Without Further Ado...

Please join us in welcoming our newest family addition Xiang Xuan!

His name is pronounced Shee-ong Shwan, said all together, but he's probably affectionately called Shwan Shwan or She She. I don't know yet what the nannies call him. As for us, we are still working on a name, so stay tuned for an update very soon for his new name!


A few facts on Xiang Xuan:


He is in the town of Wenzhou (Win-joe) in the province of Zhejiang (still working on this pronunciation...when I asked, I got 7 different answers...if anyone reading this knows for sure, please leave a comment.) Zhejiang is in southeastern China, just south of Shanghai.


He will be 14 months old tomorrow! It is estimated that he was born on March 28th, 2006. Since it's a fairly random day, I'm thinking that there is either some kind of significance to that day, or he was left with a birth note.


We have requested an update on all of his measurements and we're crossing our fingers that a new picture will come with it. We were also blessed with an amazing offer from someone in one of my Yahoo groups, who will be at his orphanage this week and is going to try to get some pictures of him for us. The generosity I've received from complete strangers sharing the same experiences and feelings recently has been amazing and honestly has made me cry a few times. There really are good people left in the world!


Most people who are familiar with our adoption adventure know that we started our path planning to adopt a son with special needs. In China, the majority of the abandoned children are girls, but there are also a lot of boys abandoned because of various special needs, many of them easily manageable by "Western" standards. We half expected our son to have a cleft lip/palate since it is very common in Asian boys, but we were surprised with a file on a boy born with a condition called Microtia . Essentially, it means that he was born with one ear that didn't form completely.


I did TONS...and I do mean tons...of research on Microtia, and found quickly that not only is it extremely manageable, but reconstruction of the ear is a fascinating and progressively advancing science. There is a good probability that he can hear out of that ear, although we won't know the status of his inner ear anatomy until he arrives home. We do know that he can hear out of the other ear and seems to respond well to his caretakers.


We gave his file to an International Adoption Pediatrician (Dr. Davies at UW Adoption Medicine) who gave us some tips on things to request for an update, but otherwise felt that he looks very healthy and well cared for. It's not very often you see babies this chubby in an orphanage setting! We talked about it for a couple of days and then filed our paperwork to request Xiang Xuan to be our son. It is a little over a week later and we've been approved already!


So now, we begin sharing his picture with our family and friends. The next few months will be a whirlwind of shopping panic as we try to get his room ready in time. Chances are, we'll be travelling in September or October, so for the first time in my life, I can't wait for summer to be over!


Thanks to everyone for bearing with us through this process!