{Click on individual photos to see them larger. A few will not be able to be resized this time due to operator error.}
We are amazed at how outgoing and joyful this little guy is! It has been such a fun day as we watched him charm construction workers, drivers, school children and bowling alley staff at the hotel to name a few. Oh, and if anyone needs a bus flagged down, he’s your man (“Bus-sy!”).
He loves to sing and chatter. He’s sleeping, but I can still hear his voice saying, “Ai You!” (more). His counting goes like this consistently: Yi, Er, Wu… (1, 2, 5, 3, 9). He sings Frere Jacques, Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle, Twinkle, Old MacDonald, Mary Had a Little Lamb and Row, Row, Row Your Boat – all in English, but with varying degrees of accuracy, although always adorable.
He snuggles in so well and comes to us for affection and comfort and his needs and wants. It is amazing. He’ll mischeviously push out a bit, but always returns to what we ask of him. I’m sure that we will see more of that as he settles into real life with our family, but for now it is hard not to just smile and be drawn into his sunshine.
He does show his anxiety though. He chews his nails. Sometimes he’ll chew on other things or bite his bottom lip a titch. Just subtle signs, but just enough to let us help him.
He slept 9 hours last night after only a few minutes of tears. Today he napped for an hour and a half. This evening he layed down and we sat near him while he settled. We are building routines and trying hard to follow the one he had until yesterday. So far so good.
He is eating really well too! We even gave him a bit of ice cream (he shuddered with every bite adn then clutched my arm for more!) after his dim sum tonight, and he sampled some McD’s fries for lunch (no worries, he ate healthfully otherwise :).
When we completed our paperwork at the Civil Affairs office today, we helped him explore the wooden benches and he climbed and crawled and raced and simply wowed everyone he met. Us too!
I say this each and every time that we receive a child into our family, but it is so true. I feel as though my heart has grown and not just grown but exploded. It is so full right now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news, Miss Grace has lost one of her top front teeth! The second is sure to follow. She was so concerned about how she looked and realy wanted it to fall out before we made it to Zhongshan. Finally it came out with a bit of help from Dad tonight.
Garnet’s comment: Is there a Chinese tooth fairy? {smile}
Oh, so sweet! Thank you for sharing all of this. And, way to go Grace!
My heart is overflowing with JOY JOY JOY! Thank you for the update – how fun to sit down and see all the new pictures!!!! I can’t locate the password, sigh, so haven’t been able to read those posts! I was thrilled to see this today!!!!!! Praying for your trip my friend.
this makes me happy!! praying for you guys.
Congrats Big sister Grace!!! Yes the toothfairy does visit China *lucky you*!!!
You all look so happy , and Sweet Samuel is adorable! We are overjoyed with you Peters’ Family!!!
Shelley, this makes me teary. Dunno if you remember me, I connected with you on a yahoo group for kids with limb differences and sent you a bunch of photos of Samuel (that I’m sure you also got from New Day in time). I am SOOOO HAPPY for your family and super-duper-especially for precious Samuel. I’ve been reading since we “met” online and will continue to read about how Samuel settles in. So much to celebrate today! Bless you all!
Beautiful! Thanks for posting pictures.
We prayed for all of you this morning. For grace as you settle into new patterns….then Josiah says “why did you only pray for Grace?”
Each of those pictures is so darling. I especially love the ones of him sleeping! I know that you must be pinching yourself repeatedly…
I know it is hard to see his anxiety, but what wonderful news that he is allowing you guys in to comfort him.
Now off to find the email with the password to your site so I can read those protected posts!
Praying for you all during this exciting time!
Hi Shelley and family,
Congratulations on the wonderful transition you are having with your sweet boy. He looks absolutely precious in those photos! We are following along your journey each day now and hope to see more of your Big China Adventure!
Lisa, Marc, Lauren and Ben
Thank you for posting the pictures – Samuel is beautiful! I know he is good hands with you and your family, his anxiety will lessen in time with patience and love.