Now back to what happened....]
After a fair night of rest, we were off the next morning to see Harris again. When we arrived he was sleeping. Trumar, the sweet nanny taking care of him, said he had drank 4 bottles and 3 pedialyte packages! Praise God for an appetite and the ability to keep the fluids down! While he was resting in the bed, Jake read Psalm 100. After he finished, Semey read Psalm 100 in Amharic. What a sweet moment! This may have been the first time Harris' sweet little soul had heard the Bible read to him.
While we waited on Harris to wake up we chatted with Trumar and attempted to practice our Amharic. Keep in mind, we know zero Amharic and Trumar knew a few words of English. Can somebody say full emersion!? Jake and I are so used to Spanish. It was a whole new ball game to try to understand and try to speak something we had never heard before except for what we had looked up on Youtube! There was another little girl who had come to the hospital the night before. She was also on an I.V. We were able to give her some our pedialyte (because Lord knows I bought WalMart out before we left! I always over prepare...). They also got a good laugh out of our attempts at speaking Amharic. Like most of the Ethiopian people we met, they were very kind yet curious about why we were there.
Once Harris woke up, we were able to feed him a bottle and some rice cereal. That boy was hungry! He did not want to mess around when he saw Trumar fixing the cereal! We asked if he was interested in any of the food pouches we had brought and they said he didn't like them because it was too sour. It sounds like they don't eat a lot of fruit in the orphanage, so anything sweet was a little much for him especially while his stomach and body was healing.
We also brought some books to read with him. It was the most fascinating thing to see...I don't think he had ever seen a book! I asked Semey if they had books in the orphanage and he said he didn't think that they did. Can you imagine? It's the little things that we do at home with our kids that really aid in their development and to think that something as basic as a book had not been part of this little boy's life thus far. Once the appeal of reading the book was over, he changed focus to Jake's beard. He would touch it and just stare at in wonder. I thought the book would be the highlight of Harris' day, but no, the beard was.
The time seemed to fly that morning and all of the sudden we were back at the hotel. Already becoming very attached to Harris, I started scheming how I could stay. I couldn't fathom putting him back in the orphanage! He's so small and fragile and needs a mom! Of course, all of these thoughts and emotions got a hold of me and then add being tired to it and I finally broke down. I had been waiting for this moment to come. And I actually felt a little better once I let it all out. I was concerned for our son, but had to trust the Lord with the outcome. We ate dinner again with our new friends from our agency. We were so thankful that they were there to provide encouragement and advice. It was nice to speak English too! God knew that both of our families needed each other on this trip! God knows everything. Isn't He good like that?
Well, the next day we went to see Harris again. We came in the room and he was laying in the bed. We came over to the bed and when he saw us, his face lit up! His little hands reached up and he touched us on the face!! Talk about a heart melting moment! I don't know what was going on in his head, but I'd like to think that he knew that we loved him.
On this day, we saw a lot more of his personality and his abilities. He was feeling so much better! Praise God! For as much as he enjoyed the books, I knew he would enjoy some toys. Though not quite as intriguing as Jake's beard, he still thoroughly enjoyed them. Once he figured out what the toy was all about, he discovered throwing the toys. Over and over he would throw the toys! As soon as we handed him the toy, he would throw it. I was sitting on the bed and he threw the toy at me. I made a funny sound and reacted and for the first time, we heard him laugh! So far, the only sound he had made was crying. To hear him laugh was such a blessing!
I could tell he was getting sleepy, so I walked around the room with him and he fell asleep in my arms. If you've ever had a child fall asleep in your arms, you know that feeling of accomplishment. That feeling of joy and peace. A moment of connection where the child is so comfortable they can't help but fall asleep. I laid him down on the bed and we all closed our eyes for about 30 minutes.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of more bottles, more diapers, Jake putting Harris to sleep, smiles from Harris, and me getting some awesome corn rows! (Though my corn rows were awesome, there's a reason white girls don't wear corn rows! And there were four reasons on my head! lol)
We were thankful Harris was getting better, but we knew that meant it was almost time for him to head back to the orphanage. We took in each moment we could. Rested and prayed in between. Most likely the next day was going to be our last day with him for a little while...
"The length of our days is 70 years--or 80, if we have the strength;
yet there span is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass away and we fly away...
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
Psalm 90:10, 12
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