Ethiopia, Day Three

Our day started off to a good start as Eli woke up with smiles for us!

















This day was our appointment at the embassy in order to get the last bit of paperwork filed for Eli's visa. I wasn't sure what to expect but the appointment was very anticlimactic. We made it through a few security check points, sat in a waiting room for about an hour, stood before a lady and swore that Eli was the child we had been referred and that he was legitimately an orphan, and that was it. Eli did wonderful for everything! He seemed to really enjoy looking out the windows on the car rides.

We made it back to the guesthouse before lunch and ended up sending Eli back to the orphanage so that Jeremiah and I could take a taxi to the downtown Hilton hotel in order for us to confirm our flights on Ethiopian Air. I felt really guilty sending him back, but we weren't allowed to take him with us, it would only be over lunch and nap time, and we HAD to confirm our flights home. Jeremiah and I both were missing Ella and Ezra terribly at this point. We have left them before (and quite often) for dates and weekend trips and even a week long trip to Haiti...and never experienced missing them like we did that week. Staying any extra days at this point would have sent me into a meltdown.

Knowing that we didn't have any other choice we were able to enjoy our afternoon and did some shopping and picked out a set of traditional ethiopian outfits for each of the kids...and even enjoyed an amazing latte together.

Once we knew nap time at the orphanage was over we hurried back to get Eli. Another moment of the week that I will never forget was walking into the gates of the toddler section and seeing his face through the window. He had been looking for us. He put his hand up on the window when he saw us and mouthed the word "papa" (what he calls Jeremiah).

You can see in this picture that he was a little bit upset with us for leaving him =)
















We walked back to the guesthouse with him and had a quiet afternoon of playing together.

Ok, maybe it wasn't that quiet.
But, after all...this is Jeremiah we are talking about. Eli loved (and still loves) rough-housing with his new Daddy!

















We headed out for dinner at a local restaurant and again were amazed at how much food he put away. I started to get a sinking feeling of dread in my heart when I calculated our new food bill. He made some silly faces for us at dinner...we were beginning to see a break out of his personality appearing.

This was also the day that we first caught a glimpse of the stubborn side of Eli Cade. There were two separate instances when he threw toys...and after reprimanding...and him throwing again... we had to take the toys away. He also climbed out of his bed several times at bedtime that night.

Sigh.

We were kind of hoping the honeymoon period would last longer than one day! What were we thinking...adopting a toddler in the throes of his developing his independence?! We consoled ourselves by thinking that he must be feeling comfortable around us...comfortable enough to test us.

Right?
Right.

One of my favorite moments of that day was when I was putting lotion on him at bedtime and he asked (pointed) for me to put some lotion on his hand, which I did. He then reached up and put it on my face. We did this several times back and forth...he was so gentle with my face and laughed when I'd pretend that the lotion was too cold. He ended up clutching that lotion bottle all throughout the the rest of the trip.

Related Items Eli Ethiopia Family Togetherness