Wonderful Yaojie

What a great first day for all of us! We met Yaojie at a local hotel with 4 other families who were meeting their little ones for the first time. He came in to the little conference room where we were filling out paperwork and came up to us right away, calling us Mama and Baba (Baba means both Dad & Poop, but we are not going to read into that one too much...) He was a bit nervous, but so were we! I gave him a bunch of Matchbox cars and we sat down on the floor to play together --crash derby, of course... aren't boys all the same? He had with him all of the gifts and cards we had sent, and also many special gifts from the orphanage, including a yearbook-type album of pictures of him and the facility. What a very special place it seems to be! We filled out a bit more paperwork and off we went-- Mother, Father, Son, a new family of 5. Some things about Yaojie that really stand out: He has the most pleasant personality, very happy, smily and silly. He loves to laugh, which is good because we love to do silly things! He loves to draw (which is great, but I'll tell you I did not find the improptu art session at 2am particularly enjoyable ;) He does have some difficulty with physical strength, but is very active. We walked all around downtown Shanghai (OK, he was carried for most of it, but we took it as a good sign that he wanted us to carry him!!) He enjoyed playing at a local park. He is all boy, gasping in delight when we pass a bus or motorcycle. (although, much unlike his brother, he walked right by a vacuum cleaner without declaring his undying love...) There is another couple here with us who adopted an adorable, lively and incredibly helpful 9 year old girl from the same orphanage. It's been great having other Americans to navigate Shanghai with! Yaojie communicates very well with us, using gestures. He does not speak much to us, he knows a glazed-over look when he sees one. But he chats happily with Lei, the little girl. At dinner, she translated for us that he would like a steak sandwich! One thing about Yaojie. The. Boy. Can. Eat. He never stops eating!! He is certainly a boy after his father's heart! When we met, the guide translated for us that he wanted to go to the supermarket! We took him just to grab a few things to tide him over until lunch --he plowed through fruit, vegetable, break, & cracker with little distinction! He even ate the boiling pot of chicken that we were inexplicably served at lunch. We are about to go to breakfast now at the hotel, and I do believe he will have them rethinking the All-You-Can-Eat policy. In short: Aren't children grand?

Funny Side Note: True to his culture, Yaojie arrived to us with no fewer than 3 layers of clothing and a winter coat --it's 50 degrees! He happily word a turtleneck, sweater, sweatshirt, pants, and long johns! Anyway, after a bath, I put him in short sleeved pajamas. In a very animated and shocked way, he kept motioning from his forearm to wrist and putting up his palms --"where is it?" Luckily, I put the long sleeved jammies on right away. What a cutie!