Gotcha day! Monday May 14

At about 9 pm on Mother's day (10 am Monday morning in Shanghai), we sat on a sofa in a nicely furnished meeting room and Abe walked in the door with a kind young lady who wore a cross necklace.  She brought him to us and told him in Chinese "this is Mama, this is Daddy".  Melissa picked him up onto her lap.  He was wide eyed, handsome, and probably quite nervous.  We gave him a toy and he focused on it for a while as we learned about him and got some information from the young lady who had brought him to us. 

He is adorable. He stayed calm (mostly), and in the van ride back to the hotel he stayed in Melissa's lap, enjoyed a dum-dum, and held Melissa's hand tightly.  Back in our room he ate a huge lunch (probably too much, we forgot he would take everything put in front of him).  We have seen him smile a couple of times and heard a laugh.

Being well past his regular nap time, and no doubt stressed and confused by all the new and strange events of the morning, Abe cried himself to sleep.  Hard to hear but understandable.  We are now a family of five.

So many prayers have been answered to this point and our hearts are full of gratitude.  Please pray that Abe will be resiliant over the next 24 hours.  If you have ever known a toddler, they tend to prefer familiarity.  Poor Abe has to get used to all new surroundings.  Pray he will grow to trust us and be at peace with us.  He knows we are called "Mommy" and "Daddy", but this is his first day of learning what those words really mean.  Pray for us to have endurance and wisdom.

We would really like to visit the orphanage where he has lived, and they told us today that we cannot.  Please pray that they will change their minds and allow this.  Thank you all so much!

Right after we met him!:

In the van, looking worried:

Eating lunch: