Nate Sheng

First word.  Amazing!  Even that word falls very, very flat to the experience that God blessed our family with today.  Many people go a lifetime without the opportunity to see such an awesome act of love between complete strangers (let alone a world apart).  The day went so much better than we could ever of imagined along with Nate being more alive, cute, and perfect than ever dreamed.  I am still finding any words difficult to capture the moment, so rather than write sentences full of cliche's, I will simply comment on pictures of yesterday.  The day was long though and we were exhausted which is why it has taken this long to post.  Thanks again for the prayers and support from all of you making yesterday possible.

Nate and his friend were already at the registration office when we arrived...making for a bit of a unique experience.  However, we spotted him from the bus before even getting into the building, so the cameras were rolling.  Here is his first stare down of Mommy. 

Words can't describe the life in Crystal's eyes and smile here.

The CAT toy truck along with treats are universal we thankfully discovered.

The picture book we sent was returned to us and he pointed out Trinity and Jack in the book for the first time.  This connection already was unbelievable and we are so thankful the orphanage took time to obviously read him this book for the past few months.  He always gets happy when we give him this.

Still no fussing...excited about driving and the cars.  We try not to be terrified about what we see the cars doing!

Already a happy mommy with a sleeping child within just a few hours.

He liked that we were still around after a short nap to the hotel.  Smiles and laughs all around.

So observant with all the new sights/sounds.

Not sure if he has seen a mirror before, but it certainly doesn't seem like it by how much they entertain him.  They are all over the hotel providing instant gratification at a moments notice.

First non-orphanage outfit...he seems to like it along with mommy tickling him.

It is really unbelievable how much he has adapted to Crystal and I already.  He allows both of us to hold him for now, but you can tell he kind of "resets" if anything is changed.  He tries to be as neutral as possible with his personality until he stays somewhere for about 5 minutes (fear of someone leaving him it seems), but then opens up into a very fun little child.  It's difficult to stomach a few of his coping behavior characteristics that such a small child has had to rely on, but we can't explain the excitement of always being able to provide this little guy a loving face now 24/7.  Time to make this "official" now by signing the final adoption agreement along with traveling to his orphanage town of Zhoukou to start his passport paperwork.  Unfortunately, no visits to the orphanage or his finding place will be allowed based on policy and time required.

-Tyson