Tias, Tarea, and the Trampoline

What an incredible first week it has been with Jairo! So many special moments, new beginnings, and wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. Today will be the next big step in Jairo joining our family, as we will be taking physical custody of him once he gets back from school!!

We continue to be so impressed with the TLC that he has received at the orphanage. They really take great care of the kids--physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The orphanage has 1 caregiver, who they affectionately call "Tias" (or "Aunts"), for every 4 children...which is much better than most orphanages that we have read about. The tias work in 24-hour shifts, starting with getting the kids ready for school as early as 5am, feeding them, playing with them, doing their homework with them, and overall just teaching them good morals and values. The orphanage has such a great staff in general, including multiple psychologists for both the kids and tias. One in particular, Susanna, has been a huge help transitioning Jairo from his life in the orphanage to life with his new parents. She is bi-lingual, so one of the many hats she wears is translator between Jairo and us when we do not quite understand each other.

We got into a good routine with Jairo during the week, picking him up at school in the early afternoon, which usually included playing with him and his friends on the playground until the bus arrived; eating lunch cooked by the tias, which usually consisted of soup, salad, and beans & rice (we brought our own sandwiches); playing with the kids for an hour in their yard; working with Jairo on his homework; meeting with various staff members for an hour while Jairo took English lessons with a volunteer; and playing with the kids some more until bath time and dinner time...at which point we headed back to our hotel. Homework ("tarea") time has been a good experience to watch the tias work with the kids. I do not remember having homework as a first grader, but Jairo has about an hour per day...and the tias do such a good job with the kids, with their patience and teaching ability. It has been a great experience for us to witness this, since it will be "our turn" on Monday to take over his homework responsibilities.

Jairo has learned a few English words so far...numbers, colors, body parts, etc...one day after English class as I was carrying him around on my shoulders, he started singing "head, shoulders, knees and toes," a song we remembered from way back when, so we sang along with him. But the English words that will be etched into our hearts forever was the first time he called us father and mother with his cute little accent ("fa-there" and "mo-there"). We tear up every time we think about it.

And then there is the trampoline. In the very first scene of the video that we received of Jairo from the orphanage last year, we saw him jumping on a trampoline...so this will always have sentimental value to us because it was our first introduction to him. One of the first things we did with him after we met him on Monday was play with him and the other kids on the trampoline...but the memory we will have forever is Wednesday afternoon. It was the first time that we were actually alone with Jairo...the other kids were bathing or eating dinner, but they let us play with him a little more before we left for the evening. So it was just the three of us out on the trampoline...the sun setting...no other kids around...and the only sound we could hear was the pure joy of laughter coming from our little boy. It does not get any better than that.

Jairo!

How does one begin to describe the day they meet their first child? There really are no words to capture the richness of this experience, but it will be forever etched in our memories as one of the most touching and significant moments of our life. I'll do my best to relay the highlights...

We woke yesterday to a beautiful blue-sky day, feeling great, and surprisingly calm. We had been praying that we would be as relaxed as possible for this emotional event, so the prayers were definitely answered. Eric said it felt like the day of our wedding -- knowing a life-changing event was going to happen in the afternoon, and thus not really knowing what to do with ourselves leading up to that. So we just tried to do normal things -- lunch, talking, walking around -- but of course none of it felt normal.

We went to the orphanage (Para Sus Ninos) around 2:30, and met with their child psychologist, Susana, and their social worker, Cristina, for about an hour. They described all that they had been doing to prepare Jairo for his new life, and we were once again so impressed with how thorough, thoughtful and professional the orphanage staff is. Jairo has been in excellent hands. They told us about the calendar they had made for him, counting down the days to our arrival. And Susana also told us that recently she had said something to Jairo in English (he has only spoken Spanish up to this point), and he asked her, "Why are you teaching me English... are my parents from the United States?" We asked her if she thought he wanted Ecuadorian parents, and she said, "He just wants parents." [Cue the sound of our hearts being pierced.]

