GOTCHA' Day ~ Part 1

While we met Evan on Monday...Tuesday was our official 'GOTCHA' day. Evan has been extremely well prepared for us. EXTREMELY. When we met him on Monday, he knew we were going to his house, and was waiting for us. :0) We were greeted with big smiles.

Gotcha day started early...early. Our driver met us at New Day at 5am. Still dark out. Just a minute or two after he arrived, the gates opened up and a single halogen light shone directly at us. We knew it was Evan. His foster dad was driving, and he was in the back with his foster mom. Not sure if Polly was there...but I imagine she was. It was too dark to see. Evan greeted us as mama and baba, just as he did yesterday. It was quick, and we didn't understand anything they were saying as we were the only one there that spoke English. However, we could tell they were OK with us taking him. It was painful. They hugged us both. She gave me some hot, HOT breakfast for us, helped us into the car and waived goodbye. As soon as Evan realized they weren't coming with, he started crying. Just a sad sort of moan cry. I can't imagine the magnitude that a birth mom goes through to relinquish her child. It was hard enough to watch a foster mom do it. Evan has had a lot of love and care over the last year. That was very apparent when we met him on Monday. I've never seen a happier child. An absolute miracle if you consider how he came into New Day.

Evan cried for about 20 minutes. He was comfortable with us comforting him. Occasionally the Chinese driver would say something to him in Chinese. We had sent him this crazy blue laughing shark for Christmas. They did not pull out the cord to make it shake and laugh in China. So, when we were at Evans house, I did. oops. He was FREAKED OUT by this shark. However, it intrigued him. On the car ride to the airport, he pulled the shark out. The three of us played with that. He wanted it to laugh, but wanted to be as far away from it as possible. It was actually pretty funny. He easily opened up to us. Much more easily than I thought he would. He definitely favors Craig over me. It wasn't all tears on the way to the airport. He did a lot of laughing over that crazy shark!

We drove into Beijing as the sun started to rise. It was barely up when we arrived at the airport. Our driver dropped us off, and pointed to where we should go. Hee hee. We got in and walked around, hoping to spot our guide, Cindy. (as if, right?!) She found us.

At one point while we were waiting, Evan fell down and bumped his head. This time he started crying. Evan has a very unsteady gait. He is always falling and has a hard time with stairs. He likes to be carried, and I can't help but wonder if he has vertigo. We'll get him checked out back home.

So, Evan fell, and was crying. Then he continued with the same cry he had in the car. People stared at us. It was weird. He had calmed down by the time Cindy, our guide came. She talked with him in Chinese and was surprised at how smart he was. Apparently Evan's speech isn't that great, but what he does say and do is extremely intelligent. He also understands very well, and definitely has his own mind. He is very happy and independent. He likes to do everything himself.

He did great on his first airplane ride! Nothing seems to really bother this kid. We 'won' on the seat belt thing. He stayed in it the whole time. He is a mover, and a bundle of energy. We have our hands full, that's for sure!

We've gotta run now, but I'll continue this post later. It is a very busy schedule for us here in Zhengzhou (jen-jow)