Finally We Get to See New Pictures of Emmett

Today we went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. Now, I knew the place would be big, but I was not prepared for how HUGE it was! It seemed like it just went on and on and on...I really loved the Forbidden City- especially the Emperor's Palace. Being a history geek, I loved hearing about all the dynasties and emperors, especially the "baby emperors" who were coached by their mother's from behind a screen. You know what they say, "Behind every great man, is a woman!" But the most amazing fact I learned today was that the emperor was allowed up to 3,000 concubines!!! Imagine if each of them had only 1 child...but chances are, they each had several. The emperor could have several thousand children! Now we know the REAL reason why there is a population issue in China!

This evening our travel group all went out to see the nightly "Snack Street" here in Beijing. The street is lined with vendors selling the most bizarre foods - all skewered on sticks. If you can imagine it, it was being cooked on a stick! Squid, octopus, snakes, scorpions, silk worms and animal genitalia just to name a few. Really fun to see, but quite stinky and in no way edible in my book!

As cool as all of that was, it could not compare with our morning Holt orientation meeting. We learned a lot of important things to prepare us for the rest of our trip and adoption. But, the highlight came at the end when we were all given a scrapbook with updated photos and information on our children.

Things I learned from our update:

1. Emmett is tiny!!! He is still only 23 pounds and just about 21/2 feet tall even though he is 2.9 years old.

2. When it comes to clothes, gender is paid no attention. In one photo, Emmett is wearing a pink ruffled turtleneck!

3. Emmet is apparently quite rambunctious because he is TIED to his crib in the same photo!

4. He likes to play outside and take baths. He and Lilly should have lots of fun together.

5. He was sent back to the hospital for "surgery" in December and just returned to the orphanage in February. We are still trying to figure out what "surgery" means in his case. Our social worker believes it means recasting and braces. We'll see...

6. He loves hugs! Yeah!!!

7. He has the CUTEST smile and sweetest littlest face.

8. It is almost unbearable to wait until tomorrow to finally meet him and make him ours!

So, tomorrow is the big day - Gotcha Day! We leave Beijing at 5:30 am and will meet him around 3:30pm. Right now we have been encouraged to go to sleep early to prepare for our big day tomorrow, but come on, who can sleep?