I adopted a chipmunk

First off, sorry for being out of touch yesterday and today. It was...intense.

Things are going well and getting better all the time. Today, we got some smiles and laughs out of Loc, and he'll now run to my open arms and jump into them.

Other highlights of today: his first ice cream cone, and listening in on a SKYPE call with Grandma and Grandad. He waved at them on the Webcam (only one way -- we don't have one, so they could only hear us.) My heart just overflowed to see him smiling at his new grandparents.

But yesterday was really tough on the little guy. The van got here around 10 with the nannies and the babies, and then Loc's nanny, Dao, and I went to our room and she tried to show me some basics of taking care of him (gestures only since we don't share a language). I also got an "instruction manual," with his feeding times and what he likes to eat.

He was very distressed and unhappy all day. At around 2, we went downtown for the Giving & Receiving ceremony. It was brief, thankfully, because the government office building has no AC, and we were on the third floor. None of the kids cried; all of the parents did. We were blubbering as the provincial official said her official words and read our adoption decrees. I think I was "People's Decision Number 1891."

We all posed for photos afterwards with the statue of Uncle Ho that dominated the room. Then it was back here for the nannies to say goodbye. Very emotional, very sad. The women clearly love these children.

Loc spent the rest of the day very distressed and alternating between whimpering and crying. We got him walking around the grounds of the hotel, and that seemed to both calm him and get him tired. He wouldn't eat dinner, however, but finally conked out at 7. So did we -- it was an exhausting day. He woke up a little later with a full-blown meltdown due to some bug bites itching him. The kids are all covered with bug bites -- big holes in the screens at the orphanage. We got him calmed down and back to sleep.

He woke right on schedule at midnight for his bottle, and let me take him out of his crib and give it to him with no fuss, then went right back to sleep till 7 this morning.

This morning was a little tough. He woke up disoriented and unhappy, but we did manage to get some breakfast (fish congee and fruit) into him, although he hoarded the fruit in his cheeks.

Then, like a switch turning on, later this morning he started warming to us. We found out he's ticklish, and had a great time sitting at the beach with him. Big news: He has a TON of teeth. I hadn't seen them because he hadn't smiled or made a sound since we got him, but when he was cackling this morning, there they were, a whole set of choppers.

Lunch was a challenge again. I fed him fried rice, which he seemed to be scarfing down, but when I went to change him an hour and a half later, he almost choked. He had stored it all in his cheeks. Likewise a fruit snack later today -- it was all in his cheeks.

So, we've got an institutional care issue to deal with. He's hoarding food in his cheeks, which is not uncommon for kids from orphanages. It's a coping mechanism of getting food when it's available because of insecurity about when there will be more. It breaks my heart to see him do this. He's like a little chimpmunk.

We fed him slower at dinner and tried to make sure he actually swallowed something, and it looks like he did. We'll work through this; he'll learn there will be plenty of food around. Just wait till he comes to his first Smith Family get-together. Any anxiety about running out of food will be gone with the wind.

So, it's been an emotional 24 or so hours. The G&R really was something -- to have that official ceremony, where I signed my name in "the big book" felt so good after all this waiting. And the hand-off with the nannies -- I can't describe how heart-breaking it was. I have to remind myself that right now, this is still a loss for Loc. He's starting to maybe figure out what he's gained, but yesterday was not a happy day for him.

He really is doing so much better today. He loves to be picked up and held, which is great. I'm showering him with sniffs and kisses and holding him close. I think we're making some progress.

He's such a cute little thing, my chipmunk boy.