We got to meet the kids!

Dim Sum in at a popular place in Taipei City
We were taken out on the town by Gina and her husband PH
who work with HIC, our agency.

Yes, that is chewed up food residue on my left shoulder, remnants of Madelyn's
candy which she refused to swallow.

Sweet sweet baby boy!

It's subtle, but I feel like Madelyn's expression
says "who are you, you little insect?!" to Isaac.

The agency in Taipei graciously allowed us a chance to meet the kids in person this past weekend. This was unexpected and a real gift. We are hoping the Judge's snafu will get corrected so we can get a travel date soon.

We arrived to the Chung-Yi orphanage at 10 am where the respective foster families were already waiting with the kids. The foster families snuck off about 10 minutes later when the kids weren't looking and didn't come back till 3pm. It was Joel and I for about 5 hours, alone with the kids in this playroom with no furniture. My back hurts, so do my thigh muscles, still.

Madelyn is now 25 months old and very attached to her foster family, her favorites are her mother (mama) and 12 yo foster brother (gugu). She attached herself to Joel immediately and would hardly go to me later. It was a bit traumatic for her. She doesn't eat well, kind of grazes. Also she will put lots of snack foods in her mouth and chew and chew but not swallow. Nope, just stores it for later I guess. She would make a good gerbil, that's all I'm saying. The last hour, she cried intermittently for her Mama and Gugu, heartbreaking actually. When her foster family returned, she became a different person, happy, joyful, fun, talking in short sentences appropriate for her age (in Mandarin Chinese), responsive. She knows how to give kisses which is really sweet. They were able to get her to kiss us on the cheeks.

Isaac is 14 months now. He started walking 40 days ago. He was very somber and sweet, playing quietly and easily entertained by me (and by himself when I filmed him) He cried only once when his diaper was wet. He ate his homemade baby food heartily. The same thing happened with him when his foster parents came back. His personality lit up and he became happier, laughing more, more outgoing, more smiling, and started doing tricks (like putting his head down in the position ready to do a somersault) on his own initiative, very funny.

Both children like to be held which is good. No odd behaviors like crazy head banging or manic rocking. There was lots of eye contact. We were surprised by how well adjusted they were, clearly emotionally attached to their foster families, and demonstrating appropriate reactions to being "abandoned with strangers" for 5 hours. We got a wonderful CD of video clips of Madelyn when she was younger, when she was learning to walk, dancing to music, etc. Her family is clearly nurturing and loving and this made us relieved.

The most unexpected part was when Joel and I debriefed afterwards privately. We both were a little shell shocked and are now convinced that we will get absolutely NOTHING done once we get the kids. Forget tidy house, forget homemade desserts, forget working late. It's all over. No, just kidding, or not, but we really got a reminder with this visit, that there are going to be some tough days, weeks, maybe even months, ahead of us once we get them, particularly for Madelyn as she will be missing the only people she knows as family. All I can say is that knowing Auntie Patricia will be coming out to help us during this transition gives us some peace of mind.

Hope you like the pictures!