The First 24 hours with Nicholas

Hello All!
Well we picked up Nicholas yesterday morning. Again, we were prepared for many tears and for him to be somewhat scared out of his mind but he proved us wrong. We were taken to a caregiver's room where we could change him. They brought him in and he had a big smile on his face. We changed his clothes. Stacy brought 2 pairs of elastic was it 3t pants. The first pair fell off of him. He literally is nothing but skin and bones. The second pair worked ok but we rolled the waist bad. He loved his denim hat with the monster truck that Sarah picked out for him. The caretaker told him to go with us to the car and be a good boy for his Mama and Papa. Doug and I held our breath as we took his hand and led him outside. We were waiting for tears. They said goodbye to him and he ran to the car with no looking back. He was ready to go! We laughed and got pictures of him running to the car. It was so darn cute with him in his baggy pants and carrying the teddy bear that Grandma Lange had gotten him. The car drive went well. Stacy thought his neck would break turning and looking at everything. He loves trucks!
When we arrived back in the city, we stopped at a supermarket (much like the ones at home) and again he just stared at everything. We took him for lunch which he did not eat a lot of. Then we played and took a nap.
In the afternoon Stacy took him to a department store to return a backpack that we had bought the day before (zipper broke). Again, Nicholas just stared at everything with his mouth open. It is a whole new world for him. Stacy had him choose a backpack and he picked one with a tiger and race care on it. She also bought his a toy matchbox truck. . Hopefully today he will eat for us. Stacy gave him his first bath. As soon as he saw the bathtoys in the water, he could not get his clothes off fast enough. He loved it and giggled so hard. Of course he had to splash his new mama. After that we played and read books to him. At 10pm, he started yawning and we told him good nigh, put him in his crib and went right to sleep. He woke Stacy at 5:30am to go the bathroom but then he marched back to the crib and wanted to go back to bed.

What we have learned about our new son, he likes cars and trucks, baths, juice, chicken and sausage, puzzles and elevators. What he he does not like, lots of different foods (especially rice), and being told no. When we tell him not to do something, it works better if we use a soft voice. If we use a firm voice, he just laughs at us. Reminds us of another little boy named Collin! These two boys are two of kind and are similar in so many ways.

Today, we are going to the zoo. It should be fun. We are going with Oksana our interpter and now our good friend. The rest of the day will be low key. Take care and keep those emails coming as we are home sick!

Love, the Daubs

p.s. The Luggage Came Friday night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!