First Impressions of Aaron

(First of all, scroll down to see photos and information from Gotcha Day)

Aaron is wonderful! He is a happy boy and VERY ACTIVE!! He talks nonstop. He has an excellent vocabulary (in Mandarin, which is keeping Rupert busy trying to figure it out!!) He knows his colors, numbers to 10, and in some short books we have with photos (banana, apple, cat, dog, etc.) he correctly said all of the words. He has learned a few English words - banana (which he ate as soon as we entered the hotel room and he saw it on the table), all gone, pee pee ("now now" in Mandarin - very good term, since literally when he needs to pee it is NOW NOW, and he's gone on the toilet MANY times), and oh no.

We went to dinner at the Hot Pot restaurant which we love and quite honestly I think we will go each night. It's brand new, so not busy, they are running a big discount right now, the owner now knows us and the food is GREAT. Tonight the owner helped us talk to Aaron. She told him he is a lucky boy and he must listed to his mommy and daddy. We had her help us explain that he cannot throw toys and books. (He was doing this when he saw the toys and books in the hotel room.) Since then...no problems at all. He hands them to us, and beams when we say, "Good Boy!"

Like Donovan, he seems to like to organize things. He's put his new belongings in and out of drawers and his backpack multiple times.

He is quite smart and catches on quickly. Puzzles were new to him and he is loving them. We also found out at dinner that he loves to draw. While waiting for the food to arrive, I pulled out crayons and paper and he told the waitress in Mandarin that he loves to draw. He draws quite well for his age.

He's big and healthy looking, and quite tall for his age for a Chinese boy. Our guide was impressed with his height.

After dinner we played a lot and then bathtime. It was obvious he's never taken an American style bath with lots of water where you actually SIT in the water. He stood for quite some time and let us splash water on his body and he tried to help rinse himself off too. He finally sat down and really enjoyed himself. After the bath he was not happy that the bathtoys are staying in the bathroom and not going to be played with in the hotel room.

When it was time for bed, he did whimper and get a little upset. I walked with him and sang to him, and then we put him between us and stayed in the bed with him (our king size bed) until he fell asleep (just a couple of minutes). Hoping he sleeps well tonight.

We are in love with our new son!!