As I said in the last post, we knew that God knew what He was doing, and that even if the sib placement didn’t work out, that He had a reason that He was preparing us.
Finally, two weeks after we got the initial referral for the sibling group, our agency gave us a call to tell us that the variance for other family had been approved, so we would not be getting the 4-pack, but before she even took a breath she had something else to ask us. She asked me, because Hubby was at work, if we would consider taking a two year-old boy. She and his assigned worker spent the next few minutes on speaker phone with me telling me the little they knew about him. He had only been in care a few days, and was initially placed with a foster family who decided they couldn’t handle his tantrums. They told me that apparently he tantrums when he hears “No,” hits himself, and hits his head on the floor.
All I was thinking at this point was, “Does this family not know ANYTHING about 2 year-olds?” Everything else about the boy was extremely positive, and the tantrums didn’t scare me a bit. I actually really enjoy the strong-willed-ness that comes with toddler-hood. I love how they are developing their sense of self, and literally learning how to be human. I love their creativity and ingenuity, and how they can help you think outside the box, because they do it so naturally.
Anywho, I told them that they would most likely get a “Yes,” but I had to call Hubby first, so I called Hubby and gave him the lowdown, and he asked me to give him an hour to think and pray about it.
When the hour was up I gave him a buzz, and he said “Yes.” It wasn’t even a tentative “Yes.” It was the kind of answer that comes from knowing true peace.
That was Tuesday. He would be coming the next day.
We had painting to do.
As a not so fun sidebar, I got a really bad case of the stomach flu that previous weekend, so I was not good for anything other than lying on the couch sipping water. That put all of our well-intentioned preparation plans on hold, so when we got the call about the little boy we had no choice but to go into overdrive.
Hubby came home from work and got right to painting. I finished up the last coat Wednesday morning, just hours before our new little guy would be arriving.
There was such a lack of info on this little one that we really didn’t know what to expect. When our worker pulled into the driveway, I was definitely excited, but not nervous at all.
It’s a weird feeling, waiting to see who this little person will be. I’ve never given birth, but I imagine that it’s similar, except we often have mere days or even hours notice to anticipate these new members to our family. This time was particularly strange because, unlike Bright Eyes or Bitty Babe, this boy was already 2 years-old. He had 2 years of history that we were not a part of. 2 full years of experiences that shaped his little personality and his perception of this world of which we would never know the full extent. That is something unique to the foster care and adoption experience that is hard to describe completely.
Anywho, the caseworker took him out of his car seat and I got my first glimpse of our new addition. He was tiny for a 27 month-old. He wore a blue camouflage hat that covered his strawberry blond curls. His bright blue eyes sparkled as he pointed at me and smiled and said something in his own little language. He reached up for me and I scooped him up and brought him up the stairs, and together we held the door open for the two workers (his worker and a worker in training) as they brought in his stuff.
It only took a few moments for me to think of the perfect nickname for this little dude. As he raced around our house, exploring every detail along the way, I dubbed him “Busy Boy.” The workers (his worker and a workers spent about half an hour with us, answering questions as best they could, and observing his comfort level. They were both impressed at how observant he was and how quickly he figured out the house.
One thing that struck me right away was how intelligent Busy Boy was. I showed him his room and told him “This is your room!” and that was that. His sense of humor caught me off guard. At one point, while the workers were still here, he found a small blanket, covered himself up, and pretended to snore. I cracked up!
Anywho, I could talk about Busy Boy’s amazing personality all day, and I will definitely be expanding more about his first few days with us, but for now I will say that first impressions were better than I could have imagined. He is definitely strong-willed, and used to getting his way, but his “intense tantrums” were laughable, and he responded immediately to the structured environment we provided.
We don’t know what the future holds for either of our little ones, but things are definitely heading toward the long term for both. This is an exciting time for Hubby and myself. We daily put our family in the Lord’s hands, and we are enjoying every moment that we are blessed with these precious little ones.
More on enjoying mommy-hood later.
Blessings!
Hannah
Love it, Hannah! He’s a lucky boy to be with you.