Meeting K

[J]
This will be brief, since K is sitting on my lap as I type... and he seems to want to help.

Obviously, we've been to Bien Hoa and returned with our newest, and smallest, family member. Our connection seems to be bad, and so I can't load the video here that I was going to load. We'll try later, or we'll add it to PhotoBucket, if we can. (Note: I think our videographer assumed that the camera would know which way was up, and so it would rotate the image if she rotated the camera during the filming. It didn't.) We've also posted some more pix to PhotoBucket.

The Giving and Receiving Ceremony at the DOJ was hardly more ceremonial than a trip to the DMV to renew your driver's license. (As Irene said, the wait was about as long, except that you didn't get to take a number.) We did a lot of sitting and waiting... followed by hurried signing. And it was over.

K has been totally calm and serious throughout. He is, perhaps, in shock, and he does seem like a lost soul. We could tell that he did not want to leave Bien Hoa and his nannies, but he did not weep heartbreaking sobs... as the Wises' M did. We may be in for more of that later... but we just don't know yet.

M got the first smile from K at the DOJ when she opened her mouth wide. Maybe it was the braces.... He does seem to smile at wide-open mouths, though he immediately turns away. (Right now, he is studiously avoiding looking at me.)

In appearance, he's a pathetic little guy... covered in sores and scabies marks. His hair is a bit patchy, and he's just generally spotty. But such a sweet face, and such big hands and feet. Like a cross between a great dane puppy and a marmoset baby. He just stares and stares... like an owl baby. Silent and serious.

K seems to have a fairly intense attention span, to match his serious demeanor. When we first returned to the room, he played with a set of stacking cups on the floor for a solid 30 minutes.

We're a bit in shock, too... waiting for the reality to settle in. We were back in the hotel by noon, and then M and I picked up some banh mi (sandwiches on baguettes) and iced coffee and fruit drinks. We're not sure whether we'll eat in or out... but we need to get out to buy some formula. K has eaten a fair bit... bananas, bread, some ham, small bits of dragon fruit... but he doesn't seem to know how to chew. (Maureen -- E wishes she had your baby food mill!)

TM has been wonderful, really jumping into the big brother job. But he jabbered non-stop the whole time we were at the DOJ. At one point, the young man with Holt turned to M and me and said, "He talks a lot, doesn't he." Yes, he does. But he's also been a trooper, as have M and B.

There were many babies at Bien Hoa, and if we'd had time, E would have held them all. We got to see the one-year-old triplets (one of whom we're helping to support). They are about as big as K, despite being a full year younger. Sad to think about what little chance those babies may have of finding families, at this point.