The Journey Continues

Well another day is finishing. David is slowly headed towards bedtime. He still gets upset about his shoes coming off, but not as bad as the first night. Also, bath time was not as big of an ordeal tonight. He even helped squirt shampoo into Emily's hands and played a little with his toy boat.

Today we had to go to the U.S. Embassy down the road to get the final paperwork finished and turned into the "powers that be." We left the hotel at 7am packed and prepared for a long day of waiting in a room with a bunch of screaming children. So we were surprised when the process was over and we were back in our hotel room by 9:30am! Our Guatemalan contact/escort seemed surprised as well. Other than a diaper change, it was a pretty uneventful time for David. He did have some cookies thrown at him by a little girl, but he got to keep them so he was alright with the whole thing.

My dad and I went to the bank and had some money exchanged for the tours we will go on later this week. I got to shop for a few souvenirs, and then we came back to the hotel for lunch. The afternoon was spent playing and napping. He really enjoys pushing his stroller around with Curious George sitting in the seat, and when he tires of that, he jumps in and waits to go for a stroll. (It is almost like a dog waiting at the door with his leash in his mouth!) One of his other favorite activities is to show his cars to anyone that will listen to him. His conversations consist of "Hola" quickly followed by an even louder "carro." We went to the playroom again today, and the "toy-stealing" little girls were there. David kept his distance! However, there was another girl that he seemed to be keeping his eye on from across the room. The girl and her mom spoke Spanish, but found out that her name was Jasmine and she is five years-old. She was very helpful in assisting David as he moved things around the room and picked up the toys. He eventually pulled a chair beside her and just set there smiling from ear to ear. What a ladies' man! The four of us have decided that he is the cutest, most well-behaved kid in the hotel, but then again I think we may be a little biased.

Oh yeah... David was introduced to two American staples today: pizza and play-doh. We agreed that the pizza was "rico" (delicious), and we spent most of the play-doh time smelling it over and over again. Next step, making shapes. He also loves to wrestle and rough house. Upside-down, sideways, somersaults, swinging around; it is all good to him! He cracked us up today when the rough housing had ceased but he wanted more; he told me, "manos zapatos," because he wanted me to pick him up by his shoes and swing him in the air and back onto the bed.

Tomorrow we will be going on a half-day tour of Antigua, Guatemala. This is a smaller, traditional city with old churches, ruins, and a central market for shopping. Hopefully all of the stroller training will payoff! Talk to you later.

Kyle

PS-He seems to enjoy watching Curious George and the Backyardigans.

FYI

Here is some information for all of you that have been asking.

His current sizes are...
-18M to 2T in pants.
-2T to 3T in shirts.
-L (20-27lbs) in diapers.
-2T in socks and 6 or 7 in shoes.

He loves the basic boy toys...
-cars.
-blocks.
-music makers.
-things that require hands-on activity.
-reasoning toys (puzzles/shape-matching).

His foster mom has been using (and we would like to continue) Johnson & Johnson products ("Soothing Naturals"). Moisturizing and/or sensitive skin lotion in particular, as he has dry skin.

Kyle and Emily

Our First Day

First, let me say that parenting is already taken its toll. (This is Emily, by the way). Every time I heard movement or a sound I woke up! Needless to say, the only reason I'm awake now is survival plus adrenaline. :) David slept through the night in his own bed and woke up with no problems whatsoever; he just played with his carro (car) on his bed and smiled. Then we had breakfast downstairs in the restaurant. Man, can he eat! He loves anything you put in front of him! No picky eater here! After eating, we came upstairs and played until lunchtime, which again, was so much fun to watch. He has some interesting habits already. He uses only adult utensils and cups; he smells his food before he eats it; he takes pieces of bread and scoots it across his plate to capture any escaping morsels of food; and get this: HE DRINKS COFFEE!!! Poppy (Grandpa Ken) had just told us that a Guatemalan co-worker mentioned that we shouldn't be surprised if he drinks cafe (coffee). Sure enough, toward the end of lunch, Kyle and I ordered some, and David gave me his cup, pointed to the coffee cup, and said, "Cafe!" We laughed it off, not sure of what he meant, and David again insisted on his request by pointing to the his cup, then Kyle's coffee cup, then his again. Kyle poured him some water-downed coffee, and sure enough, he downed it like it was pop!! Starbucks, here we come!!!

Another interesting event was playing in the play room with all the other adoptive kids and their families. He loves to pick up chairs and toys and move them around. He also didn't seem to enjoy it when other kids, especially the girls, tried to claim his toys. He seems every bit of two years old. What's his is his.

I'm just so impressed with how smart, beautiful, and pleasant he is. He doesn't seem to know any strangers. He has the cutest smile, long eyelashes, and a laugh that could shatter any frozen heart. He's already quickly picking up English; we simply say things in Spanish and follow up with the English version. He already calls Kyle "Daddy" and me "Mama," and his Curious George is "George." Additionally, he says, "gracias," and "de nada," when he gives or receives things, and he picks up all his toys after he's finished playing. He has amazing manners. He also is extremely cooperative and "knows the drill" when it comes to diaper changes, changing clothes, etc. Like most Guatemalan children, he is extremely attached to his shoes; they only take them off when it's time for bed.

Right now, he's the perfect son, and it's like we've been together all this time. We know there will be some more adjustments when we return home and establish our "norm," but all is well and happy. He is truly a delight and blessing, and I can't wait for you all to meet and fall in love with him like we have!

Emily

The Eagle has landed...

Well, the placement was delayed a couple of hours (go figure), so we did not get Micah until about 5:30. We got to talk with the foster mom about his daily routine and get information about David (his given name, we are going to change his name to Micah David). Emily and I very much got the sense that Micah was one of her favorites, and it was a hard thing for her to walk away from him. She was concerned about getting pictures of him from time to time as the last adoptive family promised to send pictures, but never did. After we finished the Q&A, we took Micah to the other side of the lobby as his foster family left. It was a very emotional time for all.

For the next couple of hours we played, had dinner, and played some more. Micah is a very outgoing kid, as stated by his foster mom. He loved the musical keyboard that we had brought for him and danced the night away; he very much enjoyed pressing the buttons while waving his arms and swaying his head to the music. Micah also loved his cars and wooden blocks. He would push his cars around the floor with lots of vroom, vrooms and beep, beeps. Everything was going well until we took off his shoes to get ready for bed. What happened next is what me friend refers to as a Total Child Meltdown (TCM). We do not know why, but he cried for a long while. Then as quickly as he started, he was done! We slowly wound down towards bed while playing with his favorite red car. As we speak he is sleeping and I am watching the Tech/OSU game in Spanish. Talk to you guys later.

Kyle

PS-The pictures. There are a couple of him playing before the TCM mentioned before and one of us with the foster mom and her family.

We have arrived....

Just thought I would leave a quick message to let you know that we have made it to Guatemala City and are getting settled into the hotel.  We should be meeting with our contact and the foster mom in a couple of hours.  After this get together, Micah will be with us.  It has been a long wait!

The pictures are of us at the OKC airport this morning (4:30am!!) and a view from our hotel.

About the bus picture.... I wanted to show you a Guatemalan bus turn signal. As we came to the hotel, the city buses were running everywhere, but when I looked at them I noticed a man hanging out of the door. I realized he was directing the traffic around the bus (ie-telling cars to slow down so that the bus could move over, yelling the all clear for the driver). I thought it was pretty cool.

Kyle