially excited by the music, and he loved making his contribution.

Life is such a cycle of emotions - some days in the Home break your heart, and other days make it soar. Ben's birthday was a day to lift your heart skyward. Happy Birthday little dude. You are so special.

Santa came to visit.

Alan played Santa, much to the children's delight. Most of them knew it was someone familiar of course, though a few were a bit thrown by his shiny red suit. It's actually much better for our children to have a Santa they know,and who doesn't wear a fake beard. They've all had trauma in their lives, and we don't want to frighten them on Christmas day. Here's a selection of our "Santa shots" for you to enjoy.

Dear little Angel is looking so sweetly up at the camera. Shape sorting games are great toys for encouraging problem solving skills and spacial awareness. We are sure Angel will have this mastered in no time.

Tiny Benjamin has a lovely soft toy which is just about bigger than he is. We hope it will bring him a lot of comfort and help him to feel secure.

 Hannah and Santa are posing by the Christmas tree. Children (and adults!) in China will almost always pose for pictures with two fingers held up like this.

Patience seems to enjoy snuggling up to that soft furry trim on Santa's coat.

 Beautiful Little Swallow is keeping her hands on her gift - we love toys which provide sensory stimulation and mental challenges for the children. Stacking from largest to smallest is actually an early  basic mathematical skill. We can also use toys like this to teach colours in both Chinese and English. And it's all good fun - which is so important for little ones!

Paul has a good grip on his markers. We will look forward to some beautiful one-year-old masterpieces for the Butterfly Home fridge! 

 Jesse's toy has lots of texture and makes noises- just perfect for a boy learning to investigate the world using sound and touch.

Sarah is concentrating hard on the unwrapping process. She is waiting to see what is under all that bubble-wrap.

Stay tuned - there are still more Christmas pictures to come!

Our Christmas Elf.

Ben looks just like our very own Christmas elf. He's the baby Butterfly at the moment - only 9 months old - and he is quite tiny. He has liver failure, just like Ysmael.

 You can see that his skin and eyes look very yellow from the buildup of bilirubin in his system. His liver is just not doing the job it's supposed to do, so toxic substances are accumulating up in his body. The toxins are just the byproducts of normal life, and usually the liver gets rid of them in the bile. But for Ben, and for Ysmael, that process is not working properly.

 But that's not what we think about when we are watching Ben enjoy the Christmas season. We love the way that he is interested in these new bright decorations which have appeared all around the place. He is probably a little baffled by the sudden explosion of bright, sparkly colour - normally our Home is decorated in sweet relaxing pastel tones. He seems to like these bright bold colours. It's so cute the way he is staring at the Christmas bauble with such fascination. Maybe he sees his reflection in there, and is wondering who that handsome kid is!

Ben is such a sweet little boy, and it is our privilege to be giving him the best Christmas possible this year. His cot is called " Blessed" - we know that we are blessed by sharing Christmas with Ben.

Nurse Catherine is in the house.

We know everyone is hanging on for news of Finlay at the moment, and don't worry....we will be updating as soon as we can.  Scroll down for his story if you need to catch up.

But while Finlay is awaiting surgery in Shanghai, life goes on back in the Butterfly Home. This week, all the babies are enjoying the return of Nurse Catherine. Catherine has volunteered at the Home before - twice ! Can you tell she has a soft spot for these babies?
Catherine is from England. She has a taste for adventure, a love of travelling and a servant's heart. Mix that up with a wealth of experience in paediatric nursing, and you have a whole lot of blessings for our babies.

Here Catherine is attending to dear Ben. He doesn't look too thrilled at this moment, but he is surely happy on the inside to have such skilled hands to treat his problems!

Volunteers are such an important part of our work here at The Butterfly Home. Some come for a few weeks, while others for much longer. Some go to extra-ordinary lengths to get here - we just have to make mention of Lana's arrival. She's volunteering with us for a year, and travelled by bicycle all the way from Hangzhou, raising funds along the way. That's dedication!
Whatever way they get here, volunteers bless us all with their time and talents. Precious people choosing to share their gifts with our fragile little babies - it doesn't get much more encouraging than that!. Of course, our need for medical expertise is always high - if you are a doctor, nurse or therapist, we suggest you hop right onto the next plane to China. (But contact us first, of course - so we can make the necessary arrangements!).
You'd also be surprised how helpful other skills can be to us. Can you do repair work, or paint a room? Can you take beautiful photographs? Can you organize a storeroom, or cuddle a baby? Can you file paperwork, or make scrapbooks?  All you need is a flexible attitude and the ability to cope with just a little bit of the unknown. And the best bit is, that these babies will bless you just as much as you can bless them!

Hannah's Birthday