Gotcha

My heart might actually burst.

Of course, I’m biased, but he really is the most amazing kiddo. Our Little Man was one of three kiddos already at the Civil Affairs building when we arrived there this morning, which we did not expect. He was in pink overalls, so I didn’t actually spot him right away, which gave my precious husband the opportunity to shock me by slyly bringing him over. Many of the other families had to wait quite a while to meet their kiddos.

Children all over the room were wailing from utter panic– which is absolutely, completely reasonable. They had all just left the only home they have ever know, stepped foot outdoors for the first time, been assaulted by the sights, sounds, and smells of the city, taken their first car or train ride, been walked into a loud, chaotic room of screaming babies and jubilant parents and thrust suddenly into the arms of foreign looking strangers.

Our boy was so brave. We saw the full spectrum of responses from the kiddos in the room, like all of the books list to prepare you for: Some screamed, some refused their new parents, one got sick, and some were silent. Our boy was silent, stoic, and at one point fell asleep in my arms as I rocked him. This is also typical as the stress on their tiny bodies can just overwhelm them and they simply shut down.

He remained calm and quietly observant during the bus ride home and we quickly retreated to the confines of our hotel room to better acquaint ourselves. It has been nothing short of amazing to see this brilliant little lad come out of his shell. Through feeding, holding, rocking, bathing and playing, he has already begun to trust us. He smiles. He laughs. He says “mama” and “baba”. He loves to be held. He loves his bottle. He loves his silly sisters.

He’s asleep now, which is why I’m able to blog. We are eating in our room tonight to maintain the relative calm, as we have a morning of paperwork errands tomorrow.

Without further ado, some pictures:

… and a video