Nathan Day

We meet Nathan at the official Civil Affairs office. Just a short 20 minutes drive from the hotel. The kids walked in and at first they just check things out. Nathan was very serious, dressed up on warm clothes from head to toe. He was holding a snack, a chicken drumstick. We approached him and he was just so serious. Emily was not interested at first, she seem out of place. Then I got the small Thomas the train engine and the candy and offered to him. His eyes light up in a smile. He grabbed the toy and proceeded to examine it thoroughly. Then he asked for help on opening his snack which he devoured in a few minutes. The boy is solid, well fed and strong. After paperwork was done we went shopping and he fall asleep in the van. Once at the hotel room we had a quick lunch of rammen and bananas. Then put Emily down for a nap. Nathan gr owed quiet when I turned all the lights out but he did not want to sleep and just kept playing with the new set of cars/trucks I got him. Later on, Ken went out and Nathan started to ask for him and pointing at his shoes. He had a fit because I won't open the door for him. He wanted to leave. He grow madder and madder and I took off the 4 layers of clothes he had on. The pants were a different story. I did end up opening the door and we walked down the hallway. He gather all his new toys and told me to get him out of there. He did not like it at all. Teresa heard us and open up her door on which Gabriella was sobbing non-stop, looking at the pictures of her foster parents. Nathan walked right in and got interested on the cartoons on TV. That calmed him down until daddy came back. He has this thing about his pants, always pulling them up, tucking his shirt and sweater in. Gabriella was doing the same thing. They both did not want to take their many layers off, although they were sweating profusely. After dinner at the hotel (the boy can eat a feast and more!) I had plans of giving him a bath but he refused and fought tooth and nail. Emily was in the tube already but he did not want to get undressed or was not interested at all. See pictures here.



Tough day, tougher little guy



After Emily's bath, he pick up all his new toys and and pointed at the door. He wanted to leave, go home. He started crying and did that for 2 hours. Kept repeating he wanted his grandpa and grandma. Ken hold him and rub his back until he felt asleep of exhaustion. It has been a tough day for him and his peers. He was so weak after screaming his head off, and crying and repeating he wanted his foster parents. Emily was a trooper all day. She kept guiding him thru the day and calling him baby. So sweet! It is now 5am ans he is still sleeping, very sound and peacefully. Tomorrow, we go back to the civil affairs office and finalized the adoption. We appreciate all the prayers for this little guy. He has a ready smile, a good heart but breaking ours at the same time. All we can do is assure him that things will get easier each day. That we love him and want the best for him. Still, in the mist of chaos and confusion, God has walked with us and will guide us through another fine day.

PS: For some reason, pictures are not downloading to Flickr so I will have to do it later.