We Have a New Son

I have finally had a chance to sit down today as it's been a very busy and exciting day for us as we have finally met Tai. It's after 11 pm here in Shenyang and Tai is upstairs sleeping peacefully and no crying at all at bed time. He would not take off his under shirt, but did remove the outer shirt(they dress kids in layers here). He did put on the sweat pants but refused the PJ's. He finally took off his shoes and socks.

Now back to the start of the day. Our bodies' time clocks are still off and we are waking up at 1:30 am wide awake and sleepy at 1:30-2:00 pm. We woke up early had brekfast down stairs and headed to Shenyang
Civil Affairs office arriving a few minutes before 9 am. We went upstairs and our agency's rep, Sophie, thought maybe we had wrong room as no one was there yet in room. Minutes later the elevator opens and we see several women with two children and realize Tai is the boy. The orphanage director notices our faces from our picture and says "Guo Tai..mama..baba(daddy)" He seemed very excited and we hugged him briefly. We then went into the room with all of them and got to know each other a bit. The other child's new family arrivded and we signed a paper that we will have him 24 hours before adoption registration begins. We then went down stairs where he had his picure taken with us, and alone, for the adoption paper work here in Shenyang.

When it was time to say goodbye to his nannies he cried and by the time we got back to motel with Sophie, and settled in a bit he had calmed down significantly and we had him most of the day alone. He is one energetic boy! He wants to touch everything electronic and he loves to take our pic on or digital camera. He likes the game boy, the computer, the CD player, and the electronic translator. He has been calling us Mama and Baba all day and holds our hands when we are out of the room.

We ventured out to the KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) around the corner from our motel. Boy did we ever get the stares..two Americans holding hands with their new son. Crowded sidewalks. No one was rude and I'm sure they were just curious. Tai had a smile on his face and a bounce in his step..I wish I had it on video.

Later we had Sophie take us to the bookstore here down the street where he selected several children's books and DVD's. He seems to be reading well according to his grade level from what Sophie could tell. She has been wonderful with helping him with the transition of being our son.

There was one other time today when he felt sad and we tried to take him for a walk and he seemed to not want to go so we walked back to motel and he changed the minute we walked into our room. We had Sophie talk to him and we are guessing he thought we were maybe taking him back to orphanage, and that was why he calmed down immediately when walking into hotel room.

He is full of energy, very curious about everythig, very outgoing, very talkativ, not shy and seems to have a great self-confidence. He seems very happy with us and bonding with us equally. In adoption, the majority of the time it's one parent over the other. He is also making very good eye cotntact when speaking which is very good as some kids will not make eye contact in beginning. He seems very eager to do what we ask, although there were times when he was very wound up today.The full wind up was when we decided to take him to meet a friend from his orphanage, a 6 yr old girl. She was staying a few doors down the hall. After about 10 minutes we decided it was time for bed.

We realize this is very hard for him to meet us for the first time without every knowing us. We couldn't believe how fast he laid down and went to sleep. He didn't lie down until Duane did though.

Tomorrow we go early again back to Civil affairs and start adoption registration here and then travel by train to Dalian which is over a 3 hr train ride. We will apply for his passport to US in Dalian on Wed. We could not upload pics as we are using motel computer but will try to upload pics when we get to Dalian if we can find a place to do it.

Will hopefully post more tomorrow evening. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers. This is a whole new experience for The Searle family and our new son. I know prayers are being heard as it seems like a miracle for God to bring a boy and a family together over 5,000 miles apart from completely different cultures. We could see in Tai's face tonight that he seems happy and content thus far with us. We know there are still challenges ahead for us.

Gary and Sarah we will talk to you both a lot longer tomorrow. We will let Tai talk to you. He likes the pics of the trampoline and wanted to know where both of you were.

Wan An! (good night)