The Boy and the Bulldog: A New Picture!

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

A New Picture!

Is this the same little boy we laid eyes on for the first time only weeks ago? The same little bald head in those first grainy pictures emailed, then printed, then printed again, then scanned, then uploaded?

It is! Believe it or not, this little guy is growing up with or without us. Although we had no idea how old those first pictures were, we now know for sure that he is exactly 14 months old in this one.

A family taking their daughter on her heritage trip to Wenzhou was extremely kind and offered to take pictures of Ian for us. I was floored by the generosity. It literally brought tears to my eyes.

He looks very healthy, is starting to grow hair like no tomorrow, and is CHUBBY! So much for those 12 month clothes I've bought so far. He is not walking yet, but probably will be soon. I'm sure he'll be zooming around like no tomorrow by the time we travel!

A special thank you to Dana and her family for visiting Ian's CWI and taking the time to see him. It confirmed for us that he is happy, healthy, and waiting patiently for us to come get him.

Hopefully he'll have other visitors on our behalf soon...and a doctor's visit (that I'm sure he won't appreciate) to get new measurements. He's bound to start wondering why all the special treatment. Hopefully his caretakers are telling him he has a mama & baba coming for him...and hopefully he understands what that means.

Next step: We're ordering his furniture and bedding this weekend!

5 comments:

RikyJune 6, 2007 at 9:53 AM
Steph,
he is so cute!!he looks so healthy!! Congratulations!!
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polkadotJune 6, 2007 at 11:15 AM
oh, I'm jealous! I want new pics of Bennett! What a cutie, and they are close in age... Ben is turning 1 yr 5 months on Sunday... I will take those 12 mo clothes off your hands! Name your price, girlfriend. I paypal.
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AnonymousJune 7, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Hi! It's Amber from the Yahoo Microtia Group. Your little boy is SO cute!! I am so happy for you. It will be no time and he will be here and you can watch his little personality grow. I know what you mean about chubby! My little guy was nine months when we brought him home and he was in 18 months!!

Congrats!!
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Tom and Leslie HaganJune 10, 2007 at 4:18 PM
Not only are you receiving the most precious gift; you are also a precious gift to your son. Take care of one another always.
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AnonymousJune 18, 2007 at 7:42 PM
Steph,

Oh how I love those cheeks!! YOu could just kiss then for days!! Congrats on your PA. And I say shop, shop, shop til you drop!

Hugs,

April & Aiden
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Adoption Timeline

April 2006: Attended first informational meeting. At the time, we were convinced that we would adopt from Russia.
June 2006: Sent in application to agency. By now, we had done enough research on Russia to realize it wasn't for us. At this point, the China program looked to be the most stable and best payment schedule. We have always wanted to travel to China...here's our chance!
June to September 2006: Summer and lots of travel slowed down our roll. We decided to wait to start our homestudy process until we returned from vacation in Hawaii.
October 1, 2006: Attended our agency weekend seminar focusing on program specific information, bonding with an institutionalized child, and the adoption triad. It was a huge eye opener and the first time we realized what a big decision we were making.
November 17, 2006: Our one and only meeting at our home with our Social Worker. After the hijinks of Shawn and Polli throughout the day, she actually approved our homestudy!
December 29, 2006: Mailed I-600A form to USCIS. With the holidays and a week without power behind us, we finally realized that our plan to drag our feet was about to backfire. CCAA was firming up rule changes that would effect us.
January 4, 2007: Officially accepted into the China program for our agency. Confirmed that our I-600A was received in the USCIS office. Now our first real wait begins: The wait for our fingerprint appointments.
January 26th, 2007: Fingerprint appointments arrived! We are both scheduled for February 13th at 11am, which might as well be a century away with May 1 rule changes looming on the horizon.
February 13, 2007: Fingerprinting at Seattle USCIS office...It took almost 5 hours of waiting to get through this 5 minute process!
March 9th, 2007: I171-H received! The US Government thinks we're worthy...and we're not criminals! Woo hoo!
March 14, 2007: 48 hours after sending in our final documents, our dossier is on the way to China!
April 6, 2007: LID (Log In Date). This is when our paperwork is officially in the system in China and typically marks day 1 of the official wait. We actually got the call on April 18th, but I knew it was coming. People from several online communities with similar DTC dates were already receiving theirs. This is the last big milestone for us until we receive PA (pre or parental approval) for a special needs child.
May 11, 2007: Laid our eyes on Xiang Xuan for the first time.
May 22, 2007: Sent Letter of Intent. This is our official request to China for permission to adopt Xiang Xuan.
May 25, 2007: Agency received online confirmation of our LOI from CCAA already! We are given the go ahead to call Xiang Xuan our son. Let the annoucements & shopping begin!
July 3, 2007: CCAA asks for more info about my medical history! Yikes! We could be gonners!
July 26, 2007: Finally! My doctor produces a new letter!
July 30, 2007: Seriously! Only 2 business days after sending in my new doctor letter, our LOA is here! Get packing... Travel Approval is next!
August 17, 2007: Travel Approval arrived! We can finally put a date on when we'll leave to get Ian!
October 29, 2007: Take off for China! Beijing, then Hangzhou for Ian, and finally on to Guangzhou to make Ian an American Citizen!
November 6, 2007: Ian enters our lives forever. Today, we became a family of three!

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

A New Picture!

5 comments:

Ian at the Orphanage

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