Today is the day we have been waiting for (Friday Feb 28th). Our emotions are everywhere. We are so excited and yet so nervous. We had no idea how he would respond. We got picked up at our hotel at 8:15 am and arrived at the orphanage at 9 am. They put us into a room and asked us to wait. Then they came in and told us he was ready but they wanted to move us to a larger room. So we went to that room and about 5 min later Jose came in.
He was so shy at first but he had a little smile on his face. The employees brought in a little horse, that Jose enjoyed as he skyped us just the day before. After about 5 min the employees of La Casa left and we were with him. I was not sure if he would cry or what he would do but he loved playing with his Simba (from Lion King) and the cars that we got him. He soon warmed up and we were able to have him sit on my lap while Addy pushed a car back and forth to him. It is something that is truly hard to explain unless you have experienced it.
So much emotion and love that you have for a child that you never met. After about 30 min I asked if I could hold him and he came into my arms. They asked Jose if he wanted ice cream, and he said yes. Brad said that is fantastic because he likes ice cream too. Jose's favorite is chocolate ice cream. We then walked out and drove to our hotel.
(Brad's Section) After we returned to our hotel, it was around lunch time. So we decided to go to a near by restaurant. They didn't have an english version menu at this restaurant so the manager came over who could speak very good English. We were very glad for his assistance. We ordered our food and the meal was delicious. As promised to Jose, I wanted to order him chocolate ice cream. He was getting very tired so when the waiter came over, I attempted to order "Chocolate Ice Cream To Go". The waiter said ok and placed the order. A few minutes went by and they came to deliver our food. They brought me a hot chocolate, 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a piece of toast To Go. HAHA... Not Much to my surprise, I still have to work on my Spanish and apparently did not say something correctly. As I was paying for our meal, the manager came over and asked if everything went well. I said yes, the meal was excellent and I apologized if I confused his staff. I shared with him that I had ordered chocolate ice cream to go, and I received hot chocolate, vanilla ice cream and a piece of toast to go... He laughed and said, "I'm sorry, we don't have chocolate ice cream"
Since this occasion, there has been many times that we will attempt to speak spanish and Jose will sit there and giggle, and then burst out with a laugh. He is becoming aware that Mama and Papa, No Habla Esponal!
Our first day went pretty well. He seemed to bond with us and was very happy. He only would take a nap if I slept with him and that was the same at bedtime. We know that there will be struggles along the way but thanks for all your prayers. We truly could feel them. Continue to pray that Jose will bond with us and that he will trust us. He still is not comfortable taking a shower so we are praying that after a few more days he will get more comfortable. We are enjoying our time with him and the days are filled with cars, play dough and coloring. We are so glad that Addy came with us. It has been cool to see him bond with her and love her as well. He even calls her Addy. It is so sweet.
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