She's All Ours, Baby!

Yesterday we finally took custody of Tananya for good. She did remarkably well saying good-bye to her social worker and was less emotional than Mummy was. However, once she got up to the hotel room she realized that things were a bit different this time. For some reason all of her worldly possessions were here as well, and that did not bode well for a speedy return to her foster home. She began to whimper and was clearly unhappy so we decided to put on her bathing suit and take her and Mikayla down to the swimming pool. She looked darling in her pink bikini and enjoyed sitting on the edge of the pool splashing her hands in the water while her sister swam like a dolphin around her. Nana and Papa finally arrived at the hotel and met Tananya for the first time. We went out for dinner with them and ate at a really neat Japanese restaurant where they bring a little charcoal grill and set it in the middle of the table and you grill your own food. Tananya won't remember any of it because she slept through the whole meal. After lunch we had some ice cream at Swenson's. Mummy tried to feed Tananya some ice cream. She responded as though I were trying to feed her brussel sprouts! She would have none of it. Nana and Papa left while we continued shopping in hopes of tiring Tananya out so that she would go to sleep easily. Fortunately, this plan worked rather well as she fell asleep easily. However, when Mikayla and Daddy climbed into bed, Tananya woke up and refused to lay back down. She therefor fell asleep sitting up with her head bobbing about until Mummy finally laid her down. Tananya didn't wake for her usual night time feedings which is GREAT because we had no intention of continuing with this routine. We had to wake her this morning to get ready for our meeting with the Thai adoption board. We were first on the schedule and they did a brief follow up interview with Mikayla. Jess had to actually speak this time as I prevented the hearing from being conducted entirely in Thai as it was last time for Mikayla. After the meeting we headed to Bang Sae where Mikayla's foster parents live. We had a wonderful visit with them. Her foster parents were so happy to see her they cried tears of joy. They had a photo album that contained pictures of Mikayla that we had never seen before and in which they have kept all of the photos we have sent to them since she left their home. They had a beautiful framed photo of her hanging prominently in their home. Mikayla played with her older foster sister much like she had done 5 years ago. Her foster siblings stayed home from school in order to visit with her, and extended family members dropped by as well. Mikayla had so much fun and was tearful when it was time to leave. Jess and Mikayla left a lasting impression as they each spilled a glass of red Fanta pop on the floor. (Like father, like daughter, I guess). Tananya is falling asleep so we will close this for now.