Meghan and I tried to confirm our flights (which we really didn't have to do) while Benji & Digafu played ball in the courtyard with Tigist and her daddy, Mark. Benji said Digafu and Tigist had a great time and were talking to each other in Amharic. It was so cute. He had been pretty quite for us up until that point, and so had Tigist. We returned to the room and ate bagels and peanut butter for lunch (we brought this from home and were very glad we did). We met Tesfahun at 12 for our Embassy appointment. The Holt social worker, Teiabech, went with us and in very fond of Digafu. It was a long, crazy, stinky drive to the Embassy, then a long wait for a short "interview". While we waited I noticed Tekiabech took the Magna-doodle pen out of Digafu's left hand and put it in his right and told him in Amharic to use his right hand. In Ethiopia the left hand was used to take care of "hygiene" issues, so I'm sure being left handed is discouraged. We're glad he can be a south paw now if he wants to.
At the interview we were asked if Digafu was the child referred to us, if he had any mental or physical problems, if he had and siblings, how he came into care and if we ever met or planned to meet his father. Done! Another step closer to being home. At this point I was getting pretty home sick and missed my other children a great deal.
On the way home Tekiabech took Digafu to sit with her in the front seat. I was so scared for him as the traffic in Ethiopia is worse than I could ever describe. He LOVED it. We saw him pretending to use her cell phone much of the way back. It gave Benji a break, as Digafu is a Daddy's boy and doesn't want much to do with mommy. I tried to not let this bother me. I knew that he would choose one of us to bond with at first, I was just hoping it would be me. Benji said "You do all the work and I get all the glory."
Since we were at the Embassy during nap time we decided to put Digafu down for a rest when we got back. He wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but soon was fast asleep. We had to wake him at 4:00 (which he was also not keen on ) so he would go to sleep at bedtime. Benji called his parents and they were thrilled to hear from us. Our dog had found her way to their house and was so happy to spend the night at grandma's house.We had some more playtime in the room and then met the others in the lobby to play. Digafu loves the freedom of going to the bathroom whenever he wants and he does it often. Every time he washes his hands he gets soap and water on his hands and washes his face as well. Then he gets another handful of water and takes a drink. It's so cute how well he takes care of himself. The men went to get us Chinese food (our hunters) and the women stayed with the kids. This was good for me because Digafu likes me much more when Daddy's not around. He and Tigist had so much fun with the ball in the court yard and kept me very busy. They were talking away to each other, it was so cute. I was sad he wouldn't have anyone around to talk to in his language when we get home. I'm sure it will be very frustrating for him.
The men returned after about an hour and we ate. The power also came on, after being off since 4:00 a.m. I had to go to the Embassy with air dried hair. I don't think I ran into anyone I knew (tee, hee)
We returned to our room and played and then I gave Digafu another bath. He loves his bath!! I gave him some bath toys and he had a blast. Finally I had Daddy finish up so I could go send an email to the kids. The computer here is horrible. The keyboard is so old the letters are worn off. There is no hunt an peck here, you have to know your keyboard. When I returned Digafu was in his PJs and ready for bed. We played awhile longer and then put him down to sleep. Tonight we got tears, but after Daddy went over and consoled him he stopped crying and found his thumb. He was asleep in like 15 minutes. What a wonderful boy we have. We love him so much already.
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