Ethiopia {day 2}

Ethiopia {day 2}

We're in for the night and it's been a good, full day!  We started the morning at breakfast, meeting the fourth family in our little entourage. With our backpacks and cameras and white skin, there is no mistaking the fact that we are tourists!  We sat and visited after breakfast, waiting until about 10:30 for our driver to come pick us up.  There are other people staying here aside from us four families and we had the opportunity to meet several of them this morning: a couple waiting on a marriage license so that they can get married (he's from the states, she's from here), a couple from Denmark here adopting their first child, and an intriguing British "bloke" who is working on a project with the hospital to expand their facial reconstruction facility.

Once the driver arrived, we loaded up the van and headed to see our babies.  The couple that arrived this morning met their 8 month old twins for the first time.  They were so sweet with such a mild, content disposition.  Bek was crying when they brought him to us, but, unlike yesterday, we were able to easily calm him.  He was pretty content this morning.  We gave him his "who loves baby?" book and he took a long time staring at the pictures in the book, pointing to each one.  He didn't let go of it for the whole visit.  We got to feed him lunch again.  He ate super fast without crying or spitting it (another improvement) and then we just cuddled and talked to him.  He did seem to be feeling better, but was pretty serious all morning.

We left for lunch and ate at the Downtown Cafe and Restaurant, Hermella's favorite.  We all got pizza and it was pretty good.   We only took an hour away from our kids to do this and then our driver was back and we sped back to the HOH.

Bek was more fussy the second visit.  He felt hot and I wondered if his fever was back.  He whimpered more and chewed on his finger and on a toy that he borrowed from one of the other babies.  {note to adoptive parents: bring several toys on the first trip!}. He was ok by about 30 minutes in, so I left him with Trevor and went to take pictures and video of some of the other babies {paying it forward for all the times we have received pictures of our little man from other families}.  This was a super fun experience!  I got good pictures and a little video of each of the five babies.  Those nannies sure do love the babies and they made each baby smile for the camera.  So sweet!  I then went downstairs to spend time with and take pictures and video of the two toddlers whose mamas have become my friends and adoptive support through this process.  This was a super special time for me as I got to love on the boys and let them know that their parents were coming for them soon.  They were both so full of personality and really just the best of buddies.

Once I was done with pictures, I went back into the room to hold my sweet baby again.  He was so hot, so I took off his shirt since he also had a onesie on and we sat in front of the fan on the floor.  He sat on my lap and then pulled to standing, holding onto me for support.  This was the first initiative he has taken in regards to doing something by himself, so we were thrilled.  He also smiled more while we were hanging out on the floor, which warmed this mama's heart.   Our time was up, so we took him back to the playroom and headed out for the day.

Tonight, our little team of four adoptive families went to eat at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant, complete with Ethiopian dance.  The food was yummy {though I prefer Blue Nile in KC}, and the dance was, well, traditional and interesting.  It was a good experience for sure. Tomorrow, we will visit Bek for a while and then go shopping.  I'm super excited to be able to get him (and Camden and Melia) some traditional Ethiopian things for him to have for years to come!:)