Visits - Aug 2 & 3

Today we met the Director of the orphanage. She was kind enough but very strict and by the book. She answered all our questions, complimented us on our preparedness, but insisted we visit her for three day before getting to take Sofie on the fourth. Our translator was not impressed and fought hard for us. He figured she had no legal right to keep Sofie but out of respect for her and the situation we conceded.

Visiting Sofie has been great. We definitely getting to know her better and she is getting more comfortable with us. In the last two days Sofie has relaxed a bit and today she was all giggles by the end of our visit. Yesterday we were allowed to feed her lunch. She is still just eating mush but definitely starting to want bigger pieces in her mouth. I don't think they let her stick things in her mouth very often though. We think she is lagging in her oral development. Because she can't communicate well yet and it was just about her nap time, she was a little cranky with the lunch. Each time she wanted her drink she would start to cry. Is it wrong that I think her crying face is too cute?!

Getting her tummy poked!

Crying for water

We said goodbye to our translator that afternoon and promised we could fend for ourselves for a day or two. Navsco is a freelance translator that has worked with Anido for a few years now. Actually, helping the Keno's with their adoption was his first time in the adoption world :) He was very excited to hear that we were friends and that Aiden was doing well! After saying goodbye to Navsco, we were allowed to have our afternoon visit with Sofie unsupervised. This was very nice. I felt a little more relaxed with it too. I didn't feel like my actions and responses were getting scrutinized.

Our translator, Navsco

Afternoon visit :)

This morning, we were allowed to play with her outside in the court yard. It was a couple of degrees cooler today, which made it bearable. We also discovered her new favourite toy... an empty water bottle! She has played with this more than any other toy we have given her. She was nearly falling asleep again by the end of our morning visit. I had to try and keep her awake to feed her lunch, but she was not impressed. She let herself go totally limp and was excellent at cuddling with us. She didn't eat much.

In the afternoon, she came to us very grumpy, like I said. She was very wet though and I suspect she had been woken up from her nap for us. We changed her, let her relax and soon she snapped out of it and was the most talkative she has been with us to date. I love her giggle. It is still, very much, a baby giggle and she sticks her tongue out when she laughs. It is such a beautiful sound.

For dinner we enjoyed some pizza. It was the closest thing to home food that we could find and since my stomach has been quite upset today, I was craving something “normal.” If you are the praying type, please pray that my stomach settles down. I've been quite sick with frequent visits to the washroom this evening. I'm not sure if it is a bug I've caught or just an upset to my digestion because of the different food. Either way, it is not pleasant and I need to get better. I don't want to worry about my being sick tomorrow! Tomorrow we get to take Sofie back to Sofia with us! She is leaving the orphanage and coming to be with her Mommy and Daddy. I hope it is a smooth transition for her and us!