Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Tender moments

Today, Jake had his first ice cream cone at a McDonald's across the street from our hotel (you take an underground walkway to get there, which we love because we don't have to navigate the traffic). The look on his face when he took the first bit was priceless, and Momma and Baba did not take the camera. Sorry. You'll just have to let us paint the image for you. Our boy loves to eat, so when he saw drinks and the cone in our hands and that we were headed for the table he was excited! He sat down on Momma's lap and the first bite commenced. Now you have to realize, in China nothing is served cold. If you're lucky, it will be cool, and, of course, you cannot ask for ice. McDonald's drinks are the coldest we have found. So Jake sticks his mouth on the ice cream (not very wide, mind you) and he pulls away and looks at Momma, and the face starts to scrunch up like we've played the biggest joke on him and it's not funny and the tears are coming and the wails will begin and ... wait ... the face turns thoughtful, and he licks his lips and you can see the wheels turning and this stuff isn't too bad, as the sugar hits the taste buds. So he takes another small bite, and soon he has the cone himself and is going to town, and, with a little help from Momma and Baba he eats it all – he did a good job biting the cone, as well.
A few other moments we've been wanting to post:
On Monday, Violet went down the street a way to get us KFC for supper. It was our first, full day and Momma already broke her cardinal rule of never leaving without telling Wen Feng goodbye. When he realized Mom was not in the room, he got a little upset, but not too bad. When Violet came back, Jake looked back at her over his shoulder and said Momma as plain as day. That one made Violet grin ear to ear.
The next day, our little Jakester was one grumpy boy, but when Kevin had to tell him "no" to getting in and out of our refrigerator in our room, he got upset and pouted, but Kevin just pretended to ignore him. After a while, he went to Kevin and wrapped his arms around his legs asking to be picked up.
And, finally, today, Kevin and Violet received the honor of having Jake hand us Cheerios and puffed cereal from his snack cup, a sharing feat that had not occurred as of yet. In fact, when we had asked before he sometimes would ignore us and sometimes get upset.

All in all, our experience has been phenomenal. We are so blessed with our little boy.

Here are the token pictures (even if they don't include ice cream):

Momma holding a screaming Jake. His fits Tuesday went on for quite awhile, but Momma wasn't going to let it get her down. She eventually won, just barely. Man this kid is strong:


This is sometime later (after a nap, I'm sure) when our little man was in a better mood. He and Baba playing around the crib:


Soooo, this is western food. Yeah, I think I might like it:


He strikes this pose quite a bit. We love it!


Here is Jake stylin' in his OU jacket in front of the hotel after the ice cream run. You can see remnants of the ice cream on his jacket (and, yes, the pants are too big – almost everything we have is – but we hope to work on that in Guangzhou where there are some more western stores):


And, finally, this is my view right now:

11 comments:

Family Bits said...

I recall Cady having that kind of a fit, and it seemed to be her way of coming to terms that she was losing his old caregivers. You probably experienced his loss and grief after he realized this is his new life. His bonding is going to be so much easier with you now.

Cindy Bergdall said...

We are so happy for you guys! Mark and I have been following your story every day and enjoying it very much. Kelsee even looked at the pictures and said he was so cute. She can't wait until you get home to see him at church playing with the boys. He is definitely bonding with you now! I love the ice cream story! See you soon!

Deb&John said...

Love the Ice cream story. Dad will have to make some homemade ice cream for him when you all get home.
Violet I'm so happy for you. Having your child call you momma for the first time is priceless.
It looks like he loved the oatmeal also.
Can't wait to see you all.
Deb

Tracy said...

Oh how I love the sleeping pictures when people post them!

Wei J's Mama said...

Yep, ice cream was a big winner here too! I was sitting here with Wei J hoping he'd be interested in photos long enough for me to read your update. The first photo he saw, he stopped drinking and offered Jake his sippy cup. How sweet is that?? :)

The Gang's Momma! said...

Yeah, ice cream :) I love the story - our first try of ice cream resulted in squeals and growls, followed by runny diapers in the middle of the night :( But we still gave it to her the next night too :) Glad you are all enjoying the bonding time.

Cindy said...

Love the OU jacket -- now you need to teach hi to say "Beat Texas!"

Jean said...

What a beautiful day with your beautiful boy! Sounds like things are really going well for you. Don't forget the camera...don't forget the camera! We love to see the wonderful pictures everyday! Until tomorrow.....

Jerry & Virginia said...

Congratulations! He looks wonderful and you all look soooo happy. Jerry says if Jake has a mind of his own he must be a real Freeze. God has blessed all of us with Jake as an addition to our family. We are looking forward to seeing him in person. But for now pictures are wonderful!

Unknown said...

Love it and can't wait to meet that handsome little boy.

stephLAgwca said...

Hi Violet and Kevin,

Leigh Anne and I have been sitting here squealing over the pictures of your beautiful new addition. We are so incredibly happy for you! We look forward to hearing from you when you get home!

Stephanie