Matthew

Well, it is a good thing I have been reflecting on raising boys because we now have TWO! On Friday, we received exciting and unexpected news from our adoption agency. We were matched with a newborn baby boy! We have spent the last two days at the hospital visiting with our new son, Matthew Elliott. He is absolutely adorable and a very sweet baby. We are hoping that he will come home tomorrow and we are SO excited. It has been a very surreal experience. Here is a picture of me, David and Matthew when we first got to visit him in the hospital.

Today, Cameron was able to come to the hospital. We were told that he would be able to see Matthew through the nursery window, but he could not come inside the nursery. I was in the nursery, holding Matthew, while David and Cameron looked in. Cameron looked a little dazed, but smiled and smiled. Then, I went out to join Cameron and David in the hallway. I gave Cameron his "Big Brother present" -- Batman PJs with a cape. This produced an even bigger smile than Matthew did. Cameron carefully laid out the PJs on a bench and admired them. Then he said, "Oh! I better show them to Matthew!" He climbed up on the bench and ceremoniously lifted the Batman shirt in front of the window. Then he slowly turned it around so that Matthew could get a good look at the cape! Matthew appeared duly impressed, as you can see here:
As I was about to leave with Cameron, Dawn (one of the fantastic nurses taking care of Matthew) motioned for us to wait and brought Matthew to the doorway so Cameron could see him up close. Cameron was initially hesistant to touch him, but eventually softly patted his hands.
Some funny things Cameron has said and done:

Over dinner, Cameron says, "And if we have more babies . . . " long pause "well, we don't need any MORE babies!"

On the ride home from the hospital after meeting Matthew, "I thought it was going to be Arthur's baby. But it's not, right? Ha! I'm just pretending. I love Matthew. But I love Arthur's baby, too." For the unfamiliar, Arthur is a cartoon aardvark on a PBS children's show.

On his contribution to baby care, "I'll change his diapers. And feed him ice cream."

On learning that his brother's name is Matthew:

Mommy: And your new baby brother is named Matthew!

Cameron: No, Matthew goes to my school.

Mommy: No, no, this is a baby named Matthew. Not big boy Matthew from your school.

Cameron: They're brothers?

Mommy: No, baby Matthew is YOUR brother.

Cameron: But baby Matthew and big boy Matthew have the same name? They're twins?

Mommy: *sigh*

And one more funny story. Yesterday, my friend Kris kindly watched Cameron all day long when we were at the hospital. Her oldest daughter, age 6, apparently gathered from our conversations that there was a new baby. She said to me, "Are you having a baby?" "Well," I answered, "we are adopting a baby. Do you know what adoption means?" Her face lit up and she responded excitedly, "YES! I'm adopting a wolf from the zoo!"

So, a very exciting few days for our family! We hope we'll have photos of Matthew at home to share tomorrow!