Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Ok, so I'm just now having time to write. BTW, it is 5 in the morning.. Still haven't gotten over jet lag... Anyway, can I just say Best. Day. Ever. Well, maybe I should start at the beginning..

We flew out Wednesday at 7am, layover for 4 hours in Chicago. 14 hours later we land in Incheon. It was brutal. Korean Air is fabulous, don't get me wrong, but that is a long flight. I think I watched or attempted to watch every movie offered. It was hot, which I am always freezing on planes so I dressed for cold. We didn't sleep a wink. yikes.

Our driver met at us at the airport and drove us about an hour into Seoul straight to Eastern. This is the agency and babies home. There are about 20 rooms in thier guesthouse. We were so excited that there was room for us because it just makes everything so much more convenient. It is now 6pm and we went straight to our room and passed out for a couple hours then ventured outside for some food. Then we came back and passed out again...

Our little Seoul man...

Friday morning we met with our Social worker, Mrs. Sung. She was very grateful for the gift and gave us Hudson's passport and other documents. Then it was time... 10am... We went to the Observation room-this is where all the videos and pictures are taken from our updates. Mrs. Choi came in with Hudson on her back. We were so excited, but didn't want to bombard him. The last update we got said that he had severe stranger anxiety, so we wanted to lay low and let him warm up. We all sat on the play mat and Jonathan got out the little Hot Wheels my mom bought. He was very interested! He just watched and watched and watched. Of course I'm snapping a millon pictures a second, it sounds like a photographer at a football game trying to catch all the action. Naturally my camera catches his attention. Mrs. Choi stood him up and pushed him to walk to his 'omma' (momma). I was nervous because I didn't want him to feel forced. Well, he walked right over and gave me the car. He loves the give and take game! He sat on my lap and played with my hair. He laughed when I clapped for him, it was incredible. I could not have imagined it to go any better. Mrs. Choi was excited he was warming up so quickly. We played for about an hour as I asked questions for the Social worker to interpret to Mrs. Choi (foster mom) This is what we found out:

• He sleeps from 11-7 sometimes waking for a bottle.



• He naps at 11am for only an hour (I think I get more sleep than this kid)



• He must sleep with his Foster mom



• He only eats organic, otherwise his eczema flares up



• He has very sensitive skin



• He eats apples, pears, rice with vegetables



• He bathes at noon because FM thinks he gets cold and it is the best time of day for his skin



• He is scared of dogs (yikes)



• He had 8 teeth, 4 top, 4 bottom
  


• He has been walking well since 11 months



• He drinks milk-based formula
  

He likes to ride in the stroller but likes to stand up...hmm

We started to wrap up the questions and it was already 11:15-15 minutes after his nap. All of the sudden, he walks behind me and puts his hands around my neck! He was trying to ride on my back like he does with his FM! It was so funny! FM and the social worker thought it was hilarious! She kept calling for him to come so they could go and kept tight and didn't want to let go around my neck! Finally she reached in her bag and revealed the mother of all bribes...Shrimp puffs. He immediatly jumped off ran to them!! She gets these at the Organic Market. We will be shipping crates home...lol...

All in all, fabulous visit. We had such low expecations because we knew he was going to be really scared but it went great!

Seoul searching.... (I can't resist the puns..)

After that, we grabbed some food -roasted pork and vegetables for me (very spicy!) and Pan broiled squid for Jonathan. Then we did some shopping in Insadong for some authentic Korean souvenirs for Hudson. We bought a World Cup jersey and a name chop (stamp) with his Korean and American name. We also wanted to go to Dongmyo because there was a Toy market we had heard about from our friends back in Fayetteville. Well, we searched FOREVER. We were so tired and ready to go home. We finally found a girl who could read English, kind-of. After several more blocks we made it! Of course by this time everyone was closing! I ran into a few stores and just started picking up Pororo toys and leaving Jonathan to pay while I ran to the next store. We, of course managed to buy a little wooden baseball bat in addition to some bath toys, trucks, stickers and crayons.