Around 4pm they took us to Jairo's house to meet him. At that point we both had some intense emotions going, but we held it together, and went in to see him. Jairo was waiting on the couch with his two good friends, Carlita and Jessica, and surrounded by his Tias (his "aunts" who care for the children). When he saw us, he hesitated for a couple seconds, then jumped off the couch and ran straight into our arms. We hugged him for a very long time, and he held on so tight. It was a very tender moment, and one that will live with us for the rest of our lives.

Eric and I had been practicing our Spanish diligently, and had spent a lot of time discussing and practicing all the things we were going to say to Jairo when we first met him. But at that moment, both of our minds were completely blank slates, and neither of us could come up with a thing to say. I think we said, "Hola, Jairo," and I'm pretty sure I said, "Como estas?" But that's about it. So much for our plans!

After our initial hug, he brought me some flowers that he had picked for me, which I will always cherish. And then he discovered Eric's Yankees watch, which he immediately took off Eric's wrist and put on his own. Eric was pleased to see that our boy knows a good team when he sees one. :) And from there, we just spent time with him in his house, slowly and delicately getting to know one another. He showed us his room, and his countdown calendar (which had a heart on the date of our meeting), and he very proudly introduced us to everyone as his "Mami y Papi." We were so impressed with his ability to open up to us so quickly -- this is a momentous change in his life, so it would have been natural for him to be scared, shy, angry or sad -- but he was none of those (or if he was, he did a great job of hiding it).

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Jairo and the other children in their yard (including jumping on the trampoline, bike riding, playing on the swings and slide, and a lot of Eric running around with Jairo on his shoulders). Then it was time for them to begin their evening routine -- bath, dinner, quiet time -- so we sat with them and watched a movie. It was a really peaceful way to end the day -- all of us cuddled up on the couch -- two kids on each of our laps.

As you might imagine, we were drained, both emotionally and physically, by that night. So we came home and just fell into bed, completely peaceful, and incredibly thankful for the wonderful gift of our son.

One More Day...

Well, we made it to Ecuador on Friday night, with one of the easiest international trips we've ever taken. Both flights were on time, there were no lines at the airports, they let us check in about 200 pounds of luggage for free, and our hotel was only a short cab ride away. We've had a very low-key weekend, taking care of the few things we hoped to before our big day on Monday...bought a phone, took a couple Spanish lessons (with a wonderful teacher named Jaime), and did some exploring around the city. Mostly, just enjoying some quiet time, knowing that we won't have as many opportunities for this in the coming weeks (and years)!

We're so excited for tomorrow...to finally meet the little angel that we've been preparing for all year...and who we've known in our hearts for many years. It's amazing to know that whatever tomorrow holds for us, it will include so many memories that we will have for the rest of our lives. It's not too often in your life that you know such a day is coming in advance, and we can't wait to soak it all in. We're coming for you Jairo...just one more day, mi amor.

Off we go!

It's midnight on Thursday night, and we're ready to go! We've been busy preparing all week (all month really), and it all came together. To-do lists are all checked off, everything is packed, the house is ready for our renter, and we're feeling good. We leave tomorrow morning on an 11am flight, and arrive in Quito tomorrow evening sometime, with a brief layover in Miami.

It feels a bit like the preparations for our wedding, and for our around-the-world trip. Both were huge adventures, with massive planning, organizing and preparing leading up to them. And both turned out to be amazing, life-changing experiences, creating some of our most treasured memories. We can only imagine all the good things that will come as a result of this trip!

Buenas noches.

One Week...

One week from today we will meet our son for the first time! We are full of excitement, anticipation and joy at the prospect of seeing Jairo in person after all these months of looking at his photos and thinking about him.

He has been waiting patiently for a family for a long time, and we feel so fortunate that he has waited for us. We are blessed to have been chosen to be his parents, and we can't wait for the moment when we can hug and hold him and tell him how much we love him!

Estamos viniendo, mi hijo. We're coming, my son.