Korea...part 3

So there we were in the hotel the 3 of us. It was nap time according to our pre-flight report, so we decided to see about getting him to rest. Of course this was with the idea that the better rested he was the better it would be for his grieving. WELL, I forgot how they said he was independent and he was having no part in a nap. Commence the wailing and crying and standing at the door, begging the best he could to go out. Poor thing had realized that this was not just a fun playdate, and he wasn't happy. On top of the sadness, he is quite determined and was able to open the door to the room. Talk about panic, that's what we need...come here, traumatize this little guy, then have to chase him around the hotel.
So we threw on the backpack and went for a walk. He liked the backpack, settled down and fell asleep. He fell asleep so we decided to walk some more so he could rest and find some lunch. Well, it started to rain! Of course it did. And not just sprinkle, really rain. I wussed out and got McDonalds, I really wanted some comfort of the known for what I knew was going to be a hard evening. So we trekked back in the rain, my soggy McDonalds, Stephen's noodles. When we got back to the room, we tried to lay him done, by all means, he was OUT. No dice, as soon as we laid him down, he started to cry and jumped up. So we decided to be grateful for the little rest he got and try something different...food. This boy likes some food, he will certainly fit right in with the C clan. His mood improved, he ate some food, turned his nose up at my french fries and began to show his personality again.

And he has some energy!!! He was climbing on the coffee table and running around. That lasted for a good while. Later that night, we joined another family in their room for a playdate. Their little girl is only a couple days younger than M and watching them play was very informative. When the little girl screamed, M ran to me and sat in my lap, WHEW!! reassuring. Now she still wasn't the fan of S, but we will get there. We headed back to our room to get to bed, and more grief...lots of it. Sobbing and crying and calling our to his foster family. I sat and rocked him and faced him away from me, until he fell asleep sitting up. I have to be honest, those moments make you wonder what you have done to this sweet boy. He didn't ask for this, he doesn't understand that his loving foster family, was just that, a foster family. We will be his forever family, we will love him and protect him. I had to keep reminding myself of that. He slept all night, with a couple whimpers here and there, but overall pretty restfully. S and I not so much. We got up early and he continued to sleep. This was our last full day in Korea. We realized that he had lots of wonderful things in his bag, but he didn't have a Hanbok. Now all the other kids did and he didn't. So we talked about heading out to get one. S volunteered to go alone. But honestly, that scared me on every level. He would be without any way to communicate and well M might not be so easy to entertain by myself. So we decided to venture back to the same market. It was a quick, easy trip, nothing too scary. We found a Hanbok for him and headed back. There was a tropical storm nearby, and I was NOT getting caught in the rain again with him.

The most important thing I haven't mentioned is how great his mood was when he woke up. He was definitely well rested and happier than the evening before. Naptime and bedtime went better Thursday. Friday we were heading home, so we tried to get our stuff together to make things easier. Unfortunately, neither of us slept, thinking about getting out on time and the flights in general, over 15 hours total!!

We were up in the 4am hour, and started getting stuff organized. We hit the road (or bus really) before 6 and it was pretty smooth sailing to the airport!