First Full Day with Our Son

What a great day! For a little boy facing so many changes, there were only a few meltdowns. Periodically, JunJun (aka, Addison) would put on his backpack and say over and over in Mandarin, "I want to go home." Heartbreaking. On the plus side, though, by the end of the day, he began to let me comfort him by rubbing the back of his head and back. It didn't make him stop crying, but he was much calmer. I think he's doing fantastic.

We spent the day doing paperwork, as you can see in some of the photos. We went to the notary and the police station, which was very interesting. I asked if we could take a photo of the police man who was doing Addison's paperwork and got a big N-O.

We spent the afternoon at Super Walmart (yes, I said Walmart) getting a few necessities and then we hung out around the hotel while our guide took care of more paperwork. We were all a bit tired, so this was just fine. (By the way, a Walmart in China is not exactly the same as a Walmart in America. For example, last I checked, ours doesn't have a "spicy stand" with fresh food such as chicken feet, pigs feet, tofu and curd, etc. Much of it looked a bit, well... icky, but it smelled great. Also, you don't see large packages of anything like you see at home, but this makes sense as many apartments are about 400 - 500 square feet and might have a husband, wife, child and grandparents.)

Addison loves bathtime, although he was very unsure at first -- not wanting to even sit down all the way. When I poured water over his head to rinse the shampoo (which his foster mother said he didn't mine), I was convinced he had not completely experienced this before. He did not care for it at first, but by the end of bath time was dumping water over his head himself. :)

We heard his first two English words today: "Tigger" and "Car" All boy!

Other great news: He hasn't had the pacifier in 24 hours and we replaced the violent Kung Fu show with Winnie the Pooh. We didn't show him any tv in the morning and he did not have a meltdown. In the afternoon, we watched Winnie the Pooh together and he laughed (see pic of him with an open mouth of french fries - he was laughing hard) and laughed. Ironically, he laughs at he parts that upset Kate - when things crash, spill, when characters fall from a tree, etc. Should be interesting to see them together.

What Addison loves:
1. Cars - we bought him some little plastic cars at Walmart and he was thrilled for hours. He even took his cars to bed with him.
2. Sweets - foster mother gave him chewy, hard chocolate candies on a regular basis and his teeth show it. I think yesterday was the first time he's experienced a toothbrush -- I only got one swipe, but we'll get there.
3. Climbing
4. His backpack - this seems to be his comfort item right now.
5. Forks - we gave him on for the first time and he LOVES using it and is quite proficient. He uses it for EVERYTHING.
6. French fries, rice, watermelon.
7. His new papa - in the pic of him laying on Scott's chest, he initiate that. So very, very sweet.

Interesting details about our boy:
1. He's got some funky feet. Anyone ever seen something like this? I wonder if it will be something that requires surgery....
2. His head is flat in the back like Kate's -- it must be a Southern China thing.


Thank you SO MUCH for your comments, emails and prayers. We were pretty nervous about this new adventure and felt / feel your love from across the globe.

Thank you Cindy and Russ for taking care of our baby girl -- the pictures and stories made our day. Scott and I think you need to start being a little mean to her or she's not going to want to come home!

To see pics and stories of Kate, go to http://www.home.earthlink.net/~kateathome.
And many, many thanks to our parents who helped make this possible. You've got a grandson you are going to adore -- although get ready to say "No, please don't climb on that" or "We don't hit when we don't get our way." His winning smile is worth it all, though.

Scroll down later for a post about our first day in China. I'll be adding it. I've included a few pics especially for Viera High School - included a jade hawk that I think is out of our budget and a "squatty potty" that I've told my students about. They're not as bad as they look.

And for those of you anxiously awaiting some pearls of wisdom from Scott, be sure to stay tuned for "The Beer Post." We'll also be adding photos and stories about Guiyang - a place we love for its character and quirkiness, not to mention the makeshift barber shop and open storefront dentistry.

With love from Guiyang,

The Lucky Ones