Day 2 at the orphanage

We were surprised today, when we arrived at the orphanage, the nou nou's said we could take baby E downstairs for a walk. We stayed at the orphanage but walked around with him. In the morning, he still cried with us, but was consoled more quickly and the crying didn't last for as long. This was more fun and more appropriate for M as he was able to play ball with some of the older children there. In the baby room, he was getting a bit too active and starting to make everyone nervous. Overall, he is doing very well, but definitely needs to burn off some energy. M desperately wants to hold E and to carry him. So far, we have only let him sit with him. E cries, but I think it is good for him to get used to everyone, and it seems to be working. M was sad not to have more time to hold him, but he was so happy and proud of himself that he was able to rock him to sleep before we left. We were feeling better about how well E was doing with us, however, when we tried to feed him his cereal, he clamped his mouth shut. Then he cried. I tried to feed him a bit, but he just kept crying, so the nou nou took him and fed him his food. Hopefully, we can try again tomorrow with more success. Okay, intermission here...Ray has found a gecko or lizard of some sort in our hotel room....eeeeek, it's 4 in the morning, what the heck are we supposed to do? Okay phew, we managed to capture him and take him outside. Day 2 at the orphanage cont... After our morning visit, we headed back to our room. After several attempts, we managed to order a pizza to our room. After eating that, we all crashed and slept for an hour. When we got up, both M and I had a hard time waking up and M was very grumpy. But, that passed quickly and we were soon back on our way to the orphanage. It was around 2:30 when we arrived. E just finished having a bottle, and again we were told to go for a walk with him. Happily, we obliged. He cried a little but really seems to be calming down and getting used to us. Now when we transfer him between us, he doesn't cry anymore. Matthew played ball again, in particular, we played monkey in the middle with one boy. We were all having so much fun, but the boy would get upset if any one else joined in the game. Finally, he let one other little boy join in. At one point, Ray went over to play, and E whipped his head around to see where Ray went. It was very neat to see. Also, he is starting to communicate with us a little, as he did with the nou nou the day before, by making little grunting noises. He is also starting to really look at and study us. He loves to play with Rays nose and feel his stubbly chin, but I love when he just looks up at us. It's very reassuring to see him becoming more confident with each interaction. Later, we shared our first family hug. M gave him a big kiss and said he will always do that when we have a family hug. Awwww, do they have to grow up? Ray, M and I were sharing a bottle of water and E wanted some to. He was starting to get more aggressive to have a drink. I didn't want to give him any as I still have a cold, and also don't feel it's our place yet. We did ask for a bottle of water for him, and then we said our goodbyes for the night. We are looking forward to Day 3 at the orphanage. We were told we can ask our questions of the Director then. We are also hoping she will allow us to take him back to the hotel today or tomorrow. We certainly don't want to rush things, but it would be nice to bring him back to the hotel and to start establishing our routines together. Also, he is teething, and probably in some discomfort. We have teething gel and teething rings here for him. Maybe we will bring the teething ring to the orphanage today, and that might help his gums a bit. Today is the day we will meet the other couple adopting from the same orphanage, we are excited about this.