We woke up raring to go after another great night's sleep. Then another tasty breakfast. I am loving all the fresh fruit, and Jerry is still loving the great coffee. Should I have titled this blog: Eating our way across Honduras?
Ileana picked us up on schedule, and we headed over to the government offices where we were yesterday, this time to take a psychological test. It is called the MMPI, a personality test that is used in the States, and which we took as part of putting together our dossier. This version was slightly different -- I think it was the Spanish version of the test, that had been translated to English, because some of the terminology was a little different than American English. Anyway, it was about 580 yes or no questions, and took quite a while to get through since we had to fill in those little bubbles with our number 2 pencils, especially since we were sitting in student desks like in high school. When that was over, we had to answer some essay questions about our lives; maybe about ten of those. Then Ileana translated for a while, and we were done!
Back to the hotel for lunch, and mentally trying to prepare to meet the new member of our family. I was thinking this is got to be something of what it is like going to your own wedding when it is an arranged marriage. This time, God was doing the arranging!
We packed up a few of the toys we had brought with us, and the list of questions we had prepared to ask his foster mother, and headed out the door to the orphanage. Our son is not living at an orphanage but in foster care, but the orphanage is where the ladies that are in charge of foster care have their offices. Within about ten minutes of our arrival, in walked our son in the arms of his foster mother.
It is so hard to even describe that moment. It is surreal really. Here is the moment we have been anticipating since we started this process nearly three years ago. We have been waiting and waiting and waiting, and then there he is!
Instantly we were smitten. As cute as he looked in the photograph that we had been given as part of his referral, he is a bazillion times cuter in person. He is without a doubt the most adorable and the sweetest boy in the whole country of Honduras. Just a precious precious face, and just the sweetest, calmest, most tranquil disposition. We tried not to overwhelm him. A few tears came instantly to my eyes, but I was able to regain my composure. Thank you Lord for that. I didn't want to scare the little honey. He was sitting so sweetly on his foster mother's lap in a chair next to Jerry. I was on the sofa nearby, but got up and sat as his feet, and we just looked at him. We patted his back a few times, and rubbed the soft skin on his hands and arms, and he just looked at us. I wonder what could have been going through his mind. Obviously, there is no way to prepare a 20-month-old to meet his new parents. Who knows what he could have thought. Anyway, we just sat there looking at him, smiling at him, saying hello to him, and gently patting his back and arm. And then we heard the most amazing words from Ileana.
"They said you can take him with you back to the hotel. Would you like him until Saturday or Sunday?"
Huh???
Honestly, we were thinking we would only be able to play with him for a couple hours, there at the offices, or at a playground. And then see him for a few hours at the hotel or a playground the next day, and again the day after that, always in the company of his foster mother because of his young age. That is what we had been told. So mentally, it was a big big surprise. Fortunately, we had brought several toys and books, but no food for him or clothes. Anybody following our steps, I would recommend bringing some clothes, etc, just in case.
Of course we said we wanted to take him with us -- malls are plentiful around here, and we would be able to purchase anything we needed for a couple days. We decided to keep him until Saturday afternoon, since we would be flying out Sunday morning, and thought that it would make it too hectic if we had him until Sunday first thing in the morning, much as we would love to spend every minute with him.
Oh my goodness, were we excited!! We got in the car with Ileana, the foster mother, and our son. He started to cry a little bit -- I don't think he likes car rides very much. I think they must be scary to a little guy. His foster mother comforted him, and he quickly stopped crying. We drove to a restaurant that had a playground inside, and started playing with him a little. He was amazingly calm. His foster mother was within sight, but even still, he was very calm. We had handed him a ball at the offices, and he was still holding on to that. We also pulled out some stacking cups, and he really liked those too. We just kept playing with him, and eventually he gave us the sweetest smile. Oh my heart. What a honey pie. Jerry and I each took turns asking the foster mother some questions, and then she got up and left. Our son did not notice that she had walked out, but soon after we all got up to leave. At that moment, he noticed that she was gone, and cried a bit. I was able to comfort him, and I am surprised that he didn't cry more. At that point, though, there were no more smiles, but we were so thrilled that we had seen one already. We made it back to the hotel, Ileana dropped us off, then she headed to the mall for us for some pajamas, an outfit for tomorrow, formula, and a bottle. Oh, and diapers and wipes. Don't forget those. We played with him some more, gave him a bottle, and read a book with him. He was very intent on that book: his sweet eyes were following everything on the page. He started to cry some more, longer and heavier than he had in the car earlier. Luckily we were able to comfort him, walking around and cuddling him, and also thanks in part to one of the books we brought. I sat on the bed with him, looking at the book, and talking and singing very softly. He fell asleep. Amazing! Unfortunately, I shifted too soon, and he woke up and started to cry again. I started the walking and rocking routine again, followed by sitting on the bed and reading a book again. And again, he fell asleep. I stayed still for quite a while! I was able to set him down next to me, and he stayed asleep. For nearly twelve hours!!!!!