Here are some pictures from our first meeting. It takes forever to upload pictures with this connection, but I’ll do my best to keep doing it!

Today we went back to the orphanage first thing and picked up Moses for the day. His eyes got big when we walked in the room and he kept pointing at us. Good sign! He came to me without crying today and didn’t protest when we left the orphanage. We headed to Bourbon Street Coffee (it’s like a Starbucks, except they serve meals as well) to hang out with our guide, Nyanja and some friends, Torri, David, and their 9 month old daughter Ineza (she was adopted from Home of Hope also). It was so nice! So laid back! We spent the whole morning just chatting and letting the babies play. Moses was very reserved at first, but by the end of the morning he was playing with us, smiling (we didn’t get to see any smiles yesterday), and Daddy even got him to laugh a few times. He loves to throw things, balls preferably but any toy will do. We did a little more sight-seeing, fed Moses dinner and then took him back to the orphanage. He is so much fun and is such a lover! He interacted so much and it seemed he was much more comfortable today. When the sister took him from me to take him back to the toddler room, he reached back for me. Another good sign! He really loves the sisters and the nannies at the orphanage, and it is very evident that they love him just as much. One of the sisters teased me about Moses being spoiled in our family, but later I overheard her telling Nyanja to please bring more families to adopt children. They know that adoption is the best option for these kids, and we have been received very warmly by them. We weren’t sure how we would feel about spending time with him and then leaving him at the orphanage for a few days, but now I am so glad that this is how it has worked out. An orphanage is all he has ever known, and he truly loves his caregivers. This has been a lot less traumatic for him, as he’s gotten to know us over the last couple of days. Tomorrow, we will be able to take him for good, no more nights as the orphanage.

Tomorrow morning we plan on going to the genocide memorial, and then we’ll go back to the orphanage to get Mr. Moses. The other two families will come in tomorrow afternoon also.