So, to start back at the beginning, the three kids that traveled from Texas to China are just amazing!!! I say this every time we travel, but seriously, they are the best travelers. They kept themselves occupied (thank you United Airlines for having personal TVs on each seat filled with great choices for children's mocies and TV shows!!!) and they just did a wonderful job. I really have been blessed with great travelers, which I realize was not an accident since God knew our life would be full of traveling.
We stayed one night in Beijing before heading to Xi'an, Shaanxi. We were in Xi'an all of 2 hours before we were taken to the Civil Affairs office to meet Max. Of course he was nervous, scared and cried, but it was what I expected. Our other kids were anxious to see and play with him, but were so understanding that he needed his space. Sweet Macey was so concerned, and just wanted to make it all better, Lyla understood the most. She would explain to Grandma Connie later that she knew Max was happy, even if he was crying, but that he was goinbg ot miss people. She would know. :)
We made a break through, or at least stopped the tears for a moment when he found some stickers in his back pack. We got some smiles for a bit which, of course, returned when he had to say good-bye to the lady who brought him.
The next day was adoption day! The official day when he becomes ours forever, and his name legally changes. We have had such different experiences with adoption day, Xander's was chaotic at best, Lyla's was ok, nothing spectacular, and now Max's was the least efficient use of time we have seen. There were only two families in the office, we had to sign several papers with finger printing and then pay our fees. It took HOURS! NO joke, we just sat around and did almost nothing most of the time. Max kept putting on his coat and bakc pack saying he wanted to go. Me too, pal!!!
After t he adoption paperwork was done we got some American food, Burger King. Our little boy had never had a hamburger (we had our guide ask him) and he just devoured it! AWESOME!!! He has been eating A LOT, which can be common with kids who have never had so many choices, I'm just not sure how all that food fits into his tiny self!
So, a little about our Max Jacob. He is BUSY, shew!!! I have never had a busy child, so this is a new and exhausting experience for me. I guess I could classify Lyla as busy, but busy at 6 is MUCH different than busy at 3. He is curious and energetic, I'm suddenly feeling like I should have baby-proofed our house. He is independant, he likes to go about his business and get into everything, and he is demanding, if he wants something he wants it now and will repeatedly ask (aka whine) until it is given to him. Unfortunately, we don't always know what he wants, so...you get the picture.
He talks non-stop. When we got Lyla she woul say some things, but she would try very hard to get us to understand by showing or pointing. We don't think Max gets it that we do not understand him, so he just repeats himself and whines and expects us to know what he is talking about. He will repeat everything we say, so hopefully that will transfer soon into learning how to use some simple English.
Max is very interested in mobile devices, but actually playing with them is a different story. Lots of poking and pounding...yikes! We let him "use" the Leap Pad on his own, but Kindles and the iPad, not so much.
He hasn't been too compliant when we ask to take his picture, so this is the best we have so far. He did better yesterday so we think we'll have some great ones soon!
(yes, that is Max, not Xander)
Some random info:
We think he is right handed, although he uses his left hand with ease. Some say you don't really know until around age 4-5, so maybe he just isn't sure yet. Since our two other Chinese kids are left handed we think it would be VERY interesting if he was too.
He is a perfect size 3T, which is awesome because that is what his drawers at home are full of. The measurements we got on him before we got here were very accurate. He is just a freckle shorter than Xander...we're guessing he will surpass him eventually.
My next post will be about our visit to see the Terra Cotta statues! OH WOW! I loved it, the kids seemed to also!
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