Family Day Update (By Ryan)

Jen is getting some well-deserved time off right now.  She has seriously been SuperMom today.

Today has capped off the most amazing week of my life.  We got to meet with Alex for about an hour and the meeting started off much better than the past meetings.  There was no crying and not much shyness at all.

After maybe 15 minutes of playing when Alex was fully distracted, foster mom slyly left the room. My first thought was "oh great.... melt down in 3, 2, ..." but the melt down never came, even after he became aware that it was just the three of us in the room.  Yay!  We continued play time for another 30 minutes until it was time to go downstairs.

Downstairs, the head of the Korean agency was going to lead a short final ceremony / prayer for us and a few other adoptive families.  The moment was really special and bittersweet, tears all around.  The attachment between Alex and foster mom was so strong.  We are so grateful of the love and care she has given him, and can't imagine how difficult it must be to say 'goodbye'.

We were driven to our hotel by the agency along with another family. Alex cried pretty hard for the first 5 minutes, but didn't resist being comforted in Jen's lap. We got to our hotel where he continued to grieve off and on for another 45 minutes or an hour, then slept on Jen's lap for maybe 30 minutes.

After that he played for quite a long time and snacked and did lots of cute and silly things (he is a good fit for our families!) Here is a sequence where Momma makes Alex laugh hysterically:

He warmed up to me quite a bit tonight, coming up to me with a smile and tapping me on the shoulder.  I have been very patient thus far letting him take the lead with our interactions, but I felt he was getting comfortable enough that I would be able to pick him up without a fuss.  I went for it and he complied, squirming after a few seconds, not because he was uncomfortable but because he is a busy boy and had some play time to attend to.  It felt amazing to finally hold him and I look forward to doing it much more in the future! :D

We turned down the lights and quieted down around 8:30  and tried to call him to the bed.  He was holding his favorite pillow that foster mom gave us, but acted all shy and sat in a chair in the opposite corner. Jen then laid a blanket and pillow on the floor next to the chair and laid down, prompting Alex to immediately hop down and lay next to her... So cute!

He has woken up three times since then, the 2nd time crying pretty loudly and calling out for foster mom (I think...  "UMMAMA!" repeatedly, umma=mom and mama=food, but he wanted nothing to do with a bottle or yogurt, so yea.)

We know that Alex will be grieving for some time, and that it is our job to love and comfort him through this grieving.  Jen has been awesome tonight at picking him up instantly and comforting him.  The third time he woke up was just a tiny peep, Jen had him up and he instantly stopped crying.  He then laid back down and let me feed him a bottle.  He's been fast asleep (on the bed) since then, about three hours now.  Good Boy Alex!

I think Mom is fast asleep now too.

<3