Fuzhou and Teddy's first loves

After our first night in Fuzhou I woke up feeling a bit shocked.  Reality hit that I was all the way around the world everyone I loved and cared about with the exception of our sweet Teddy.  I felt nervous thinking about how the rest of our time in China would go after an evening filled with tears.  I wouldn't have expected to roll over and see Teddy watching me eagerly waiting for permission to get up.  I was surprised to see a slow smile come to his face.  He was quiet and a bit hesitant, but he was smiling at me.  I started to feel just a little relaxed.  We got dressed and ready for our first full day together.  I was surprised to see how independent our little guy was.  I had figured I would have to help him a lot, but before I knew it he had his pjs off and his clothes and shoes on waiting at the door with his backpack full of toys and his sunglasses on (upside down of course).  Just like at home he even seemed to be a bit frustrated that it took me longer than him to get ready.  Oh Teddy, Daddy & Sam will tell you that you better get used to waiting on Mommy. :-) I am the only girl in a house with 3 men after all. 

Doesn't this look like a guy ready for a full day? :-)

We went down stairs for breakfast.  Our guide greeted us in the lobby and sat with us for part of breakfast.  I was quite surprised to learn breakfast in China is pretty much like any other meal during the day.  No light start cereal or toast. The breakfast buffet included rice, noodles, fish, salad... Teddy was thrilled and he ate like a champ.  I fixed him a small plate at first like I would fix for Sam.  Penny quickly explained he would need much more.  I was shocked to see my tiny son eat 2 full size plates of food for breakfast.  He had fruit, 2 cups of yogurt, noodles, rice, congee (boiled rice-porridge), ham, bannana chips... You get the idea.  I ate a piece of watermelon and some type of breakfast pastry. 
After breakfast we met up with a family from Chicago to go to the registrar and notary.  I felt so comforted to meet someone who lived so close to home.  It made me feel so much more at ease.  Silly I know, but it made a difference.  Toby, Anndrea, and Wen were fantastic!  Teddy & I were blessed to spend a good deal of time with them in Fuzhou.  It was such a gift to have someone to share this expeience with me.
On the way to the registrar's office Penny explained that the 2 nannies from Teddy's orphanage would be there.  I started to get nervous all over again.  What if he cried and begged to go home with them again?  After we arrived Teddy was of course very excited to see his nannies.  He smiled, hugged them, and followed them around the office like a lost puppy.  I signed more forms, they took our fingerprints and we were done and ready for our next stop.  To my surprise, Teddy happily said goodbye and held my hand as we headed back to the van.  Not one tear from our brave little guy.
By this time, I was starting to realize how much Teddy was starting to notice our guide Penny.  I should mention Penny is 23 and quite pretty.  Like the other men in our family, Teddy is able to spot a pretty girl from a mile away.  I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight.  Teddy loved to hold Penny's hand, hug her, kiss her cheek, and he giggled everytime she even looked his way.  It was too cute.  He was excited to go into the notary's office with Penny.  It was okay if I tagged along, but he was definitely following Penny's lead.  When we got upstairs Anndrea and I decided we better take the kids to the restroom before we sat down with the notary.  Well folks, if you have never heard of a squatty potty, let me explain.  It's basically a porcelain bowl set into the floor.  There is no seat so you basically have to hover.  There is typically no available toilet paper (always carry Kleenex in China) and often no running water to the potty.  A bucket of water is used to flush. Eeeeek!  This was my first experience.  Teddy had no problem with it at all.  It was at this point, I vowed to work on my bladder control and potty any time I saw a western toilet whether I thought I needed to go or not.  After our quick trip to the restroom, we sat down with the notary.  She asked a few quick questions about why Tom and I wanted to adopt and how we chose China.  A few more documents were signed and Teddy was officially a Crawhorn! Praise God after 11 months he was ours.  It's an amazing feeling! Well, it's getting late so I better head to bed.  As I mentioned in my last post, we now have 2- 3 year olds to keep up with.  Things have changed in the Crawhorn household.  We now get up at around 6:30.  Unlike Sam, Teddy likes to turn in early and rise early.  Please check back for my next post.  I have a lot of stories to share over the next few days!

Melissa :-)

*Pictures of Teddy and Penny to come later.  I'm struggling with how to include a photo due to the way the camera was turned.