The first meeting

So, it's over and we all survived (and now we're really excited for this 2 week transition to be over). We met N. and his picture didn't do him justice (of course how could it?). How can a picture capture the exuberence and innocent wonder of a 2 year old who is discovering his world and, though he doesn't have the words yet, is clearly saying,"hey, look at that... isn't it cool?!?" (Yes, that light fixture is cool, and so is the one next to it, and yes that first light fixture you indicated earlier is still cool).

So how can I describe N.? Well, take K. and reverse it. N. is dark haired and brown eyed to K.`s blond curls and blue eyes. He's an average 2 year old build whereas K. is ready to sign his NBA jr. contract. But, they both share the easy going, social and engaging personality and infectious laugh. Oh, one more difference though. Where K. would tantrum by shrieking like a banshee, N. just stamps his foot. He just stamps his foot. wow. Maybe N. can teach K. something! Oh, and N. sleeps 12 hours. He wakes up at 8:30. He wakes up at 8:30, no really... this is unheard of in our household. With K. around, I'm not sure how long that is going to last for though, but I can dream, can't I?

In any case, we were welcomed at the door by N. who was eager to show us his place. And we lucked out in that there were only 2 social workers observing the whole thing. We met N.'s foster parents (very nice folks) and we all crammed into the living room. Now if you aren't aware, social workers are kind of like psychiatrists in that you don't want to say or do the wrong thing in front of them because they read into everything you do. The good thing is that they can't have you committed. The bad thing is that they can really get in the way of you being able to adopt the child you just met and are falling in love with. So we tried to act natural, interested in N., but not too interested. Relaxed, but not too relaxed. Confident, but not too confident. You know, natural.

N. helped us out though, by being the centre of attention. He "wow-ed" through the photo album of our house,  his room, Kyson and the animals that we showed him. We played with some toys in his room and even got a quiet moment together. The social worker / educator encouraged us to make physical contact with him (but not too much) to see how he'd react. I'd say we did well as we scored big hugs when it was time to say goodbye.

So tomorrow (Friday) we do the same thing but with K. along for the ride. Needless to say, K. is thrilled... I'm sure he'll be wondering why it's taking so long for N. to come home with us. It'll be hard to come up with a satisfactory answer, cause now that we met N. and know he is in the world and will soon be ours, I don't want to have to wait either.