Written by Mike: Today was one of the most exhilirating and anxious days of our lives. When Eli John showed up at our door he was surrounded by his caregivers and had a big smile on his face. Everyone crammed into our small hotel room while Jodi and I tried to bond with him while signing forms and writing down notes given to us by his foster mothers. They all said he was strong and smart for his age and is usually shy. But, Jodi bribed him with chocolate and soon Eli was in her lap playing with toys and clowning around. He is very curious and enjoyed exploring his temporary home and all the toys and goodies stashed throughout the room. Eli really liked gobbling up the M&Ms while making growling noises and sharing with me. Next, he and his new mama and baba were playing with the water bottle making funny noises by tapping on the bottle when he had it up to his mouth. However, probably the most fun was the kiddie camera. Eli is a natural shutterbug and has mastered he art of point and shoot with this device. He also likes to look at what the pictures are after he has taken a few. He only stopped playing with this toy long enough to cram a few more treats into his mouth before taking more photos. One other toy he enjoyed looking at was the photo book we made and mailed to him. In it, we showed him pictures of the house and his room along with his two older brothers and the dog. He knew he was getting brothers and asked to see them in the book. He laughed when he saw a picture of Dixie but really laughed when he saw himself on the last page. Next it was family portrait time and passport photo. This wasn't as much fun and he had to be coaxed into it by his father who would suddenly lift him into the air making everyone giggle. He apparently doesn't like to walk since he kept reaching for both his new mom and dad which was lucky for us since he is a handful. One the way back, we stopped at a bush to shake some leaves off and feel them against our hands and giggle some more. Then the difficult part began. His caregivers had to leave and they and Eli had difficulty saying goodbye. It was obvious that they had established an attachment to the little guy since they kept coming into the room to say goodbye more than once. While we can't read his mind, nor speak his language fluently to know how to communicate with him, Eli is smart enough to know that something was going on and his smile turned to a frown. Not even food could stop him from crying. And cry he did. Eli was not happy that his foster mothers were leaving and continued to call out their name for some time. We traded him back and forth trying to soothe him and saying "I love you" in Chinese but nothing worked. While he did not inherit any biological traits from us, it was quickly apparent that he has a temper like his mom (yay for me) and when he didn't want a toy or snack waved in front of his face he would push it away and turn his head as if he was disgusted with whatever you held in your hand. What did finally stop his wailing was sleep. He had driven over 3 hours to Jinan from the foster home and was off his schedule. He had been rubbing his eyes since we first met each other so it was obvious he was tired. He fell asleep in his MaMa's arms; she lowered him into bed and his new parents took turns snuggling next to him.