First time ever I saw your face...

It was exactly one year ago today that we first set eyes on each other. In some ways it is as clear as yesterday and in other ways it seems like an eternity ago. The picture below is from that first visit. We had only arrived earlier that morning after traveling for almost 2 days. We were allowed to settle in for a while and then it was off to the baby house. When they first brought him into the office he went straight to our coordinator Janette. He wouldn't even look at us. They directed him towards us and he came quietly and looking down at the floor the entire time. I finally got him to look at me by giving him a little bear we brought. He still has that bear on his nightstand. They brought another little boy in and after what seemed only seconds asked if we were interested in spending time with either child. We said yes to Anton and they took us to the music room we would come to spend lots of time in over the next month.


He looks so sad and withdrawn in this picture when I look at it today. Notice the toy phone in his hand. He wouldn't let go of it that first day. He just kept pushing the buttons and answering it when it would ring. Never talked in it just listened and smiled. Ironically, this morning he brought some books and toys into our bed. I didn't realize what all he had brought until I put him down for his nap this afternoon. The first thing he did when we layed down was pick up that very same toy phone and play with it (Yes we still have it, I made sure to bring it home after the first trip so he would have something familiar to play with on each trip and when he got home). This time, when the phone said "Can you come out and play?", Lukas responded back, "go outside to play?". He pushed another button that says,"I love you so much!" and repeated it back with a smile on his face as he looked at me. Oh how far we have come in one short year and 8 1/2 short months home.

We spent the morning at the Jump Zone for a classmates birthday. We made the mistake of letting Lukas stay up a little later last night and he woke up early. It made for a very cranky little boy that would start crying at the least little thing. At least the tears were usually short lived since he was easily distracted by all the activities and other children. The afternoon was spent getting into things he shouldn't when mommy and daddy weren't looking and playing outside. I thought my arm was going to fall off after pushing him on the swing for over an hour! But the joy on his face and the thrill he gets from it make it more than worth while. Then we played and interesting version of Lukas still "hide and seek". It is a mix of hide and seek and peek a boo. He is into hiding these days. I would cover my eyes and he would hide (usually not very well, but being a good mommy I would pretend not to be able to find him)after searching for him I would say," Lukas, come out, come out wherever you are" and he would pop out, shout,"Peek a boo", and come running over with a big grin and give me a big hug. I would respond back with a kiss and "I love you." We played this for quite some time. He then wanted me to hide, of course he also wanted to tell me where to hide. Some one likes to peek between his hands when I hide as well. He is just to cute sometimes.

So in one year we have gone from the quiet, withdrawn, unsure little boy to this...



Truely an amazing transformation in such a short time. Tomorrow we will go to the Circus to celebrate.