It's Official!

We are, according the the Chinese government, the proud parents of Liam Xin Galbierz. The last 24 hours have been amazing to say the least. I last posted during his naptime yesterday (Monday in Changsha). We had been concerned that his grieving might start when he woke up in unfamiliar surroundings. As he woke up both Steve and I lied down with him. He slowly took in his surroundings and increased the sucking power on that sweet little right thumb. Within a few minutes he reached out to me and began to shower both of us with that precious smile. We continued to get to know each other through the afternoon and he continued to show his charm. He showed us his first belly laugh while we blew him bubbles. Later while he was sitting he started to lose his balance and I was animated as I went to help him. He cracked both himself and me up. He proceeded to 'fake fall over' about 5 more times. Later, we gave him some of these rice cookies our guide had suggested. I have renamed them fish oil cookies as they have an interesting aroma (let's just say they might not make the Christmas cookie list). Anyway, it was clear he wanted more so of course we abided. When we thought he was done he proceeded to grab Steve's hand to pull to stand with and escorted baba over to the counter where the cookies were stored so he could pull them down with a big grin of accomplishment to go along. We love that he knows what he wants. Later we had to go down to the lobby and again Liam was greeted by several different Chinese people. He had nothing doing. Score one for mama and baba. We later went down to the restaurant on the first floor (a tidbit for all the Hunan BTDT families!) We opted to have him sit up in a high chair but sat off in the corner. He proceeded to eat and eat and eat. We picked noodles flavored with broth (yeah Jenna and Ryan-we think he'll like your world famous butter noodles) and cucumber slices (?) and honeydew melon. For 17 pounds the boy can eat. We returned to the room in order to skype the kids so they could meet their new brother. He was on cue to pour on the charm and they instantly fell in love. Skype has been an amazing way to stay connected as we miss the kids so terribly much. The day had gone smoothly so we opted to give him a bath. Our guide got the hotel to provide us a baby bath tub. Before his bath we had noticed that his diaper was still dry. I placed him on the little toilet seat and kinda said pssst and he proceeded to pee in the potty. It was pretty funny as he is so much littler than the toilet seat that I had to hold him up. He proceeded to suck his thumb the entire time. We are thinking that is how he is coping with some of his stress. He tolerated his bath but purred like a kitten as I massaged him before getting on his jammies. He layed down between us and promptly fell asleep. He slept with his head on the pillow, off the pillow, on his right side, feet in Steve's face, feet in my face...you get the idea. Steve and I made the mistake of going to bed at 8:30 with him so we were both awake about 3:30 am. We proceeded to get up and watch a movie on his laptop.
Like clockwork Liam awoke at 7:00 just like he awoke from his nap yesterday. We proceeded to skype the kids again and get ready for his big day. Our guide met us at 9:30 and we went back over to the civil affairs office. The orphanage worker was there again and answered about 15 more questions we had. We learned that Liam did grieve already (at least somewhat) as he left his foster mom yesterday a.m. She said both Liam and the foster mom cried pretty hard. Liam stopped crying along the 2.5 hr car ride and kind of checked out until he fell asleep. We know better than to expect that is all he will do but we also know he is quite a resilient little boy. We will be here to shed some tears with him as this reality takes hold. We met with the registrar first and agreed to always love and never leave Liam. With that we both provided a finger print and Liam a footprint and with that gesture we became his legal parents. We proceeded to the family picture room and then to the notary to finish some business but that was that. We are now officially a family of 6!!!!
On the car ride back we had to stop at a little Chinese store to buy him a couple outfits. We learned that almost nothing we brought fits. We anticipated him being in the 18 month size but he is truly more like a 9 month size. We had brought mostly 18 months size with a few 24 month and a few 12-18 months which will work, however. We had brought sz 4 diapers and bought sz 3 today which are still way too big. I am sure it will not be long until he has packed on a few pounds.
His physical development is about where we had expected it but I will be honest that it is scary. We had learned that Chinese children are not usually placed on the floor and most will skip the crawling phase. With his extra needs this is a milestone that we will need to focus on. I am sure God placed those precious brown eyes on a little boy who might need that charm to help him out a little extra in life. We can see how he plays that he will enjoy all the therapy mom has to offer. He has already shown just how determined he can be. We know at the end of the day, it will be Liam teaching all of us a thing or two about life and resiliency and most of all love. Thank you for your prayers and support. We have enjoyed reading your comments immensely. We can't wait to be back home.

"I am sure glad my mommy is a physical therapist."

"I love my stacking cups"

per Lauren's request

That footprint made it official!!!!!

First official FAMILY photo

Photo taken in the official family photo room

Taking care of business

This adoption stuff is pretty tiring
BTW Uncle Todd, how much is this haircut worth???