The Day He Became Ours

Yesterday was the official day! We started the day at the local civil affairs office where we waited 2 1/2 hours to get everything done. Isaac was so patient, and he had a few of the office ladies wrapped around his finger by the end of it. 

Isaac putting his red ink handprint on the official papers as his signature

Then we started our four-hour drive to the city where he had been living so that we could apply for his passport. Five adults and a five-year-old in a mid-sized car, for that length of time, is kind of difficult. (It was our driver, our translator, his teacher, Mick, and me.) Isaac did really well, though. He slept a little and played some. After a while, he was acting a little sluggish and grumpy. When we arrived he got out of the car and immediately threw up. No wonder he was acting sad! His passport picture has a sad face because they took it soon after this episode.

We stayed at that office for a while and then took a drive through city traffic to his orphanage. They were delighted to see him with his family, and he bossed them around and took some pictures. They teased him that he should stay there, and he kept running to us saying "Mama". When we left he happily hopped into the car. 

Isaac saying goodbye to one of the nannies

Just outside the gate, we realized we forgot to get his book, so we turned around to go back in. He got really quiet, and we tried to assure him he was not going back to stay. However, when his teacher ran the book out to the car for us, he yelled to her that he wanted to stay and that he did not want to go with us. Then when we pulled away, he sobbed. He cried hard for 45 minutes and would not let us comfort him. It broke my heart to see him so sad and to know that our decisions are changing his life. He has no control. Even the clothes he is wearing and the toys he plays with are chosen by me. So I cried with him, unable to do anything else. His little fists hit us lightly as he tried to express his heartache and fear. 

After a while, Mick played a ringtone on his phone that sounded like music, and he calmed a little. The rest of the drive back to the hotel, he played with Mick on his phone and then fell asleep. We got back to our room about 10:30. Such a long and difficult day, but I am so thankful Isaac had the opportunity to say goodbye and understand that is what he was doing. He needed to cry and grieve. 

We put him right to bed when we got back and I was unsure how he would be this morning. He woke up about 7am, and asked to go the bathroom and brush his teeth. (He loves to brush teeth!) Then he played with his toys and turned on the TV and was his happy self again. It is now almost 11am, and he has been as happy today as he was Monday. 

I do not know if he will have other times of grief like last night, or if he got it all out for now. We are taking it moment by moment and just enjoying his joy as he discovers, plays, and gets lots of attention!

Back at work, taking pictures