he's ours!

It hit me later yesterday that James is ours!  When we finished with the notary yesterday, it was official!  In all the craziness yesterday, it really didn't sink in.

We're learning that Chinese culture and American culture are very different.  When we headed out yesterday, we had James in a track suit (with a t-shirt underneath).  He had pants, a long-sleeve jacket and socks on.  It was in the high 50's yesterday.  Our very sweet guide who's a recent college grad so she's twenty-something, very kindly suggested we bundle James up more.  She said she knows that Americans like to keep their children 'fresh', but in China they believe that keeping a child warm will keep them from catching a cold.  In addition to them drinking only warm water (and never using ice).  A Chinese-American friend has enlightened us more by explaining that her parents always felt that cold (temperatures or drinks) would get to their 'weak' spots and cause them to become ill.  Fascinating.  However, I cannot bear to bundle this child up!  Yet I don't want to appear disrespectful of his culture.  Hmm.

Yesterday, at breakfast, James ate some congee (very watery rice) which was his staple food in the orphanage.  But of course we introduced him to some other things like bananas, pears, beans, and french toast.  This video is of JD feeding our sweet boy.

He's very willing to try different foods and has seemed to enjoy most of what we've offered him.  For dinner last night he ate a good amount of Payton's leftover fettucini alfredo and then a few bites of pizza!  Yes, we could take it no longer and ordered some Papa John's!  When our guide mentioned that we have the option of using her to place an order for pizza delivery (or delivery of McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken!) we were all over the pizza.  And now a fellow adoptive mom of a child from James' orphanage has recommended the room service ice cream and french fries here at our hotel.  I imagine we'll be ringing them later today!  We miss home.  We miss the familiarity and knowing.  We feel a bit 'fish out of water' so finding some Western fare is nice.

As I mentioned so many times, we were the grateful recipients of some videos of James over the last many months.  I couldn't share them with you, but can now!  The one below is one of our favorites (that many saw on Facebook) for obvious reasons -- he says, 'Mama!' over and over again.  :)  

Now, this video is of James watching the one above.  He's watching himself and hearing his caregiver's voice and seeing his friend.  Can you believe his reaction.  We were rolling!  And couldn't believe how talkative he became!

   

James woke up without any tears or sadness.  Payton had him giggling in just minutes of waking up.  However, after a couple of hours, he's had his first moment of tears spilling over (interestingly, when Payton had left the room to get dressed).  Wondering if her presence just makes him feel more comfortable.  

Nonetheless, we're off to eat breakfast and then to a tea house later this morning.  We will shoot to be back by noon-ish so James can nap.  I'll try to post some photos of Fuzhou later.  Today is very foggy and rainy so it may not be too impressive.