Anyone want to see Ty Ji-Tae???

There he is...in the carrier on his foster-mom's back. This is how he is used to traveling. The first of many changes.

Mama's Boy?


This one is NOT afraid of Daddy.

First few moments together.

Sharing a lunch of Korean Barbeque

**sigh**

He's perfect

We had an amazing hour together. Learned a lot about his routines. He eats anything - shock - and takes 3 one-hour naps. He has had a lot of love from his foster mom and extended family. He has never been in a car seat so that will be fun! He went readily to Jim and liked me too. Had a quick check by the doctor to make sure he can leave the country and, yes, he can. Don't know why a 20+ pound baby needs two bottles in the middle of the night but I can deal with that when we get home, I guess. Unlike Marie, Ty has some serious Mongolian spots. These are darkened areas of the skin that will eventally fade as he gets closer to 10. Right now, it looks like he was hit and bruised along his backside. We go to the doctor Monday and will need to have them documented in case we get falsely accused some day at the beach. Other than that, he is in perfect health. No dry skin, no colds, no ear infections...just lots of smiles. We both were able to coax some smiles from him. He clearly prefers his foster mom but that is how it should be right now. We realize that at some point he is going to go through some grief and loss as he realizes that she is gone. The other wrinkle is that he sleeps on his foster mom. He falls asleep on her chest wtih his head on her shoulder and sleeps right there. So, we will have to transition him to sleeping on his own too. Our dog Cody will be in for a shock when he has to share me.

The visit and doctor check-up lasted one hour. At the end, the foster mom invited us to lunch of Korean barbeque. It was wonderful. We couldn't communicate explicitly but managed to do okay. We had to remove our shoes and sit on the floor around this little table. It was so small that Ty could stand at it. The table had a hole in the middle where they grilled the meat. Ty kept me and the foster mom busy as we kept him away from the white hot coals. Jim and I kept laughing that "the grandmas" would have a fit if they could see this. But we weren't in any position to question the foster mom. It was an amazing lunch spending time getting to know each other and Ty. That hour was worth the cost of the trip, no question. We are so thrilled we could have that opportunity.

After we said goodbye to them we took the subway back into downtown. Spent a great day just walking, shopping, eating food from street vendors. We kept pulling out the camera to look at the pictures again and pinching ourselves thinking about tomorrow.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We certainly appreciate all the support and love. We do feel very far away so your thoughts are appreciated!

For those of your wondering about the OTHER child, we talked with Marie this morning via Skype. She is great. Our friend Kerry and her daughter Hailey visited Marie Monday afternoon and told us that she is her "happy chipper self." Marie has been treated to the carousel at the mall, a library trip, a trip to the Build-a-Bear store and more sweets than we can imagine. When we talk to her, we can tell she is doing just fine!