Quite a Day

Just a quick update since the baby is sleeping (who knows how long that will last!). The day was so emotional for us. The highs and lows are too hard to describe. Seeing the foster mother cry when we walked away from Holt was heartbreaking. At the same time we were so overjoyed to finally be able to hold Alex in our arms and know that he's ours. When we were getting ready to leave Holt, Alex started crying for a bottle but the social worker wanted us to wait and feed him after we left - so I think it was even more difficult for all of us at that moment because we did not have a happy baby.

I strapped Alex to my back and we walked back to the hotel. By the time we got there he was asleep. We just relaxed in our room and he slept for about an hour. Our Holt friends, Melissa and Daniel cam to our room and Alex played with their little girl, Briana. They were very cute together. Some Korean cartoons were on TV and both kids were totally mesmerized. I guess the love of cartoons spans many continents! After the Burkheads left, we went to a store called "Home Plus" which is like a giant Target, with groceries. We bought some misc. items for the flight home and a bigger suitcase :o)

Alex has been pretty happy. He loves the blue dog and the stacking cups that Grandma McMahon gave him. He likes to smile, giggle and roll around on the floor. He is VERY smiley. We are so glad that we switched rooms to an "Ondol" room with a floor mat. He loves it and we can tell he feels more comfortable with it. He took a bath and splashed so hard that the whole bathroom was wet. Then he rolled around on the mat a little more and fell asleep. Throughout the day he'd start to cry periodically and ask for "Omma" (which is Mom in Korean). He was missing his foster mom. So far, however, we've been able to calm him down with food or toys. Hopefully we'll continue to have good luck with the transition. We'll see what happens overnight.

Tim just came back with some pizza. I'm hungry! Tomorrow we are hoping to go tour another large palace in Seoul. We'll update you then.