It's a boy!

Paul and I are overjoyed to announce that we have a son! We accepted the proposal yesterday, October 1, for this exceptionally beautiful little boy: Yes, real men do wear pink ... and argyll sweaters!

Our son's Chinese name in Mandarin is Zhu Zheng Ren (Zhu being his surname). We've been told his nickname is Renren. His name in Cantonese (the more common language where he lives) is actually a fair bit different and it is likely that it is the Cantonese pronunciation of his name that he is familiar with. The main difference in the names is that instead of "Ren" it is "Jan" (pronounced something like "Yun") in Cantonese. Anyway, we won't know for certain what his caregivers call him until we're actually there but we're quite certain that it's Yunyun.

As for what we'll call him, we're still floating around various ideas. Once we decide, I'll be changing the address of this blog. If you don't receive an email from me about the new address, contact me and I'll send it to you.

Other details about our boy:

• he was born on December 3, 2006 which makes him 8 months younger than Claire;
  
• he currently resides in the Zhuhai Social Welfare Institute in Guangdong Province (southern China);
  
• the last measurements we have of him were at 18 months but he sounds like a good-sized lunker if they are at all accurate: 25 lbs and 81 cm tall (yes, heavier and taller than his big sister, Claire); and
  
• he is described as an active kid, with a ready smile who likes others to tease him for fun. He often shows his caregivers a "brilliant smile" in order for them to take him out to play.

Claire is really excited about her new younger brother (notice how I say "younger brother" rather than "little" brother ). Yesterday morning when we showed her his pictures, she let out a gentle little "awww" with each photograph. I know she'll be a loving big sis.

I should note that we already think of this child as our son but he is not officially "ours" yet. The process for adopting a Waiting Child is different from the one we experienced with Claire. Instead of the Chinese government matching us like they did with Claire, our coordinator matched us with him. The Chinese government still has to approve us as a family for him. We'll know he's ours when we receive a Letter Seeking Confirmation from them, in the next 4-6 months. Although there is always a very, very small chance they may not approve us for him, I'm not holding back. He's our son and we're already crazy about him!

We expect to travel to China anywhere between February and May of 2009.