The adoption is finalized

Well, this little guy we had barely spent 19 hours with became our forever son this morning! What a strange system. They ask you to swear that you will not abandon nor abuse your new child. But they also ask you if you are satisfied :-}. Apparently some ( hopefully very few! ) people want a different child at that point. How one would even know another person on such short notice...

But Joshua has no reservations that he's willing to admit to! :-) He excitedly told our interpreter this morning (in Cantonese) that he's going to a foreign country with his mama. When we told the interpreter that he was supposed to be speaking Mandarin Chinese according to the Orphanage Director, the interpreter spoke to him in Mandarin. Lo and behold, he replied in perfect Mandarin! This child is already bilingual! ;-D And he's quickly becoming trilingual. He's very eager to learn English, and can already say hello, byebye and count to 10. Bright!

And LOUD ;-D. Yan is a bubbly, sunshiny, ACTIVE little boy who is often chattering (in whatever language) or singing... often at full volume no matter where we are. And he's very, very mischievous. He's only shown a few brief moments of sadness/grief so far, and denies it when questioned. :-( It's like he's very anxious we not see that side of him. Trust will take time.

Tomorrow we go (where?) to apply for his Passport. Lots of little appts ahead to get him cleared to leave China. Meanwhile, we gringos do very well at breakfasts due to a lavish and varied breakfast buffet in the hotel. But the other meals are on our own. We went to a Chinese restaurant tonight, and ordered dishes NONE of the 4 of us could really stomach :-}. Joshua told a passing store clerk that "my belly is empty and I am hungry" ;-D. Okay - we'll keep trying the local food places for a successful combo!