September 18, 2012

It didn’t take us very long to find out that what Mama La had told us was absolutely true.  Our days of sleeping in were over, effective immediately.  We did our best to have Francis in bed at his regular time, 8:00 p.m., and he “cut us a break” by letting us sleep until about 5:30 a.m. instead of dragging us out of bed at 4:00 in the morning like we were warned was his usual time.    

We got to experience snuggling in bed with a very loveable, huggable little guy who seemed oh-so-thrilled to have his mommy and daddy at long last.  Gregg and I started to get ready for the day, including showering with lukewarm water.  We discovered that the hotels we were using did not have the best hot water heaters, which wasn’t too helpful later on when we started getting sick.  (I digress)  As we were getting ready for the day, Francis learned that it was all too easy to go running through the adjoining doors to my parents’ room.  After all, they were the ones with the mango juice, bananas, crackers…  In less than 24 hours, this little guy was finding out exactly what good things grandparents were for, and taking full advantage.

We went down to the lobby for breakfast, and Francis showed us he had a terrific memory and meant business when it came to food.  He walked over to the area where they kept the booster seat and tried to bring it over to the table himself.  (Daddy stopped him and helped him out, of course.)  He picked out all of the foods he wanted for breakfast off of the buffet and then cleaned his plate.  He was ready to start the day.  Now, please.

After breakfast, we took a walk around the grounds of the hotel, which was within a gated community.  Just down the street from the hotel was the hotel pool.  We had heard that Francis liked water, and we should have been prepared.  As soon as he saw the pool, Francis tried to jump in with his clothes and shoes on!  Daddy was right behind him, holding him back.  We promised him we’d go back later, but it was right about then that we learned that when Francis sees something he wants, he doesn’t have much patience to wait for it. 

Ready to jump in with his clothes on!

 

Later that day, we took a taxi over to the mall.  Gregg and I wanted to let Francis pick out a birthday gift.  Now, in all fairness, we had heard about the salespeople in the toy departments of the malls.  We knew that we were going to have to go in with a plan and know what we were looking for.   Really, though, we weren’t quite prepared for the experience.  The man in the toy department tried to convince Francis he wanted a battery-powered, ride-on Cadillac.  (Not sure how he thought we were going to get this on the plane?)  We nipped that in the bud pretty quickly.  Then it was all sorts of action figures I’m pretty sure Francis had never heard of before.  His eyes were lit up and spinning.  He looked like – well, like an overly-excited, overwhelmed kid in a toy store.  We finally settled on the Optimus Prime Transformer.  A little clothing shopping, more looking around the mall, and we were on our way.

Lunch with the famous Jollibee.

Later that night at dinner, Francis stood behind my chair and started combing it with his fingers, singing I’m A Little Teapot.  In an instant, my heart belonged to him forever.

Post-dinner snuggle with mom.

Men at work.

Completed Transformers.

To Be Continued…   

September 17, 2012

September 17, 2012.  Francis’ seventh birthday and the day of the entrustment ceremony.  On this day, we would finally be a family.

Note:  The italicized portions of this blog were originally published on September 17, 2012 in this post. 

Today was the first day my parents met Francis.  The four of us and Rolly, our agency liaison, were picked up by a driver, who came with the director of the RSCC.  When we arrived at the center, Francis was outside waiting for us and would have opened the van door himself, if he could have! For the second day in a row, Daddy got ambushed with a huge hug, while Mommy had to wait for him to warm up a bit.  He recognized Lolo and Lola right away, and even they got hugs.  

 

Ambushing Daddy as the van pulled up.

The center had a beautiful entrustment ceremony, with the director, social worker, nurse, and Francis' primary caregiver each speaking for a bit.  We were then presented with Francis' lifebook, preschool diploma, photographs, and a beautiful 8x10 of his referral photo with the poem "Legacy of an Adopted Child" imprinted on it.  We were asked to read the poem aloud, which Gregg had to do, because as soon as I saw the first two lines I was a sobbing mess.  We were then asked to say a few words, and again Gregg had to start (still sobbing!). We could not thank them enough.  Finally, my parents and Rolly were asked to say something, and we took some pictures.

Francis was a little tornado the entire duration of the entrustment ceremony.  He was in my arms, he was down.  He was next to me, he was running across the room.  The one thing he would not do was stand still.  He wanted absolutely no part of this solemn occasion.  After all, there was cake to eat.  

