We "Gotcha" Samuel!!!!

Today was “Gotcha” day in adoption lingo. God answered all the prayers regarding transition anxiety. Samuel was stone-cold somber until about minute 20 when we got him into a play area and he found the bouncy balls. He really loosened up a ton at that point and was a joy to interact with. He snacked on the baby snacks we brought and also enjoyed carrying around a toy giraffe and frog brought along from Michigan. Aimee found early that he is very ticklish and has been pushing those buttons regularly much to his gleeful satisfaction.

He showed up in the Pooh fleece suit we sent in his gift box around Christmas. The orphanage staff also brought along the disposable camera and photo album we included in that gift box. It was great to see that the staff was able to put those to good use. We hope the camera helps complete some of the 1.5 years that we missed out on.

He is well-nourished, aka, round and a good crawler. He likes to pull himself up on furniture but is not walking. We’re looking forward to the correction of his club foot to try to get him in a better position to walk. He’s become more audible as the day progressed…..seems to be a type of Chinese baby talk. Simple syllables but nothing real extensive.

For lunch, he polished off a banana and noodles. At dinner, we took him to a local Chinese noodle house where he ate much Congee (rice porridge) and some pork & chive dumplings. I visited the local Wal-mart (yes, Wal-mart, but no greeters here) and got him a ball of his own along with some other baby-related items.

The pictures below are a progression of sorts, top to bottom. As you can tell, Dad did a lot of the picture-taking today. A lot more updates to come in the next few days so check back again soon. We love you and are excited to introduce this little guy to you soon. Oh, and he is a little tank and may be the middle linebacker of the family.

This is the face he wore for the first 20 minutes. At minute 19, I wondered if he was a robot. Nothing I did could even make him blink.

At minute 11, I challenged him to a game of stare-down. I was no match. Actually, it was tough to even get some eye contact in the first 20 minutes. That was just his way of dealing with his anxiety.

At about minute 15, we busted out a couple of animal toys. He took the giraffe and frog but was alarmed by the tiger. I figured he may have a fear of meat-eaters but he loosened up later....so Elijah's dinosaurs should not keep him up at night.

He cracked his first smile when the ball showed up.

Getting kissed whether you like it or not!!! Actually, I now know he loves the attention.

The smiles multipled as the play time continued.

This pic is a little out of place as it's taken back at the hotel. He likes to hang on to his giraffe especially. He also has taken a liking to the stuffed monkey that Anna picked out for him.

We are looking forward to tomorrow. We've got some more paperwork to complete but will have a full day to figure out some more of his habits, including "potty training". See ya!!