Update on our Boys!

Dear R and B,

Earlier this week, I received an update on you sent by a Gladney staff member working in Ethiopia. Along with his update, he sent a photo of each of you. You are both so precious, and I can hardly wait to hold you in my arms! Here is what the Gladney staff member said about you:

B is a content little guy who has this intense little gaze—almost like he can peer into your soul. He really likes to focus on your face and it can be difficult to get him to look elsewhere sometimes! Today, he enjoyed sucking on his fingers and really liked it when I stroked his cheek. I got quite a few coo’s out of him when I did this. What a delightful little baby!

Oh, my soulful little baby! I wish I could show the world your beautiful face, but since I can't I'll at least share a little glimpse of your sweet little hand. Soon those tiny fingers will be wrapped around one of my own!

And this is what he had to say about my big boy:

Lately, when I have visited R, he has vacillated between stranger anxiety and gregariousness. Generally, he is pretty outgoing, happy and ready to play. But occasionally, when I come to visit, he will back off and not seem so comfortable engaging with the ferenji-who-only-visits-occasionally*. But overall, he’s a happy little guy (look at the expression on his face in the picture!). I think he just wants to make sure everything is okay before jumping in head first, so to speak. His caregivers help him feel that security, which of course, is completely appropriate and normal. He’s a real delight! NOTE: The bandage on R’s forehead was placed there by the doctor at the foster care centers due to the fact that R fell and bumped his head on a window sill. It left a bit of a scratch and a bruise, so the doctor put a padded bandage on the injury to cushion it in case R bumps it against anything.

Oh, R! I guess you are truly a BOY--already with a bandage on your forehead! I wish I could be there to kiss away the owies--soon, I hope!

In the meantime, I've gotta say that your curls are just to die for! I can't wait to meet you, to hold you, and to give you kisses on top of that head of awesome curls.

I love you both so much it hurts!

Last week, I found a book of nursery rhymes that your Nana gave me on my third birthday. One of the nursery rhymes is called "The Moon", and it made me think of you:

I see the moon and the moon sees me.

The moon sees the one that I want to see.

God bless the moon and God bless me,

And God bless the one that I want to see!

As we sleep under the same moon separated by thousands of miles, may our Great God bless us all as He holds us in the palm of His caring hand.

Love,

Mama

*A ferenji is what a white foreigner is called in Ethiopia.