We woke up fairly early this morning since we haven't quite adjusted completely to the time change yet (15 hours ahead of Ak). So there wasn't a whole lot to do but sit around and wait... seemed fitting since that's what this journey has been about. :) We were scheduled to meet the social worker at 9:45 and she was right on time but there were some traffic delays and Kannika would not be there until about 10:30. So we visited with Pat the social worker and watched an informational video. Honestly I couldn't tell you a whole lot about the video because who can really focus on a video when they are waiting to meet their child for the first time??? As soon as the video was finished they brought Kannika up to our room. My stomach was in so many knots when they knocked on the door. I could barely breath the first time I saw her. It was just so surreal. This little girl we had only ever seen in pictures was suddenly standing there smiling at us. That was the other shock... she was smiling at us and did the cutest little Thai greeting complete with a bow at the end. It took me a few minutes to wrap my brain around all that was happening. We sat on the floor and played. She loved the toy we brought for her. We brought several but we advised to only introduce 1 toy per day that way if she got upset we might have something new to distract her with. After about 10 minutes she allowed us to sit next to her and play with her. Prior to meeting her the social worker told us the goal for today was for her to let us touch her on the arm. So while we were playing we would touch her hand to help her with her toy. On a side note she is so smart. Her problem solving skills surprised me. She was given a new toy and after a few time of us showing her she had it figured out. We were all very impressed with her. Having good problem solving skills will help her for sure in the days to come. Then she wanted to go out on our balcony and play. So we took her out but she wanted to see over the railing so I picked her up and she didn't cry she actually smiled at me. I wanted to cry then too (you'll notice that's a theme throughout the day for me). We looked at the fountain and then I handed her to Darryl and she didn't freak out then either. Here is the picture from that moment.
It was truly amazing and there is no other explanation than that God allowed us to interact. I felt very lifted up in prayer all day and I know it's because so many people at home were praying for us. We went back inside and showed her the bed she would be sleeping on. She sat on it and layed right down with no fear at all. Of course, the social worker was with us the whole time and was very helpful but it's nice to know she was told in her own language that is where she would sleep. We had lunch together after we played for a bit. She did great at lunch too. She can sit still and feed herself which to me is just amazing for a 2 year old and says a lot about her foster mom's wonderful parenting. I can't say enough about how well prepared this little girl was for everything. I guess after 16 foster kids I shouldn't be surprised that she is so good at preparing them. Next was a trip to her foster home. It was about a 45 minute ride to her house and it was close to nap time. We got in the car and she promptly fell asleep on me. That was definitely the highlight of the day for me. We got to her house and she ran right in waving to her foster mom. We all sat and talked (through a translator) for a bit. Then the foster dad joined us she crawled right over to him and proudly showed her the new shoes one of the social workers had made her. It was very sweet to see how excited she was about the mom and dad. That is kind of rare for the child to attach to both parents equally but she did. We had plenty of time to ask the foster family questions about her and they were very happy to tell us all about her. I laughed when the mom said Kannika is a very happy but determined little girl. We had already seen that in our play time this morning. She is not defiant but she lets you know what she wants. She also didn't like it when we played with something she didn't want us to play with and was good at communicating that. We told the social worker it's a good thing she is like since she will have 2 older siblings. That was just one of the MANY moments today that made me smile inside and thank God for making this little girl just perfect for our family. She will be able to hold her own with her siblings. The foster parents were amazing and it was so nice to be able to see where she has spent the first 2 years of her life. After our visit we took group pictures. Kannika took pictures with her foster family first then it was time for a group picture. When we walked over she reached out from her foster dad to Darryl. That was very surprising and encouraging. Then it was time to say goodbye. She waved very sweetly and we told her we would see her tomorrow (even though she was no idea what we are saying). When we got in the van she started crying and I wanted to run back and get her. It was really hard to leave her knowing she did not understand that we were not leaving because we wanted to but because it's what we had to do. We are excited to see her tomorrow and take her shopping with us for essentials like diapers and milk. Hopefully it will be another good day.
On a side note it is really sweet to watch her interact with the social workers. They have a special bond because during the flooding almost 2 years ago her foster family lived in the HSF office for 6 weeks. So they got to know her very well and with all her medical appointments the social workers have seen her more than most of their foster children. One of the social workers even knitted her a pair of shoes and glued rubber to the bottom so she would have shoes for her different size feet. We will definitely be keeping those for her as a keepsake of how special her early years were.
Here a few other pictures from the day
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