Our Boy at Long Last! (by Bob)

The day seemed liked it would never come, but here we are sitting in the SWS guest house with our boy Bo!  We wasted some time in the morning reading and visiting a book store, but then our 1:30 appointment time seemed to come up before we realized it.  The turnover process was amazingly quick, lasting a total of about 30 minutes. 

The foster father was in the waiting room when we arrived with Bo and very warmly handed him to us immediately.  He and Mrs. Shin have been very good about emphasizing that he is our child and being very fact-based and straight forward about providing us with information on his care and up bringing to date.  It was clear that they cared very well for him, but also wanted to make the turnover emotionally easy for everyone involved.  

After going through some paper work and getting some very nice gifts (both from SWS and the Shins), the Shins each said a personal goodbye to Bo that made us both inevitably tear up.   We were whisked into an elevator where we said goodbye to the Shins as the doors closed.  Our case worker escorted us to the door, took a picture for us (left) and the next thing we knew, we were out on the street with a BABY!!!  I'm not sure what we were expecting, but it all seemed so sudden that we looked at each other in a mixture of joy and complete disbelief.

We've been back in the room since then getting to know the little man.  He was a bit fussy when he got back to the room and wouldn't take his bottle.  But after an hour nap in Colleen's lap, he took an entire bottle and has been happily playing with us ever since.

We've been able to get up and pack a little watching him closely and he seems to play by himself for small stretches at a time well.  He is smiley and makes lots of funny sounds.  He also likes to be bounced around a lot and loves to chase the camera when I'm trying to get a video him.

Here's a video of him scoping out the camera before trying to manhandle it:

Tomorrow morning we catch a plane at 10am local time (Tuesday) and arrive back at Dulles IAD by 9:30 am Tuesday (magic, huh?).  We've heard that 20 hours of travel time (bus, plane, car ) is the international adoption equivalent to labor.  We are ready to go through anything with Bo and this trip will only allow us to get to know him better.  And be delivered a family on the other side.

I think it's safe to say that we have already fallen for Bo and his home city of Seoul.  We had such a remarkable time here that we will never, ever forget and will almost certainly return.

We'll post more when we get back to the US.  Until then, thanks for following the Bo Chronicles!