Nine months together

Nine months ago a little boy walked through a set of doors in Changsha and straight into our hearts. That night as we held him, talked to him, fed him Cheerios, and sang countless verses of "Toora Loora Loora" in hopes he'd fall asleep, we knew our lives had changed. We just weren't sure what Louis had in store for us.

I'm not sure we pictured this:

Or this:

But it's been so much more fun to be surprised. And I suspect Louis will just keep on surprising us.

We still sing a lot of "Toora Loora Loora." It's Louis's lullaby of choice. When he pretends to be falling asleep, as he is demonstrating here, he says, "Mama. Toora Toora?"

He still eats Cheerios--and almost everything else. This weekend when he noticed I was only making 12 orange cupcakes, he took matters into his own hands and grabbed a second muffin tin.

He knows what he's doing. Since he eats two or three at a time, 12 wouldn't have been enough.

Meanwhile, he's learning everything he can. He's determined to figure out how Aunt Treasa plays "I've Been Working on the Railroad" on the piano. He can sit and watch her quietly from his front-row seat for a half hour.

And he is learning a lot. He wrapped his first birthday gift (for Grandma's birthday) this weekend.

On tape usage, he's a bit liberal, but the packages did get wrapped--with some help from Mama.

Lately he is a fan of Noah's.

And he likes his tugboats.

 He watched this one for a while...

...before we traded it for a visit to the cannons.

 He has to figure out how everything works.

 He's just naturally curious.

 And, luckily, Baba has some of the answers.

Not surprisingly, Louis still loves trains...

 ...and almost anything that moves.

And he loves to play...

...especially outside...

 ...and especially with his cousins. My brother's son, Andrew, came to town this weekend, and Louis was excited to see him again.
 

 It's hard to believe these boys didn't meet until after Christmas.

They have such a good time together.

For that matter, it's hard to believe that nine months ago, Louis hadn't met our parents. (Here he is with Grammy and Poppy.)

Back then, we couldn't imagine a day when he would sit through a book as long as "The Cat in the Hat."

Now we have to talk him out of a fourth or fifth book before bedtime. And he knows which ones take the longest, of course.

Yes, he's become very savvy in his nine months home.

He insists he can do everything "Self! Self!"

And some things he can do without help...

...though he needed just a bit of assistance with this puzzle.

Whether he's in his serious, focused mood...

...or just goofing off with Baba...

...it's clear that he's not just the newest member of our family.

He's the center of our lives.