Another day with Isaac

Our surprise for today was that the foster family had arranged for us to go together with them to the Children's Grand Park in Seoul and spend the day with them! This is so valuable in allowing us to have more time spent trying to bond with Isaac. They were going to take him there to do something special with him on their last day together but thought it best to include us!. We told you they were an amazing family. We are so encouraged by how today went and our interaction with Isaac.

We ventured out for the first time on the subway since it was so far away. The subway system in Seoul is so well designed and organized, it was very easy to navigate. It also helped to have the Seoul subway app on our iPad which told us when to get on and off and our current location.

As we exited the subway tunnel, we first saw the foster father who was rocking the IU hat and shirt that we gave him. It was great...wish we could post the picture. Isaac looked happy to see us but trying to figure things out.

The Children's Grand Park is very big and has a zoo, aquarium and amusement park. The family gave us some space and let us explore a bit with Isaac. We pushed him in his stroller and let him run around a little. He would hold our hand and followed instructions pretty well. We were encouraged that he responded well to boundaries and interacted with us. By the end of the day his was giving us kisses and even calling us Omma and Appa (mommy and daddy).

Isaac loves playing with water. We spent a good amount of time bonding at the water fountains.

We spent a few hours at the park and Isaac fell asleep in the stroller. We went to lunch together with the family at a buffet and stayed a while to talk. They eat very healthy and have done a very good job with Isaac in not giving him a lot of junk food. We have heard from many others who have adopted from Korea that this is not usually the case.

After this they drove us in their car to a department store (think Korean Target). They wanted to buy us some food that Isaac likes to eat to help him in the first few days that he is with us (again, so thoughtful!). We were able to push Isaac around in the cart and we tried out all of the samples (except the Spam).

Then the family asked us if it would be okay for them to drive us back to our hotel and for them to come up to our room. They felt it would be helpful for Isaac to get familiar with where he will be sleeping and spending his time for the next few days. We cannot say enough how much this family has gone out of their way to try and help us so that bonding and attachment can occur between us.

What made this day so valuable was all the time spent together talking, laughing, and singing. Isaac loves to sing and a few times that we held him in our arms singing to him, he relaxed and seemed to soak in every note.

While in our hotel room, we were told probably everything we needed to know about who he is. What his likes/dislikes are, what quirks he has, how he sleeps, eats, and plays, what we can do to console him etc. This is what made this day so special and such a wonderful surprise.

It ended with them teaching us their "clean up" song.

Imagine you were adopting a 2 year old from another country, who barely knows you , who you knew very little about and you spoke very little of his language....and the day before you are going to get him to take him half way around the world, what if someone offered you an extra day with the family that raised him to ask questions, to interact, to bond, to learn...wouldn't that be priceless? That is the gift that we received today. We thank God again for all that He has done in bringing us to this point and we thank everyone again for praying.