At Long Last! Welcome Ian!

Today was the day we've been waiting for! At 9:15am, we left for the Civil Affairs building in Hangzhou and Ian with two orphanage caretakers were already there waiting. Ian was sacked out after a long train ride through the night from Wenzhou.

His nickname sounds like "Ah-Moon" because he is so round and chubby, like the moon. He has a cold, but will hopefully work it out of his system in the next few days.

He is a big boy. Although he is not at the top of the weight or height charts, he is heavy to carry. I have yet to try out the hip carrier I brought and I'm praying it will work out.

He woke while we were doing paperwork and was calm and happy right away. He is very observant and looked at both of us with questions in his eyes. He easily went to both of us and didn't make a single peep. Other than some basic baby cooing and raspberry blowing, he does not appear to have any language skills yet.

He was happy and content the entire time and immediately enjoyed the toy car we brought for him. He loves to look to see why the wheels are rolling, turning it over and trying to get between the car and the tire. We might just have an engineer on our hands (or a mechanic).

We returned to the hotel and ordered lunch as it was past his lunchtime. He ate two bowls of congee mixed with fried rice, and we enjoyed dumplings and chicken with hot peppers. He drank an entire sippy box of juice quickly. He still drinks formula, so we'll be off to the store to pick up formula, diapers, a bottle, and some clothes. He is a bit big for most of what I brought, and he seems to be most comfortable in several layers of stretchy pants, which we have none of. We also have to make sure we have enough long sleeved shirts or pieces to layer over the short sleeves we brought.

He has pretty big feet, too... Too big for the Preschoolians and Robeez shoes I brought. We'll have to pick up a couple pairs of shoes today as well.

He is sleeping now, after only crying from about 2 minutes... Yes, I'll admit it. It was because this rookie mom turned away for a few seconds and he rolled off the bed. Good thing for these low hotel beds! He is sacked out now, but is starting to stir, so I'd better go try to figure out how to do this mom thing.

What an exciting day. If I have more time later, I'll post more. If not, we'll be sure to keep you in the loop on Ian's adventures.

I hear that my Photobucket album is not working, so I apologize. If I come across some free time, I'll troubleshoot. Until then, some of our first pics with Ian are below.

Note to Lana & Family: I will try to get some more pictures of his ear for you. He turns to sound from both directions, but we won't know much more until we get home. No issues so far, though.

A few from today: