I now have our son! He is resting in the bed while I type. He is very quiet and shy. The morning was an amazing experience. We arrived at the office and before we even had time to set our things down, a van pulled up with our children inside. My first sight of him was from the office window as he walked towards the building with the nannies holding his hand. He was bundled up with the many layers that they use against the cold.
He did not hesitate to come to me and let me hold him, although his eyes showed some apprehension. He watched everything going on around him. I took out some toys and he smiled. He also drank two milk boxes and ate some crackers. His favorite toys were the bubbles and balloons. These became favorite toys of the whole group. At some point I noticed that he had on the pants and sneakers that I had sent him. It was an active room with three families meeting their children and two other little girls being adopted.
We were there for quite a while signing papers, giving our gifts to the orphanage, and playing with the children. I gave them the bags of bibs for the babies. We then loaded the bus and traveled back to the orphanage. Timmy was excited about the snow and looked out the window, while holding onto the balloon. He was talking to me and when I asked our representative what he was saying, she said that he wanted his foster mom. L When we were almost to the hotel, he fell asleep in my arms. This didn’t last once we arrived, as he woke up while I was carrying him.
We are supposed to keep them on their home schedule which means he should be napping. So, I changed his diaper after taking off his many layers of clothing. Then, I laid him on the bed where he is playing with matchbox cars, looking through the pictures I brought and laying very quietly. I laid with him for a while, and he would shyly look over at me every once in a while. Now, I am sitting at the desk, trying to give him some space so that he might fall asleep. It just became quieter, so he may be falling asleep. Not yet, but hopefully soon.
While he rested I looked through a bag of things they handed to me. Inside I found many of the items I sent to him, including unopened toys. The best thing that I found was a picture book of Timmy with his foster family. I can tell that he was well loved. There are about 20 pictures of him with his mama, baba, and brother and sister. They are laughing and smiling in each picture. The representative suggests that I wait several weeks or months before showing him this album, as he will likely become upset and want to find them.
Adoption is so hard. I hate to take him from this loving family, but they are unable to keep him as a son. They already have children, so Timmy’s time with them would be limited. Unfortunately, he does not understand this. The days ahead will include his grief about losing them. For now, I feel blessed that our first meeting included some smiles and laughter from this little boy who is now a part of my life forever.
