Benjamin!!!!!

We flew from Beijing to Changsha in Hunan this morning. We left our hotel at the bottom crack of dawn to head for the airport. Thank gosh we did, as there was a problem with one of our ticketss. One of the passport numbers had been switched, and the ticket agent wouldn't honor the ticket. Our guide got it straightened out quickly, but it still kind of put us on edge for a few minutes. Clearing security was almost easier than ut is at home, and no one batted an eye at any of Christopher's pump supplies or such. We flew on China Southern airline to Changsha - if you're ever travelling in China, I can't recommend them enough. The staff are wonderful, and coach class actually has legroom! It was a 2 hour flight, and we were all a bit anxious, as we still didn't know when we would be meeting Benjamin. We arrived in Chnagsha a bit early, and met our guide for this part of the trip. Her name is Celia, and she is very nice. She has more planning OCD than I do, so I'm happy. She brought us to the hotel, and got us settled in. We have 2 adjoining rooms, so quite a bit of space to spread out in. Both rooms have what the Chinese would call 2 double beds. There's no chance of either of us sharing them - they're like twin beds with an extra inch of 2. Celia arranged for the banker to come to our room, rather than exchanging money at the bank early in the morning. I would not want that man's job. He's got a pouch with him with thousands of dollars and yuan with hom. I get nervous with more than $50 in my wallet...... Celia brought Brian, Christopher, and I to the provincial office to get Benjamin. We got there before him, and spent about 10 minutes with our hearts pounding out of our chests. He came with the orphanage director, and 2 of the nannies, but not with his foster family. He was sad initally, but doing OK. He wanted nothing to do with toys, snacks, or drinks. Brian got to spend a while asking questions of the orphanage director. We will not get to meetbhis foster family, which is depressing. We found out he is very afraid of strangers, which will make this a bit difficult. He loves to be moving and looking at things. As soon as I would sit down, he would cry. If I was walking, things were OK. We did get to take some pictures with the orphanage director and nannies for him to have later. We came back to the hotel, and that was when he realized he was staying with us. He cried for a few straight hours. He finally settled down when Brian got out his iPad woth the panda game that you touch the panda and it spins, sings, repeats what you said, etc. he was much happier after that, and was then willing to sit with Brian. They played on the floor for a while, and he would finally have a drink. He is completely Daddy's boy, and wants nothing to do with me. He's gotten to where I can be near him, but God forbid I touch him :). My existance is tolerated, but not OK right now. Hopefully that will change soon. A lot of kids pick one parent and reject the other, but it doesn't really make it feel better right now. Brian got him to eat some rice for dinner, and drink some water. He doesn't do sippy cups, and we have no small glasses. It's on the shopping list for tomorrow. He is tiny - more than we thought from the info they gave us. I brought 12 month clothes, and shoukd have brought 6-9 month. I'll have to buy some pants tomorrow that fit better. Everying hangs off of him by a few inches. He's sound asleep in his crib right now. Hopefully tomorrow continues to go well, and he starts to warm up to Christopher and I a bit. Christopher has been a trooper so far, but doesn't really get why his baby brother doesn't want to play with him yet. Keep praying for all of us - we could use it! Sorry for the lack of pictures - I'm typing on an iPad, and it will not let me do photos. Brian is out like a light, and he's the technological genius to figure out adding photos from his laptop. I'll work on it tomorrow.