Bye Bye Little Boy

We said goodbye to our little boy today. It was so hard to do, even though we know he's in good hands and we'll hopefully be back soon. We left a picture album with him showing some of the fun things we've done together over the past ten days (bowling, cars, tea time, etc.). We hope his caretakers will show it to him often and remind him that it's his Mommy and Daddy in the pictures and that we're coming back for him.

It was a special day to be at the orphanage, because our son's group was putting on a Christmas program for the rest of the kids. So when we showed up, our boy was dressed as the most adorable little jester you've ever seen! He was the only one with this costume, whereas the rest of the kids were dressed the same as others (bears, fairies, sheep, etc.). He didn't really have a specific part in the program, so we're not really sure why he got to be a jester, but it was adorable. The program included all of the kids in his group and lots of caretakers. They really went all out with costumes, decorations, a script, and music. Though we couldn't understand the language (it was based on a Russian fairytale), it was fun to watch. And our son really enjoyed it. He sat with us during most of the program, though we had him go join in a couple of group songs where they held hands and danced around the Christmas tree. We totally felt like "those" parents...snapping pictures like crazy and videotaping and waving at our kid from the audience. Ha-look what we've become in a matter of days!

After the program, we helped him change back into his regular clothes, and then we just played in the main room together for one last time. We looked at the picture book, wrestled, played with a balloon, and shared lots of hugs and kisses. When lunchtime rolled around, we had to let him go. He waved goodbye and sat down to eat. We peeked through the crack in the door for as long as we possibly could. I didn't want to leave!

As for when we'll be back, we've heard all sorts of things, varying from three to eight weeks. The latest we've heard is that government workers are on vacation until January 20th. Then the paperwork takes two weeks to process. So that would put our court date in early February, but who knows? All I know is that it can't come soon enough!

We're now in Moscow for a few days. I looked at pictures and videos of our boy over and over on the flight here. It'll be hard to wake up tomorrow morning and know we're not going to see him. It's nice that we have this Russian New Year's trip to distract us for a bit before heading back to Denver. I do miss Molly, but I hope we can head back to Kyrgyzstan again very soon!