Gotcha Day

This is Jeff, blogging for the first time ever.  Its my turn to give some impressions of our first interactions with Isaac.  This morning we took all the kids over to get Isaac and at first thought this is going to go really badly.  The office was super crowded and then 10 Germans came into the office to get a passport for a wedding they were a part of her.   Random.  Our other three happily played with toys for a minute, then got anxious.  Especially Elijah was angry that he couldn't hear the sound on the phone we gave him.  He sat outside and played with it where he could hear and that's where he stayed for most of our time there.

Then Rebecca saw the car pull up and we tried to get the kids all ready.  At first Isaac wanted nothing to do with us.  He just wandered around the office looking for someone he knew.  Miriam and David did a great job tagging along and talking to him.  Even though there were a few tears coming out of his eyes, comforting him didn't seem to be what he really needed.  We gave him a candy bar and a sucker then Mama and the kids looked at a book of his family pictures together.  Then I started playing a jump around game and he really cheered up.  While we were signing the papers it was getting bad for a bit.  We were done and Elijah wanted to come over and talk to Isaac and tell him about the 'xiyangyang' rides that he loves so much.  Isaac pushed him away and then went to go hug David.  It was a very scary moment.  Elijah was sad for a bit and then seemed to get better as we gave him lots of individual attention.  On the bus ride home Elijah sat down next to Isaac and showed him how to play with the iPhone.  That made Isaac like him more.

We gave him a sippy cup with juice but he said he wanted green tea instead.  On the way home I stopped to get McDonald's and green tea to bring to the hotel.  Later we found out that in his province, people ask for tea when they want water.   He was just thirsty and didn't know how to use a sippy cup!  Isaac grabbed the corn and carried it around to the next hour until nap.  They all played and ate happily.   Isaac did a great job sharing his tea and corn with the other kids.  We took the kids out in the hallway and everybody ran up and down the hallway.


When the other kids went off to bed Isaac sat in my lap and we talked for ten or fifteen minutes. I realized he knows the song 'Qing Qing Ting' (a chinese worship song) that we always sing before bed and he sang along.   It was a definite bonding moment to know the same song.  

After nap, they all got up and watched an episode of the Little Einsteins together.  It was fun watching them have a great time going 'pat pat pat' together and Isaac really got into it.   David was much more into it than he usually is because he was showing Isaac what to do.  Isaac's first word in 'English' is now 'Fortissimo!'  

We went and signed some more papers and took them to a play room in the hotel and they had a great time throwing balls around.  We went to the hotel Italian restaurant for dinner and Isaac had pizza for the first time.  If I remember right, we did that with David on his Gotcha day too.  After dinner we came back to the room and tried to settle them down for bed.  Isaac got on his shoes and was ready to go home now.  
It has definitely not crossed his mind that we are his new family.  He calls us Abba and Mama, and is  having fun with these people for now, but I don't think he understands that he isn't going back where he came from.  It is going to be a really hard moment when he gets that.


We have just realized how many more relationships there are between four kids than among three.  E-D, E-I, E-M, D-I, D-M, M-I.   This is a lot to think about and handle well and pretty overwhelming.   Especially since David and Isaac are already obviously great buddies.  David has had a super happy day with Isaac, but Elijah and David were just starting to be buddies.   Will this affect their relationship?  Obviously it will, but it is all really complicated.  The other complicated thing about this is that Isaac is already such a little person with a past.  He is talking a lot (much more than David was) and so it is more obvious that he has a past that is so unknown to us.   For example he picked up the phone and told our helper the phone number to call his 'sister', and asked Rebecca when he could go home.  We begin to wonder if speaking his language isn't a mixed blessing.


At any rate, things have really been going so well, so much better than we could have hoped for.  Please keep thinking about us as we deal with all the complicated emotions and relationships and as we enjoy getting to know our new son.