We met our baby boy!

We met Oscar! Our trip to the orphanage was delayed until this afternoon at 3:00. When we got there we had to wait a while for the director to get out of a meeting.

After the meeting, they brought us into the director's office and we were talking and a caregiver brought in Oscar and he was crying and very, very scared. He was in a fetal position and crying and just did not want to be there with all these scarey adults staring at him. He was shutting his eyes tight and big tears were coming out but he didn't cry loud. He is very tiny, fragile and pale. I think he had a fever too. He seems to weigh about 20 lbs. if that. He had a bruise on his face. After already having a two-year-old and taking care of many, I know bruises happen easily with toddlers.

The caregiver sat down and tried to calm him down in Russian but he did not want to hear it with all these weird people staring at him. He cried and hid his face. John stood back with the male translator and others so Oscar would not be more scared because he has never seen a male before. I went up to him and tried to calm him while the caregiver did also in Russian.

I took him from the caregiver and he didn't want to come at first but when he realized I wasn't letting go and I hugged and talked to him and kissed him he just gave in and hugged me back. I turned him around to face me so everyone wouldn't stare at him. He cried a little more because he was frightened but I stood up and rocked him and we looked at the stuff on the shelves. It was late in the day so our visit was cut short and I had to bring him up to his group. As I walked up the stairs holding him, he was just looking around and I brought him into the room with the group of kids and gave him to the caregiver.

When the caregiver took him and put him down with the group, I saw him stand for the first time and he turned around and looked at me directly for pretty much the first time and waved bye with his tiny hand in the air and said "paka-paka" (bye-bye) softly. The rest of the kids were all waving saying "paka-paka!" I said paka-paka and waved good-bye and all the kids were saying paka-paka and waving with him included. So, I went off with that vision of him turning around doing that. It was a nice little ending of a first visit that I will never forget. We can't wait to see him again tomorrow at 9:30. He needs us very much.