The entrustment ceremony.

 

And then we had cake!  Today was Francis' 7th birthday, and what a day to celebrate!  When we found out we would be in time for his birthday (at the time not realizing the entrustment would be ON his birthday), we asked to have a party for Francis – whatever he wanted.  He picked out his favorite foods:  Jollibee’s spaghetti, pancit, spicy chicken, übe ice cream, and best of all, a Spider-Man cake!  The room was decorated with balloons that said "Happy 7th Birthday, Francis, September 17th, 2012" and "Love, Mommy and Daddy"

 

Francis' birthday/farewell party.

When it was time to leave, Francis was ready to go.  He was out the door before the rest of us could say goodbye and get our shoes on.  I looked outside in the rain and said "Where's Francis?!" in the van, ready to go already.

To this day, Gregg and I tell this story fondly and joke about what horrible parents we must have appeared to be to the staff of the RSCC.  One minute he was with us, and we stopped to say goodbye to Mama La, who was with the rest of the children in the sleeping area, and when we turned around from saying goodbye – no Francis.  He was ready to go.  He was done with RSCC and wanted out.  Now.  No time for goodbye for him.

 He sat quietly on the way to the hotel, first on Gregg's lap, then mine.  When we got to the hotel, he was ready to go.  We have a connecting room to my parents, so he had cartoons (the same one) on both TVs, playing with a ball, checking out the digital camera, and discovering that he LOVES to be tickled.  My son has the most contagious laugh you will ever hear, and his smile lights a room.  After a day or two of just wanting daddy, he is coming to me more and looking to sit on my lap and cuddle and be picked up.

 

The ride home.

At one point this afternoon, we went to call Rolly to discuss dinner plans but there was a problem with the phone.  Gregg was just going to go down to his room, but Francis refused to let him leave.  I tried to go instead, but the same thing happened.  In the end, all three of us had to go.

By the time dinner rolled around, Francis was practically falling asleep on the table, but he ate some spaghetti and lit up like a Christmas tree when his second birthday cake came out.  Here we are now, all cuddled up, and I'm the last one to go to bed.  I'm thinking I might want to do that now, though, because apparently he gets up at 4 am.  

Happy birthday, Francis!

Before bedtime, I read Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You to Francis.  Barely.  I was choked up and crying by end of page one.  We got through it, and he tucked his stuffed Pooh Bear and McQueen under the Pooh blanket I had sewn for him, then spread the rest of the blanket over himself.  For the first time, he fell asleep between his new mommy and daddy, and his new mommy and daddy just stared in wonder at this amazing gift from God.

To Be Continued…

September 16, 2012

After the excitement of meeting Francis, sleep was elusive again the night of September 15.  I was up bright and early on the 16^th, ready to see my son again.  Gregg and I went to the hotel lobby for the breakfast buffet and found our agency liaison already there, finishing his breakfast.  Gregg opted to stay with the more Americanized cereal and eggs, while I opted to try the local dishes.  This was our introduction to the soup of the day and the dried fish of the day for breakfast.  This was also when I started to pile my plate each morning with mango and melons and enjoy juices unlike any other.

Shortly after breakfast, the van arrived to bring us back to RSCC.  We were more familiar with the ride this time, but still the time dragged.  When we arrived, Francis came out right away, and this time he knew just who he was looking for – “Daddy!”  (Big hug.)  I had to ask for a hug and was given one, very begrudgingly.

This particular day, were just in time for playtime in the playroom.  We were invited to go on in to play and meet Francis’ friends.  They all loved sunglasses.  Our sunglasses were passed from boy to boy, and whoever had them on would come over to make silly faces for us and pose for the camera.  One little boy brought me his blocks and looked to me for help stacking them.  He was so sweet.  We met the boys that Francis was in school with and found that one of them would be going home to a family in Australia soon.  When playtime was over, the children went to eat lunch.  At that time, we joined Francis in the dining room for another lunch beautifully prepared by Mama La.

After lunchtime, it was time for more playground fun and for Francis to experiment with the digital camera and video camera, which he loved.  He showed us his sense of daring and love of anything on wheels as he took off after a motorcycle that came onto the RSCC campus.

Playground fun on Day 2.  Is Francis wearing 2 different outfits?  Why, yes, he is.  Our "Little Radiator" needed at least 2 changes of clothes in 3 hours due to the extreme heat and humidity.  And he was used to it!

