Gotcha!

Well, we've had Gotcha day!  It has gone surprisingly well so far.  I know this may be the "Honeymoon" but you know what, I'm ok with that for now!  He is adorable in a ten year old boy way.  ;)  He is a lot like Jay in that he wants to touch everything; he and J keep squeezing each other but he is being very gentle with Katie.   One less worry.  He was very sweet and knows that I am mama, Tim is baba etc.  At one point, he went over and got me a cup of water, came over to me and held it out saying "Mama."  So sweet.
In preparing the two littles for Gotcha, we failed to point out that he won't be familiar with the name Ian.  They call him MaoMao.  We are mostly combining the two right now "MaoMaoIan" and he seems cool with it. When Tim told him his American name is Ian, he smiled and tried to say it back to us.  No scowls or worry on his face.  :)  He enjoyed going through his baby book with us, showing his friends and laughing about his various Children's day costumes.  He is active but seems willing to listen.

He came to us with a backpack with a pair of shorts, undies, a shirt and his baby book.  All except the undies, obviously new.   When we took him to the mall to get him a pair of closed toed shoes and a pair of pants, he accepted "no" appropriately when he asked for a new backpacck.  When he asked for a hat, I had the guide tell him that we would be going to see the pandas and would get him either that one or one at the panda place and he chose to wait for a panda hat.  I thought that was also a good sign.  No pout or sad was shown in either case.  :)  None of our other 4 are materialistic at all; I was glad to see that he doesn't appear to be either.  I wondered how that would be for him.  I know that he has been in one of the best orphanages possible but still I doubt he has had much to call his own.  I could see if that made him want THINGS nearly as much as a family.  Things are probably easier to understand that you are missing than a family.

He also accepted no well when he couldn't see Tim at the restaurant and wanted to go find him.  He got up to leave and when I called his name he said "baba!"  To which I resonded "blah, blah blah."  Or the equivalent, since he has no English.  But he understood my point to his chair and smiling "no" and sat back down.  He clearly didn't WANT to sit down, but I love that he did sit.  :)

He has just finished year 2 of school and seems ok with his numbers.  He is playing on the Ipad and seems to enjoy the number games.  Hopefully that is a good sign.

The nannies didn't have a lot of new information for us.  They said he is generally a very obedient little boy that is easy to feed and studies when told to.  I gathered that he doesn't volunteer to study but will when asked.  :) Typical little boy.  They said that other than a tendency to get distracted and wander off, he is easy.  They have been honest about the other kiddos at Gotcha so I have no reason to believe that this isn't true.  Yea!  I drew a blank when it came to questions to ask; I suppose we'll have to try to ask him things.  Hopefully the translator app will help.  It was wonderful to be given a full baby book of pictures.  He enjoed showing us and telling us all about the pictures.  If only I spoke Mandarin.  Tim is doing pretty well with short instructions and Ian seems to understand.    We did let him talk to Naomi on the cell and it was fun to see his face light up when he heard she was only 5 minutes away at home.  I think he is going to be a daddy's boy which is a-ok.  He is way too heavy for me to pick up much.  He is more solid than he looks.  He has clearly spent a lot of time outside.  He has sandal tan lines to prove it.  It makes me happy to know that he has been able to have some normal boy experiences in his first 10 years.
We will go back tomorrow for the finalization of the paperwork  and  official adoption day.  I wonder how he will do when he knows the separation is  permanent?  He did great today.  He told our guide he is excited about his big trip to america.  We allowed him  to chose our first meal and he chose a burger and fries.  At least we know he likes american food!  

Laura and  the boys went to the pool while I helped Katie  nap and he came back with  a big grin on his face.  So far he is showing no fear about anythhing.   He will enjoy time with his Baba, too, because he is a fast walker like his dad.  He wants to get where he is going without delay; even when he doesn't know where he is going.  He is happy to go where we direct but if we donn't direct he is still going to go.  Ok, I may walk  off some of the Maan's Coffee waffles in the next week or so.  ;)

Katie is going to have some adjusting to do.  She is awake from her nap and I offered to put down the Ipad and go down stairs.  To which she responded, "Not yet!" in her adorable sing-song voice.  Those of you that know Jay will be impressed when I say, Ian can out-talk J.  The car ride was at full volume.  :)  I think Katie is enjoying the quiet and thee dark of our napping room.  I'm trying to let her take the lead in how she deals with him.  She is allowing him to hug her and hold her hand but still has some getting used to to do.  (Of course.)

I think he is going to fit in just fine.  He may wish for a more outdoorsy family but with the Nichols just down the road, maybe they can put him to work.  ;)  I think he is going to enjoy the outdoor fort and I'm going to try to get him in swim lessons; I can already tell he is going to have some energy to burn.

Well, Katie and I are going to venture downstairs to see what the boys are doing now.  I'll add pics later!