Update!

Due to power outages and computers not working, I haven't been able to access the internet until now.  I may not be able to update again from Ethiopia, but will do my best to fill in details later and add pictures.

Kenyon Belachew is amazing!  We met him on Friday.  We walked into his classroom and he was sitting in the front row coloring.  The nanny told him to greet us.  He gave me a hug, but was expressionless.  We played outside with him and got him to smile within a few minutes.  He really liked the toy car and Spiderman bubbles we brought him.  When we left him that morning, he clung to my neck and didn't want to let go.  We visited him again Friday afternoon and had a good time with him.  He gets overwhelmed at times with us, I don't think he has ever had the undivided attention of two people. so we try to give him his space when he seems to need it.  He has really loved the photo album we brought for him with pictures of him in it, as well as pictures of our home and Rainey.  He gets upset if anyone tries to talk the photos away from him. 

 

Saturday we visited him again.  He has been at the baby care center for the past few months, but was moved to the bigger kids' home last week.  We returned to the baby center with him on Saturday and he was so happy to be back there and see his friends.  His face light up when we pulled into the center and he started calling his friends name.  He showed his friends his photo album and pointed to pictures of Paul and I and called us "mommy, daddy."  He gave us a big hug before we left, and also gave us a kiss for the first time.  It was pretty slobbery, but we loved it.

 

Sunday, we did not see him (we traveled 3 hours south to the part of the country he is from- more details about that later).  Today we visited him again and as our van pulled up to the care center, he was lined up at the gate with his friends.   He saw us, got a big smile on his face, and started yelling "mommy, daddy."  We got to bring him back to our guest house for a few hours, so he could see where he will be staying from tomorrow on.  He had a lot of fun at the guest house- he played ball with Paul (he has a great kick and throwing arm).  He also liked his stuffed animal of a dog that he calls "Wusha" (dog in Amharic).  We ate lunch with him and that kid can eat!  He feeds himself well and uses a fork and spoon, but every once in a while he would look at me and hand me the spoon to feed him.  I think he likes being taken care of.  He told us when he needed to use the bathroom and let us take him.  Leaving him was hard today.  When he saw the vans pull up to take him back to the care center, he got scared and became very clingy to us.  He started to cry and it made me cry.  We took him back to the care center and talked to some staff there.  They thought it would be best if he stayed there tonight, so they nannies had a chance to say good bye to him and he could be with his friends one more night.  They distracted him with toys and we snuck out.  As hard as it was to leave him, I know that after tomorrow we will have him forever.  And the fact that he was sad to leave us made us feel like he is attaching well to us.

Tomorrow they will have a good-bye ceremony at the care center and he will have a chance to say a final goodbye to his friends and nannies.  Then, we will take him to the US embassy to finalize his passport and we will have him the rest of the time. 

 

Belachew is so fun and has a great smile.  He likes to laugh and is ticklish.  He is a talker and babbles constantly.  He speaks Amharic well and he loves to sing.  He looks healthy and fits well in the 2T clothes I brought him.  He has a little bit of a cold, but it doesn't seem to bother him.  He is definitely active and energetic, but also likes to cuddle.  He seems to have bonded well with both Paul and I, and goes to both of us easily.  He responds well when we tell him "no," and he is easily redirected.  We are so in love with him and can't wait for you to meet him!

Our travel group has been great.  There are 7 other families with us.  They are all adopting infants, so Belachew is the only toddler in our group.  Our group has had a lot of fun together.  Last night at dinner, we realized that we had 14 hours till we got to see our kids around.  We came up with ideas for how to make the time go by faster and decided to play some games together.  Our group has been so fun and it is such an added blessing to be able to share this experience with them. 

I may not be able to post again, but know that we are doing well, enjoying Ethiopia, and having fun with our amazing new boy!