 Finally, it was time to say goodbye.  The next day he would be ours forever and the wait would be over.  We went back to the hotel, exhausted and hopeful.

We needed to pack up all of our gifts and donations for the next day when we got back to the hotel.  My parents had spent their time exploring the local mall and picking up drinks and snacks we would need for our time in Legazpi.

For dinner, we had the buffet at the Venezia.  Simple and good local food.  When we were done, we passed out (or tried to).  The next day was Entrustment Day.  WE had waited for so long – and apparently, so had Francis.

To Be Continued…

September 15, 2012

September 15 was a Saturday and the day we had looked forward to for years.  This day, we would finally meet our son for the first time.  Things were done a bit unusually for us, and we will be forever grateful to the staff of the RSCC, ICAB, and our agency, who, at a desperate mother’s urging, made it possible for us to see Francis on Saturday and Sunday when the RSCC officials would not actually be available to do the entrustment until Monday.

Anyway, Gregg and I had a wake-up call set for 2:00 a.m. so we could leave for the airport at 3:00 to make our 6:00 flight.  Sleep?  What sleep?  Oh, Gregg slept, I think.  I sent e-mails from the bathroom.  I was too excited to sleep – I was meeting my son in a few hours, for heaven’s sake! 

The flight to Legazpi, which is 300 miles south of Manila, was smooth, and I enjoyed seeing more of the beautiful Philippines from an aerial view.  The flight may have been an hour, tops.  It was fast.  Suddenly, we were just so close.  It seemed to take longer to get our bags this time, but once we found them, we were then able to quickly locate the driver for the Venezia Hotel and get going.  We checked in at the hotel, unpacked for about 15 minutes, and then got a call – our visitor was in the lobby.  Deep breath.  This was it.

We recognized the visitor who was waiting for us in the lobby right away.  She was the caregiver we had seen with Francis in the pictures from when he went to Manila for his passport and visa.  She introduced herself as Mama La, and we came to find out she was one of Francis’ most beloved caregivers.

A van took us from the Hotel Venezia to RSCC Ligao City, which was about a 30-minute drive through some of the area’s eye-opening poverty.  While we drove, Mama La told us how excited Francis was for this day and that they had trouble getting him to sleep the night before due to his excitement.  (Sound familiar?)

We pulled up to the very beautifully-maintained RSCC campus and went inside.  By the time we changed our shoes, Francis had been brought into the lobby to meet us.  He was smaller than he looked in all of his pictures, and so quiet.  He didn’t say a word until Mama La asked him, “Do you know who this is?” --- “Daddy.”  And this?” --- “Mommy.”  My heart melted.  And from that moment on, he was Daddy’s boy.

Gregg and I had carefully selected a Bumblebee Transformer to bring with us to our initial meeting with Francis.  It was a good plan.  We were able to play, rolling the car back and forth, and Gregg and Francis bonded over learning how to transform Bumblebee.  Mama La also brought out the cars we sent Francis in his care package as well as the book we recorded for him and his photo album.  The book and photo album were clearly well-loved, and he also loved playing cars with us.

We blew up a balloon, and that was one of Francis’ favorite things.  He loved batting it around the play room with us.  We also took him out on the playground and discovered his love for slides.  Our other discovery was exactly how much energy he had!  High-energy boy + high heat and humidity + jet lag = exhausting!  Mama La made us a delicious lunch, and we got to find out exactly how much food our boy could put away!  A little more play time and our visit was over all too soon.  Someone needed a nap, and it wasn’t just Mommy and Daddy.

We returned to the hotel, unpacked some more, and went to Mass that evening.  Gregg and I were floored when, out of over 1,000 people in the cathedral, we were selected to bring up the gifts.  We enjoyed the experience of the Mass, which was in both English and Bicol.   

After Mass, we returned to the hotel and had dinner.  We tried the Bicol Express, a very spicy regional specialty, with some calamansi juice.  Unbelievably good.

First day with our son down.  One more visit to go, then he would be ours forever.

To be continued…

Welcome to Legazpi!

Sitting in the RSCC lobby minutes after meeting Francis, looking at the book we sent him.

One of Francis' favorite things - playing with the balloon in the playroom.

Our first real family picture.  Still one of my favorites.