He's Ours

Wow!  He's amazing.  It's amazing.  I can't believe he's really ours!  We went through the formal adoption this morning, so yes, he's really ours.

He's one amazing little guy.  Or did I say that already? :)

So from when we got to Nanjing.  Our guide picked us up at the airport and brought us to our hotel.  We are staying at the Holiday Inn - Aqua City.  It is a hotel built attached to a shopping mall.  So we can walk out the hotel door right into the mall, and there we can eat at McDonalds, Papa John's, DQ, Subway, Starbucks, etc.  And there is any store you could imagine.  It also has a beautiful water fountain / music display.  Music plays and the water fountain sprays back and forth and high up into the air in time to the music.  It's quite pretty.  I will get some pictures and post them if they work out.  So the first evening we went down to McDonald's for supper before bed.

The next day we went down to the awesome buffet breakfast (even bigger than the last hotel).  Each time I got up I found another station of food.  And they have a Cappuccino / coffee machine.  That's great!

Oh, one fun thing about the trip.  As we were getting on the plane in Beijing we saw a couple that was very obviously American and they had a little Chinese boy with them.  The man had a full beard and she had a cap and long gown on.  We didn't talk then, but when we landed and were waiting for our luggage the lady came up to us and asked where we were from.  They are an Amish couple from Indiana.  They have 7 birth children and  one Chinese son.  They are adopting a 2 year old little boy from this same province and then going on to another province to adopt a 6 year old little girl.  They are also staying at this hotel and so we've bumped into them a couple of times.  In fact I saw there little boy at the Civil Affairs office even before they did.  He's adorable too.  Anyway, I thought it was fascinating, very interesting to hear their story.

So after breakfast on Monday we got the gifts ready and got everything together that we would need to bring to the Civil Affairs office to meet up with Willem.  We left from here at 1:30 and got there before 2:00. We were able to see Willem arrive. He is beautiful!  He was so scared.  He didn't cry when they handed him to me, but his little lip just quivered.  The first thing I thought when I took him into my arms was, 'He's so big!'  I don't know, I suppose he's not so super big compared to American boys, but I was expecting him to be much smaller.  He likes to eat and you can tell.  He's very chunky.  He has big hands and a very solid body.  When we asked my questions my first question was what is he called.  They laughed and told me he is called Da Qiang, Big Qiang.  I grinned and agreed.  Very fitting name.  They liked very much that we are naming him Willem (strong willed warrior). He was dressed in a very cute 'boy' outfit and had on his feet special slippers that his nanny had made special for him.  I asked if they want his clothes back and they said, that he should keep them for a special memory of them.

So we did paper work there and then stopped at a store to pick up diapers and a stroller and some snacks and food. I was kind of assuming that he would be potty trained, but he wasn't.  I'm glad as that makes it easier for me here and on the way home.  While we were at the store, Willem smiled at Meikiina a big smile, so that was the first smile we saw from him.

We then came back to the hotel.  I bathed him, as he had been car-sick on the way from the orphanage. He wasn't quite sure of what to think of the bath, but I gave him the stacking cups in the tub and he loved that.  He poured and poured and poured water.  Then we went down and had pizza.  We found out that (surprise, surprise:) Willem does not like pizza, but it sure tasted good to us!  I gave him noodles when we got back to the room.

We played for a bit and got our first giggles which sounded so cute! Then Willem started falling asleep by big sister Meikiina.  I put him in his crib and he slept solid til 5:30, when he woke up scared.  I picked him up and cuddled him and he was ok.  We just stayed up then as we had to be on the road again at 8:00.

At 8:00 we left to go back to Civil Affairs for the formal adoption.  So while we were there we once again saw the director, the doctor and 2 nannies.  They got to hold him one more time and one of the nannies brought him a couple of treats.  We had pictures and completed the official papers and paid some more fees and answered a few questions - why did we want to adopt from China, do we promise never to abandon or abuse him, etc.  And then he was ours!  We watched as they left and walked through the parking lot. As they were leaving Da Qiang pointed and said something.  I didn't understand everything, but did understand 'Baba.' He was so sad again as he was watching them leave.

We were back here quite early and we've just enjoyed being here getting to know Willem and relaxing at the hotel in our room and we walked to the mall and then both kids fell asleep which gave me time to blog a bit.

So here's the newest pictures.

 At breakfest

 Willem 

Meikiina & Willem near the breakfast area.

 Formalizing Adoption

Director, nannies, orphanage doctor

Eating treat from nanny

 The candy Willem's Nanny gave him

Meikiina & Willem