THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!!!

Oh.....my.....gosh!!! What a son we have! He is simply a kick. He is sitting next to me now stacking Airhead bars. Before that he was organizing hair ties and before that colored pencils in his stacking cups. He loves to fill, empty, fill, empty any kind of container all the while with a HUGE smile on his face. He is such a pleasure....busy.....determined....strong....a wanderer.....a tease...and a happy little guy.

Let me tell you what else I have learned about him in the 7 hours since we met him.

He HATES elevators. When we got to Civil Affairs to meet him his auntie was trying to catch him before he ran down the stairs. He was crying and very unhappy. We had some matchbox cars in his backpack that his little XiaoXian friend Megan gave us and they saved the day!!! He stopped crying and let Daddy hold him and play. When we finished our time at Civil Affairs we had to walk down 7 flights of stairs because he is terrified of the elevator. Hmmmm...doesn't like confined spaces. The flight home should be a dream.

He was so frightened in the elevator to the 17th floor of the Holiday Inn that he peed all over the floor. Those split pants he came in let it dribble all onto the floor. We have him in a pull up which is a very good thing because we have also found that he has diarrhea. I'm thinking giardia is likely rooming in his belly as the smell is divine.

He cannot be left alone with an open container of liquid. There is a huge water spot in the middle of the bed, and I've had milk poured down the inside of my sweater.

He LOVES meat. He shares his snacks. He has a hearty laugh. He loves to be tickled. He knows that I am Mama and that Daddy is "Da" and that Lan is Jie Jie. They gave us back our photo book we sent and it was well handled. Someone has been looking at it.

He is very smart. He plays much more like a two year old than nearly four year old but it doesn't take him long to catch on. I put on my purse and he immediately grabbed his shoes and pointed to his socks. He knew purse meant going out of the room.

He does NOT appear to indulge in pleasure when playing in water as his reports state. We are going to have to work on that.

He is very good about taking his medicine. He loves the stroller but the grocery store is very stroller unfriendly!! He does not appear to have had soda and he immediately spit out onto the table the soda he sipped a the noodle shop.

It is absolutely uncanny how much he reminds of Taisha. It is like reliving her adoption 10 years ago. It is kind of freaking us out because it feels all like deja vu. He looks like her, walks and talks like her, laughs like her and has the very same stinky poop like her (sorry Taisha but your poop was awfully stinky at first. Its just the truth!)

We are very tired and wondering what night will be like with him. He is a fantastic litle boy who has alot more baby still in him than I expected. He is fit right in with the Ellisons. We have been extremely blessed. I cannot believe he gets to go home with us and stay forever. He is a GEM!!!