Happy Gotcha Day to Louis!

When we asked Louis what he wanted for his Gotcha dinner, he said, "Sweet gherkin pickles."

I don't like pickles, but that sounded like a wonderfully easy dinner to me. But eventually the plans turned into carrying in Chinese food and eating Italian ice.

I halfheartedly offered to make a Gotcha Day cake, but Louis is not into baked goods, so I was relieved when he didn't want one.

He was perfectly content to have his Gotcha Day candles in an egg roll.

His space shuttle plates were leftover from his birthday. Somehow we bought them and never used them. It has been a busy fall.

Louis doesn't look happy here, but that's because there's a camera involved.

We sang and he blew out his candles. I don't know whether he made a wish--for pickles, perhaps?

It was a low-key celebration, and we didn't bother with gifts since Louis's birthday was less than a month before and Christmas is zooming up on us. We have never celebrated with Gotcha Day gifts, and it seems to work just fine to make the boy of the hour feel particularly special.

And Louis certainly got what that was all about. We heard quite a bit of "Well, it is my Gotcha Day, you know."

Three years with our boy have flown by--and yet it feels as if he has always been in our family.

As dinner continued, Louis decided he wanted to be the photographer for the evening.

He did about as well as I ever do.

And then his father snagged the camera.

Three years ago we became parents in a government building in Changsha.


Since then we've learned more about high-speed bullet trains and rocketry than I ever thought I'd know. And we've been back to China for Louis's little brother, Michael. He has grown so much and is learning so quickly about everything. Some days I can barely keep up with him.

But even after three years, I can still remember how it felt to meet our first child, our first son, this amazing 2-year-old boy.

Happy Gotcha Day, Louis!