Back in the U.S.A

After almost six weeks in Bogota, Colombia, we are back and seeing the benefits of being in our home with Daniel the first week.

Daniel did amazingly well during the five hour flight from Bogota to Houston, and the three hour flight from Houston to Nashville on July 3. While going through Customs and Immigration in Houston, Daniel became a U.S. citizen.

Claudia and Daniel disappeared into one of the Immigration and Customs offices for about 15 minutes. When their meeting ended with the Immigration officer, he extended his hand to Daniel for a shake and said, "Welcome to the United States of America."

Daniel eyed the gentleman with a skeptical expression.

Both sets of grandparents and Claudia's sister and brother-in-law were waiting for us at the airport. Daniel wore a red Colombian t-shirt and Claudia and I wore shirts made by her sister Ana Maria and niece. The shirts were great and proudly said, "Daniel, we are a forever family!"

Naturally, he received a lot of love and attention from his new family. It was a little much for him at one point because he broke down and cried. That said, he was comfortable in my arms. I guess we're attached now.

Adoption experts say to expect continued improvements when a child arrives home. We've been home for four days. Daniel is sleeping and eating great. He is fascinated with his two new doggies, Missy (Cocker Spaniel) and Pebbles (Pomeranian). The doggies are interested in him but with somewhat less enthusiasm.

All indications say he feels at home. Claudia's cousin postulated that in Colombia nothing smelled like his parents, but at home everything smells like us. Naturally, if everything feels like his parents then he must feel more comfortable.

Everything Daniel sees, smells and hears is completely new to him. I took him for a morning walk the other day through our neighborhood. First, it was 90 degrees. That's about 40 degrees hotter than he is used to in Bogota. Second, without buses, taxis, pedestrians, dogs, various stores, street vendors, and constant bumps and jumping curbs, our neighborhood must be incredibly boring to Daniel. We may need to jump the sidewalk curbs every other house just to keep things interesting for the little guy.

Daniel spent about thirty minutes at our neighborhood swimming pool yesterday. He loves the pool! The little guy was kicking with his feet and waving his hands to make as many splashes as possible. The grin on his face was so large he could have swallowed all the water in the pool.

"We'll need to make sure he get swimming lessons," said Claudia after watching him joyfully play in the pool.

Claudia and I are committed to speak Spanish at home with Daniel. We have been married for about seven years and have never implemented this as a house rule, but now it is very important if Daniel is to be bilingual.
Case-in-point, after being home for two days he was already saying bye-bye and waving his hands bye.

We will forever cherish our experiences in Bogota with Daniel. They are part of our journey to parenthood. Now we are establishing our routines at home and providing Daniel the stability and security he needs.

Day 42: Coming Home

The sun has set on our last day in Bogota, Colombia and we are finishing packing our suitcases.

It is hard to believe we have been in Colombia for six weeks. This is a wonderful country with friendly people, great food and culture. Still we are very excited to return to Nashville tomorrow with Daniel.

We can't wait to introduce him to our two dogs and the rest of his family. We will have a long travel day. We wake up at 4 a.m. to make it to the airport for our 7:50 a.m. flight. We'll arrive in Nashville at 5:30 p.m.

Today we enjoyed lunch with Hedmer, Lilliana and Carolina just outside of Bogota. It really meant a lot to have such wonderful friends to celebrate Daniel's birthday so far from home. Daniel had a little bit more cake too.

At the condominium, Tio Alberto gave Daniel his birthday present; a playschool cell phone. The night before, Daniel showed everyone he knew how to "answer" a phone. We died laughing as he would pick up the phone and place it next to his ear. So, Tio Alberto's gift was perfect for him!

Claudia and I are so grateful to everyone at Children's Hope, Miriam's Promise, Lucia, Oscar and Andres. Words can't give justice to how much we appreciate the love and support from all of our family and friends. Now we begin our adventures as a Forever Family!

Day 41: Daniel Turns One and Tours Orphanage

The first thing Daniel saw this morning when he opened his eyes was his parents, who then sang Happy Birthday.

Today Daniel turned one year old. He had a great day that included receiving his first soccer ball and Colombian soccer jersey and shorts, and ate his first piece of cake. By most accounts that is a pretty good way to kick off a long series of birthdays.

Before we celebrated, however, we returned to the orphanage from yesterday. We brought with us some specific items the orphanage had mentioned needing. This time we were able to tour portions of the facility and meet with the founder and his wife.

The building is nondescript and only has a small sign identifying it as an orphanage.  The building is connected to the others on the street. If you weren’t looking for it, then you could easily miss it.

When we entered the building, it became obvious that it was connected to the other buildings. From the outside its size was deceptive, but once indoors there were some stairs to the second floor and then a hallway that lead to an atrium between the buildings where sunshine and warm air could be enjoyed.

And it was being enjoyed by several children bound to wheelchairs. There were other children with varying degrees of functionality and independence. Numerous nurses and aides were attending to the children. Colombian singer Shakira blared on the radio while a couple of children danced to her music. Fifty –three children call this orphanage home.

We were fortunate to have a conversation with the founder and his wife. They truly have wonderful hearts and are doing God’s work by helping children who have no family, are dependent on others for even basic functions and will likely never be adopted.

The orphanage keeps a low profile and doesn’t do a lot of publicity or fundraising. That said it survives on donations from a network of professional colleagues, adoptive families, grants, etc. Over the years, the orphanage has made connections with people in far flung countries as France, United States and Australia.

“Sometimes people feel if they can’t donate a large amount of money, then they can’t donate anything,” the founder explained. “But if you give me ten dollars, then we can buy rice for meals. Anything can help.”

An orphanage that specializes in helping disabled children has an entirely different level of need than others with healthy children. I didn’t realize how great the need is for physical therapy equipment, air tanks, wheelchairs, guard rails for beds, etc. that are needed for special needs children. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I didn’t make the connection until we toured the facility.

“Ninety-five percent of the children we receive have a major disability,” the founder says. “The other five percent only need a surgery to have a normal life.”

What does that mean for the five percent of children? It means they are put on the special needs list and their chances of being adopted are low because the majority of adoptions are with healthy children.

We left the orphanage discussing how we can help raise money for the orphanage. When we return to the United States, it’s our goal to help out as best we can.

During the evening, Tio Alberto brought Daniel his first birthday cake. We put on our birthday hats, lit the “1” candle and sang “Happy Birthday” to him in English and Spanish. We think he likes being the center of attention.

He enjoyed his first cake like all one-year-old children on their birthdays. Then we put on his Colombian soccer outfit and gave him his mini-soccer ball. Tio Alberto and Claudia helped teach him how to kick the soccer ball.

The boy can’t walk yet and he is already enthusiastically kicking a soccer ball. He must have Colombian blood running through his veins.