Travel and Home

Yesterday was our long travel day, and Raul did really well! He didn't mind the planes, not even takeoff and landing, but was a little uncomfortable, especially on the first flight when he had to sit on my lap. Getting through Romanian Boarder Control was surprisingly easy! They just looked at all our papers, copied them in a back office, and okayed us. Raul was a trooper through all the new experiences: taxis, buses, trains, planes, cars. He made friends along the way on the planes, especially with the flight attendants. On the first flight they gave him a stuffed plane, then on the second they gave him a plane finger puppet, a little soft book, and an airplane patterned bib. We really liked the airline! The flight attendants on the second plane particularly loved Raul, and they checked on him every time they walked by, and talked to him a bunch. They also were curious to hear about his condition and his humanitarian parole.

On the long flight Raul lay in a wall bassinet for a little while so we could eat, then when he woke up fussy in there he came and laid on my chair with me for the rest of the flight. He slept almost the whole way, which was great. When we got to Boston they checked us at Boarder Control, then we had to go downstairs to a secondary inspection area to fill out a form for his parole. They were very nice to us, but not so nice to some of the other people who were down there for immigration troubles. Then we got our bag, and headed out.

My mom greeted us with a big colorful sign and flowers. She also had brought tea, like they get in Romania, in a sippy cup which Raul loved. He hadn't drunk much of anything yet, so we were happy to see him getting fluids finally. He has been eating pretty well, but he will have NOTHING to do with formula anymore. His favorites are strawberry yogurt and banana baby food. We ate our dinner then headed up to bed. My mom slept in my room with me and Raul so that I could get some sleep since it had been a few days since I'd really slept. She said he woke up at 3 then went back to sleep, and at 6 they left the room, but then ended up sleeping a bit more in my sister's room. At 8 he was up for the day. I got up at 11:30, and he was happy to see me :) .

At about 1 he fell asleept for his nap, and slept until 4. I let him wake up a little, and then tackled my first solo bath and bandage change for him. Obviously, he was NOT happy, but it went well. He only really freaked out in the bath, the rest of the time he only cried a little, so it was normal for him. Some of his blisters are in really tricky areas to bandage, but I finished the whole bath and bandage process in an hour, which is not bad at all, especially since I did it myself. At that time my mom got back home, and we brought Raul down to eat again.

Surprisingly, Raul seems to kind of like Teddy. He isn't scared of him, and actually even started petting him last night. He doesn't like when Teddy barks, but still isn't too bothered. Though at this point everything is so strange for him, a big hairy dog probably isn't much weirder! It is so great to finally have him here after this long process. The crib that has been waiting since we first thought we were bringing him home about two months ago is finally filled. Right now he is having a rest in his crib since the bandage process tired him out, and he is playing with his favorite new toy cell phone!