Things to Know About Ian

We're at that point of our stay in Hangzhou that it is getting boring…our guide tries to get us back to the hotel in time for Ian's nap (although he sleeps great in the carrier), so we are in our room for lunch and typically dinner, too. This means room service and hours of playing on the bed. Yippee. It also means that we don't get to see as much of the city as we would like. I know there is a lot to take in here, but our guide goes back to her room and watches TV or goes to lunch/dinner by herself and leaves us to our own devices. Not exactly an easy task, so we've been taking the path of least resistance since Tuesday and are staying fairly close to the hotel around mealtime. Kind of a bummer, but we'll know next time to ask more of our guide and/or agency in this area.

We did the silk factory tour this morning and it was a ridiculous waste of time. After about a 10 minute explanation of how the silk is spun, we were ushered into the sales area where they tried to pressure us into buying comforters, telling us they are good for the baby. Yeah right.

We did wind up buying something (I won't say or it will spoil someone's surprise), but almost everything there can be purchased in a Pier One or Cost Plus market in the Seattle area. We weren't impressed one bit.

I thought I would take this time to share a few fun facts that we've learned about Ian in the past few days:

When he is tired or needs comfort, he sniffs his sleeve. First he touches his lips to his sleeve and then rests his nose on it. It must be a self soothing thing he taught himself in the orphanage.

Also when he is upset or tired, he says mama through his whine. It really cute. Shawn can't seem to get a dada or baba out of him yet.

He makes a funny sucking noise, almost like a reverse raspberry…at random times. A few times even in his sleep.

He smacks himself in the forehead, sometimes with toys in his hand. Maybe another sensory thing, but we would like to see that habit stop as soon as possible.

He rubs his head when he's tired. He has a few patches where his hair is very thin, which might have been caused by this.

He likes to walk while holding our hands. He's slow and still unsteady, but he is getting better. I'm pretty sure they never did this in the orphanage, explaining why he has not started walking yet…at 19 months. It's quite a workout for us too, to lean over slightly and walk backward. We switch off, but if we stop, he gets upset. I'm sure one day we'll be saying "gosh, remember when he couldn't walk without our help? Remind me again why were we in such a rush to get him up and into everything?"

He likes to throw things. I guess this is a characteristic of a toddler.

He likes anything that he can bang or hit to make noise (cause and effect). If it doesn't make a noise when he hits it, he's not interested. He has adopted both coffee spoons in the hotel room and lost one…and they won't replace it for us. I think we'll probably be charged for it when we leave. This hotel is ridiculous like that. We even received a call last night asking us when we would be done with our room service dinner so they could come get the plates.

He loves baths…and I mean LOVES them. He took a bath again last night and Shawn would move him back and forth to make waves and would let go, making Ian slide to the other side of the tub. They did that over and over again. It also helped clear out his crusty nose…but made a huge mess in the bathroom. We'll have to figure out a plan for keeping the tsunami contained when we get home. They played until Ian was wrinkly and Shawn was soaked. It wasn't long after that he was out like a light with only a few tears when he went in his crib.

He's a weird size. In pants, he is about 12 months in length, but 18 or 24 months in the waist. He is about 18 months on top (for the benefit of grandmas). It means everything gets rolled up. Since we feel compelled to layer so much here although it is really humid and not cold, he's pretty much worn PJ's under his clothes 24/7. Thank goodness for the $6 thermal PJ's from Target! I'm stocking up like crazy when we get home.

He doesn't want anything solid. Nothing, nada, zilch. He likes peas, carrots, or edamame, if they are small enough and in congee, but a fruit puff or a cheerio seems ridiculous to him…also, feed himself? That's a foreign concept to this kid.

He is super ticklish. His grandpa and paga will have a field day.

He loves to have his back rubbed. Already enjoying massages like his daddy! When he needs comfort, he backs up to me and leans forward, which is my cue to lift his shirt and rub his back. He oohs and ahhs. It's really cute.

He lays very still for diaper changes. He holds his legs up in the air and just stays there until I'm done. I thought it would be much harder wrestling with a toddler, but he's easy in this area.

Overall, he is just a content, happy baby. Without any true experience, I think he is about 6 to 9 months behind developmentally and much more of a baby than we were expecting, but we are both having a great time with him. Shawn, who has never been a "baby baby" fan, is really loving his time with Ian and often tells me what to do, when, and how…as if he has any experience whatsoever. It's great to see them bonding so well already and we look forward to getting him home and into a good routine there.

I do also want to mention to China adoption community families that might be reading: Many people comment that they want their child AYAP (as young as possible), and might have indicated a young age range or passed over 19 months thinking he/she is a half grown toddler. I just want to put it out there that at his age, he is very much a baby and has quite a ways to go until he really fits that "older child" criteria. Really think hard about why you want AYAP and if you're thinking along the lines of Special Needs, please don't pass over files simply by age. We were quite taken by surprise that, although he may weigh a lot, he is pretty behind, but we know that he will catch up. In the meantime, we have a lot of excuses to bond. Diapers, walking, hand feeding, etc. We're happy to have him, and as far as we can tell, he's pretty happy with us, too.

Thanks again to everyone for your comments and support. It means more to us than you'll ever know. Hopefully in Guangzhou, we'll have a better internet connection and I can fix my Photobucket links. In the meantime, Shawn is sending out our Hangzhou album to close family and friends tonight. Below are a few pics from throughout the week that I don't believe made it into earlier posts.

The little guy is waking from his nap. Love to all, Steph.

p.s. Tom & Trish, thank you for the Polli updates. We miss her so much, but we are very glad that she is doing well and getting the "lap time" she loves. Thank you for taking such good care of her!