Ethiopia: Day 3

Another crazy day here in Ethiopia, but a fantastic one! We didn't have any plans until leaving for the market to do some shopping at 10am. We got a slow start and since we had to go to the airport to pick up our bags we didn't have a whole lot of time there. But we managed to wheel and deal and get quite a few things that we hoped to purchase here including a few small toys for Mathios, a traditional outfit and some gifts. We left the rest of our group at the markets and went with one of our drivers to pick up our bags- yippee!! We were SO happy to see them sitting next to the baggage carousel. Even going into the airport is different here- we had to pay an entrance fee. It was only 25 cents, but still funny!

After we got our bags we got dropped off at the guest house so we could put on clean clothes- hooray!- and get things in order for Mathios. We missed out on lunch with the group, but our Easy Mac came to the rescue. We got picked up and headed over to the Transition Home. We had photo releases for five different families so we had lots of kids to take pictures of and love on. Cale was out taking care of our 2 large donation bags and I was in the house holding Mathios and they just started bringing the kids out! It was a little crazy as I'm trying to hold onto M and get the other babies to smile while I took pictures. Thankfully he came back midway through the second child and we were able to tag team. It was wonderful for us to be able to meet all of these kids and spend a little time with them and love on them for their parents. (And if you're one of those parents- pictures and info coming soon!)

We had almost an hour at the Transition Home before the rest of the group got there. It was nice because although it was busy, it would have been a lot more hectic with five other families there! Our poor guy is super congested and was just not feeling well this afternoon so he was actually kind of fussy. But he managed just fine. We got to talk with the main nurse at the TH and hear a little more about his health and go over his "schedule". Nothing we didn't know, but it was still good to talk with her. So we spent the rest of the afternoon just playing with Mathios, the other babies and talking with the nannies. Right before we left, Mathios finally fell asleep in his mama's arms and rode away from the TH without even knowing it. Leaving there was really emotional. Knowing that has been his home and that they have taken such good care of him. One of the little girls in our group had a hard time leaving. She cried out for her nanny over and over and over. It was heartbreaking.

When we got back to the guest house we put Mathios down in his little cradle- and I do mean little- it's like a doll cradle! He slept and slept and slept. We finally woke him at 6:45 so we could eat dinner. He had a hard time waking up and was not too happy with us! We then were even more mean and put him in the sink for a quick bath. He didn't like it at all, but I think it was just too cold for him. But we got him all snuggled up in a towel and then he peed on Cale through the towel! On his clean jeans! Oh well! We mixed up a bottle for him of milk (he's been on a special formula and this was an experiment) and he ate a few ounces and then packed away rice, a few bites of carrots, some pizza and some Cheerios. Today was the birthday of one of the guys in our travel group so we enjoyed some cake and then came up to play with Mathios in our room.

Mathios is VERY reserved. No smiles or even almost-smiles today. But, two different times when Cale walked away or left the room he immediately started crying. That's a great sign! And once he even responded when Cale asked where's mama by looking right at me. We made fools of ourselves trying to fix his special formula tonight and made a mess of the kitchen, melted a plastic water bottle and still didn't end up with anything consumable. So we gave him more real milk and he downed it. Fell asleep drinking it and was totally out when we were trying to burp him. Apparently we kept him up waaay past his bedtime! Noted. He went right down in his bed and hasn't made a peep. Well, some coughing, but that's it.

It has been an amazing day and it just blows us away that our son is asleep in the next room! I don't know when it will really sink in that this is it...he is here...he is ours! We are loving every minute of it and just getting to know him. He does babble a little bit and his voice is soft except for when he's crying. Then watch out! Just like his big sister! He's still rather elusive to us, but we're loving it. Thanks to everyone for all the kind comments and emails. Thanks for journeying with us!