Gotcha!

Arriving at Civil Affairs

Meeting his new family

With Mama

This is fun!




















Ge-ge and Didi holding hands at police station



















Baba blowing raspberries on YaoYu's belly. Universally funny!



















Playing with Baba and tractor
























Cheerios!

Stacking Cheerios into vehicles

Bed at the hotel

Hey, let's climb in and out of this thing!

Good fun!

I like to climb!

Let's do lunch. Have your people call my people.

That was hard work!

What an amazing day! We arrived at the Civil Affairs apartment (not the main office, because you can't take photos at the main office) at 8:30am. We signed a few documents, and waited. Luckily we brought some new toys for Sebastian, because there wasn't anything for him to do otherwise. I paced, clutching the stuffed horse and toy tractor that we had brought, and looked out the window obsessively. Several officials appeared. It's amazing how many people are required to do this! We were the only family there the entire time.

Finally, a few minutes after 9, a van appeared, with several more officials, and a little boy riding in the front seat. At first I thought, "he's too small (that's not him)." But he wasn't too small at all, once they got him out. He walked in holding the hand of the orphanage staff member, and he was so serious. And they had buzz-cut his beautiful shiny black hair! For fifteen minutes, he was very serious, but when the staff member, the only person there that he was familiar with, left to take a phone call, he tried to follow her, and burst into tears when we stopped him. He kept crying out for his foster mom, and then his foster dad, and it set me off too. It was just heartbreaking. He sobbed and sobbed. The staff woman came back and spoke very sternly to him (while I was thinking, "no! It's OK for him to cry!"), and he calmed down. Pretty soon he showed interest in the tractor, and petted the horse, and then was pushing the tractor to us across the floor. He hasn't cried since.

While at Civil Affairs, we looked at his burn scars, and they have faded so much!

We were concerned about the lack of a "honeymoon period". We only had up to 2 hours to make our decision, because it takes 5 days to get a passport, and we leave early Monday morning. I was worried that "YaoYu" as it turns out they call him, would be in shock the entire time, and it would be very difficult to discern if everything seemed "right" with him. But he was alert and became inquisitive, and cried and smiled, so we knew he was fine, and we left by 10:15. Our next stop was the police station, where we got his passport photo taken, and he and Tripp really bonded being silly with the tractor, and dipping YaoYu up and down. Soon Sebastian wanted in, and we were swinging them both around. YaoYu smiled and laughed. He also really wanted to follow Sebastian.

After the police station, we came back to the hotel, and YaoYu fell asleep in the van for a few minutes, on my lap. Once in the room, he went potty in the toilet, and ate an orange and inhaled some Cheerios. We gave him a little container of Cheerios to carry around, and one for Sebastian, and YaoYu kept dumping Sebastian's Cheerios into his own! He LOVES to eat, as we were told. He spilled them a few times, and always would immediately pick them up and put them back. He is incredibly capable, and doesn't seem delayed at all. I gave him a water bottle, and he diligently would replace the cap every time he was finished drinking, then remove it again when ready for the next sip. He knew what to do with the toy phone, though he was calling for his foster mother, as though talking to her on the phone. He also knew what to do with the beach ball and tossed it around. He and Sebastian played with the toy trucks and tractors we brought for them, and YaoYu immitated Sebastian filling up the inside of the cars with Cheerios.

The favorite game so far has been bouncing on the bed, and climbing in and out of the crib together, onto the bed, and back into the crib again. Naturally that is the first thing Sebastian teaches him! Boys! [See the video below]

We showed YaoYu the photos of our pets back home, and he was absolutely delighted with them!

YaoYu was tired when we met him (lots of yawns), so we pretty quickly got them down for a nap in our king size bed. Sebastian naked but for his diaper, and YaoYu in 2 layers, including long underwear! After 30 minutes, Sebastian was soaked in sweat! He generates an incredible amount of heat for such a little person!

We are just thrilled, and very relieved that it has gone so well, so far!

Here's a youtube video of their fun: