Tobey

We have him!!!! He is definitely ALL boy and soooo handsome. I actually got a kiss on the ride back to the hotel. I kissed on his cheeks and he grabbed my face and kissed me right back!! What a sweetie. He happily played with the little toys we brought for him--putting them in his new back pack and out again. Thomas the Tank Engine and the small track was a big hit.
We walked into the Provincial Affairs Office, which was actually a room in a hotel set up as a sitting area, and there he was beaming at us. He recognized his Daddy immediately. That beard gives him away every time. He got out his picture book that the orphanage had made for me and showed me his pictures. Then he got out the picture album that we had sent to him and we named all the people. Tabitha clung to me and cried the entire time. She hasn't been feeling well today, had her nap cut short to go get him, and was eaten up with jealousy. Once we got back to our hotel, she was fine. They began to play together very well. She kept telling me, "Tobey's not talking, Mama!
Then night fell or we fed him or got him wet. I'm not sure what the catalyst was but he suddenly became very hyper and ran around the room playing with things he shouldn't and mocking us by repeating our words back to us and chattering non-stop in Chinese. We managed baths, teeth brushing, approximately half a story and then wrestled him down into bedtime submission. It is hard to set limits on wild behavior when he understands nothing that we say to him! I'm sure he was feeling out of control with this major change in his life and he had no other way to let us know. Whew, we've got to get this language thing ironed out. George has been able to communicate somewhat in Chinese but he doesn't know everything Tobey says. I can guess that it goes something like this: "My new parents are imbeciles, they can't speak intelligently, and they don't know how to control me! Ahhhhheeeeeeeeee (sound of wild scream)." He was even too out of control for Tabitha after a while and in true sibling fashion, she cried, "His legs are touching meeeeeee!" when we were attempting to put them down for the night.
He did demonstrate for us that he can write his name in Chinese characters and he can write the numbers 1 through 10 and can count. He sang several songs, though I didn't understand the words. And did I say how cute he is?
Tomorrow is another day and I need rest for the challenges ahead. I'll add pictures tomorrow. More to come....