so far so good....

We have had 2 really wonderful days so far with XiaoJun. They were filled with firsts for him and us too as parents.


We started the day yesterday with Skpe. The first Skype he was a bit shy but by the time we Skyped with Chrisie and Jala he was loving it...he was high fiving Chrisie on the screen, which was hilarious. We then went back to the Civil Affairs office where we officially promised to be his parents! We got his Chinese passport and took our picture in front of the Chinese flag as a memento.

We had some time to kill before meeting the orphanage director so we went to Walmart...yes, there is a Walmart here. It is huge and very weird. We got a new suitcase, 2 dvd's, a bottle of Cabernet and tons of snacks for less than $30.

Of course we had lunch again at our favorite noodle shop...XJ eats like a trooper and slurps and scoops everything up just like a Chinese person...it's so cute!

He also sneezes in Chinese! It's not an "achoo" but more of an "a---something chinese", pretty funny.

When we met the orphanage director she let us know that he had been in foster care for about a year. So he was only in the orphanage for a year. This is good news in terms of his social development and attachment (or so the experts say) but I just feel bad that he's had so much disruption in his little life. I hope he knows this is forever.

We also got a copy of his "finding ad". This is essentially an advertisement with a little picture the police put in the paper after a child is found/abandoned. He was left with no note, just crackers and milk formula in front of the orphanage.

We also received his vaccination records so hopefully he won't have to have too many shots in GZ to leave the country, or more accurately I should say, to get into the USA...it's an American policy that these kids have upwards of 7 vaccinations in one day.

The best part of the day though was the swimming...he was very hesitant at first. He did not want to get his shorts wet until we let him know that is what they are for. Slowly but surely he warmed up to the idea of a pool. By the end he was splashing and pretend swimming like it was something he did every day. He loved the swim caps we had to wear and put his back on while watching cartoons...all by himself. Too cute!