Gotcha Day!

Hi everyone,

Let me tell you all just a bit about the last two days. On Tuesday, we met up with our group at 9:30 to do a little souvenir shopping. Not a ton of time to barter, since we only had an hour and a half, but we got a few things, including a tourist version of the tradional coffee ceremony set, which is a plate with the coffee pot and six little tiny coffee cups. Cute. Some scarves, a couple things for Eyasu to wear, etc. Then we went to this Italian restaurant that doubles as an art gallery for up and coming Ethiopian artists. Then, off to the transition home by about 2pm. We were able to take photos of E's most recent bed there, and also of him with some of the nannies who cared for him. So, since this was Gotcha Day, as they call it, so when we left, we all toted our little bundles with us. We have the only boy in the bunch, though three of us have 2 year olds. One of the families is coming back in February or so to pick up their baby boy as well. (Their two children are unrelated biologically, but that's a special case, I guess.)


On the trip home, Eyasu put his hand back in his mouth, which I think he does when he's nervous, but he was calm and quiet and easy going. For dinner, we had pizza, and Eyasu ate a ton! He eats really well! Everything we put in front of him. And drinks lots of water. He couldn't suck on the straw at first in the cups, but then he learned quickly. He's had a really gross diaper each day, so we're thinking he may have some little creepy crawlies inside which are typical here that we'll get rid of when we get home. Yeah, you probably didn't want to know that. :D So, we put water in the bottom of the shower to give him a bath and he loved it! He was even using Ben's shaving cream top/cap to pour water over his head and face. They must have done that at the transition home. So, we figured that maybe he'd like the shower just as well. He did. So, that was fun to get him all clean. Into PJs after that, all warm and snuggly, then at about 8:00 we started talking about bed ("alga" in Amharic) and sleeping, turned out the light, and put him in the crib. He kind of fake cried for about a minute, but we just sat down there next to him and showed him that we were still there, and within a few minutes, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. We couldn't believe it. I thought he'd likely get up in the night...but he didn't! He slept from 8:15 or 30 to 7:15 or 30! And I slept for 9 hours, too, which I really needed after having nearly a full week of 4, 5, or 6 hour nights.


So, today we all met at 8:30 to leave for the US Embassy. We got there, went through security, and by 9:30 were in a big waiting room which was filled to the gills with Ethiopians trying to get visas and Americans (etc) who were adopting. Maybe 8 or so other adoptive parents beside our group. We waited for about 2 hours as the room thinned out and at 11:30 the Rice family was called upstairs to Window 3. The process was very quick for us. This was helped along more by the fact that tomorrow is Ethiopian Christmas (Genna) and the Embassy was going to be closed, so they're trying to get a lot done today. The woman asked us if E was the same child that had been referred to us, how the child came to be adoptable, whether we'd met him before our court date on dec. 3, and maybe another 1-2 questions. She was very nice. We raised our right hands to say that everything in our paperwork was true. All four families went through easily and our visas for the kids will be ready to pick up by T on Friday morning.


Went to Lucy Grill (as in Lucy, the prehistoric "pre-human" girl found in Ethiopia) for lunch. At 2:30 we were back to the Transition Home one last time for a Christmas party. The bigger kids sang 3 Christmas carols in Amharic and English, they opened a present each (barbies or cars), then we had cookies, cake, and pop. Got back here around 5 and had some dinner, bath, and E is sleeping for the night again. He's had a couple tantrums this evening, just typical 2 year old stuff, when he's just around us. Maybe a sign that he's relaxing with us and feeling "at home." :) He tends to quiet down a lot around other people for now, which may be helpful in getting us home on those long plane rides.

Well, I've got to run. Love you all so much. Thanks for your prayers.
Susan