And it Begins

As of yesterday Ehren is no longer a static baby. He isn't crawling yet (thank God), but he now scoots as far as he can get which will take him off his playmat and into the dining room if we aren't paying attention. I have no doubt he would make it under the table if we would let him. Yesterday Joshua set him down to play and then sat on the couch to do a bit of work on his computer. Not two minutes later he jumps because "something" grabbed his foot. And of course it was our son who had wiggled his way 3 feet from where he was placed, chewing on his foot.

This is about to get interesting.

In other news he loves to have his picture taken. I'm sure this was a talent fostered by the nannies at Hannah's Hope. Here's the photo progression.

TOTALLY UNAWARE:

REALIZES THERE'S A CAMERA

AND POSE

Birthday Celebration

Today I (Joshua) turned 31 years old. And to celebrate, we partied it up took Ehren on his first trip to the park. The weather has been great here this week, so we're soaking up as much sun and warmth as we can before it turns cold.

I can't believe it's already been a year since I turned 30. So much has happened in the last year it felt like I just skipped being 30 and went straight to 31. In less than two weeks it will be one year since my dad died. During that year I spent as much time traveling as I did at home. I've been stretched, beat up, disappointed, pushed to my limits in every way, excited, encouraged, supported and loved. I can't think of a better way to end the last year than to become a father.

We've been back home one week and life has taken a huge turn all at once. Our family has adopted a new member and he is amazing. All-consuming, but amazing.

Now We All Match!

Fat Baby in a Little Hat

Ehren got his first walk in Crieve Hall today. The weather is beautiful, 60 degrees, nice crisp air. There's still a bit of color left in the leaves on the trees. The pines are foreshadowing Christmas.

Ehren loved seeing the neighborhood, and watching daddy rake leaves for a bit. A good time was had by all.

Baby Jet Lag

We are home and back in Nashville. We had quite a greeting at the airport and we played pass the baby one last time before Joshua and I are sequestered at the house with him for the next month.

I've spent the last 3 hours working while the boys are sleeping. The three of us are having quite a time adjusting to our new timezone on the other side of the world. However, Ehren loves his new house. He had a bit of trouble doing anything but staring when we first got home. Now that he has adjusted to the blue walls it is a toss up between whether he likes the mirror or playing best. I can't quite decide.

We've also transitioned to the cloth diapers and realize we need a LOT more. Hasn't been painful at all though. The only thing that is painful is the fatigue. He naps great but now he is napping through the night instead of sleeping which is so tiring. Hopefully he'll transition soon to the new schedule and then it will be all peaches and rainbows, right?

Next step is pediatrician appointment, social worker visit, starting the American adoption proceedings and those pesky vaccines. Should make for a full week month!

So Ready for Home

We are back in Taipei and Ehren successfully survived his first plane ride. We had our AIT appointment today and we are sitting in the hotel room waiting for 2:30 when they said his visa may be ready. There is a small chance they call and tell us there was an issue with the birthmother interview but barring that we got the "clear to go" and we get to pick it up this afternoon.

AIT was interesting. They do your interview just out in the open so you can hear everything. The couple before us met online and he came out here to marry her. They have only seen each other 3 times and they are trying to get her visa so she can come to the US. I can't imagine the stories these officials hear because just this one was fascinating.

Currently Ehren is asleep, Joshua is out finding us lunch and I'm frantically trying to figure out if we can get on a plane in less than 12 hours. The only earlier flight we can take is tonight so I'm trying to be prepared for everything if we get his visa. We have a southwest flight to book, hotel in LA and then packing us all up again. We wouldn't normally be in such a rush to get home but we are 3.5 weeks into the traveling and home just sounds so great.

So if you don't hear from us again that is a great sign and we'll be home on Saturday night. If we don't get an earlier flight then we'll get to buy a cheap ipod, computer and drink more milk bubble tea so it won't be all bad.

Here is America's newest immigrant:

Why I Wasn't a Camera Op

I have a really hard time documenting things when I just want to experience them. So sorry but you are left with very little pretty pictures. When we left for the afternoon I turned to Joshua and asked if we had the camera. Nope we had forgotten to grab it. But we did have 4 diapers, a bottle ready to be made and one content little boy with us.

Our last day in Taitung was spent checking out more of the aboriginal side of the area and learning a tiny bit about Peinan which is the tribe of Ehren's birthmother.

Then we sufficiently freaked out our waitress at dinner. We decided to eat at the hotel and invited some of the Hannah's Hope staff to join us so we could eat family style to try a few dishes. They needed to eat later than we normally did and it corresponded with Ehren's play time instead of sleep time. Not a problem! We brought a blanket and laid it out on the hotel restaurant floor between our chairs and let him play while we ate. The first waitress laughed and then brought the rest of the girls to see what we were doing. It didn't seem that weird to us but they were very concerned that we understood that the floor wasn't clean. Hello, we brought a blanket - he'll be fine!