Our second visit with Lydia

Thursday finally arrived and we were able to spend time with Lydia again. We went down to the observation room a little early and met the foster mother as she was arriving with Lydia. This time, we set our video camera on a table nearby and recorded the entire visit. We also took more pictures than last time.

The foster mother brought a box filled with a bunch of Lydia's things, including a hanbok, her favorite book, a toy cell phone, a knit winter hat, a bunch of the "drool kerchiefs", and several of the gifts we had sent her (including two very worn out and well chewed cards). It was so nice to receive so many personal items to bring back for Lydia. We hope these will help with the transition.

The visit started out well because we brought out the snacks. She really enjoyed the puffs, yogurt melts, and Cheerios we brought. We took turns feeding her. She would open her mouth like a little bird and let us feed her.

She liked to hold one in each hand.

She made good eye contact with us, but still stayed very close to the foster mother. We read a "touch and feel" book with her. She really enjoyed the page with the soft red bird (and so did Jim).

We got a smile out of her a couple of times playing with a pink ball. We learned some Korean phrases the foster mother uses to comfort her. Also, we found out that the foster mother sings "Jesus loves me" and other church songs as lullabies.

Towards the end of the visit, we both tried to hold her a couple of times, but she cried very intensely each time. This is just a preview of what is to come on Monday. We've talked with other couples who have adopted about their first night. They indicated that the first night was full of tears, but things got better from there. We pray her transition will go as smoothly as possible.

The official placement ceremony will take place on Monday at 4 PM. We are thankful we will get a chance to let her get used to us the night before we travel.