Gotcha day. Full of happiness and intense sadness

Pat now has Gerad Yihyun with him permanently. We tried Skyping last night but the little guy was so shell shocked that we decided to cut things short. He has definitely begun the grieving process which is so heartbreaking. I wish I could be there to help both of them.

Anyway, I will let Pat describe the first day in his own words.

As you noted when we were skyping he seemed to be getting a little freaked out. Up to that point he was completely fine, he had no problem at all coming with me, as he seems to be an easygoing and curious little guy, and I was just part of the adventure. The "elevator" experience that everyone talks about was as difficult as expected, his foster mom was very upset and it was pretty rough to say goodbye. This little guy was the centre of her world for the last 15 plus months, I can't imagine what she must be going through.


So after I hung up with you, I picked him up and put him on my chest and he laid their quietly. I thought he is probably pretty tired so a nap might be in order. I put him in the bed and laid next to him and he fell asleep right away. He woke up after about an hour and called out for his foster mom "eom-am" so I went in to comfort him and he relaxed and laid there quietly for another 10 minutes or so. The rest of the afternoon was great, he had a snack, played for a bit and then we went out. He was good in the carrier, I went down to the E-mart to get some supplies. He didn't say boo the whole time. I didn't need much, the foster mom packed two bags filled with cloths, toys, diapers, prepared food, bottles, formula, you name it. With the bag she gave me the other day I am going to have to buy another suitcase to get all this stuff home. We didn't have to take anything over for him. She had him dressed in a new outfit, which was just one of many layers. I think she thought we were heading to Canada in February.


After we got back he had supper, he ate great, but of course it was all his favourites including Kimchi of the non-spicy variety. Every once in a while he would ask for her, and sob a little, but it would only last a few seconds and he would then carry on with his business.


It wasn't until he had his bath and had his PJs on that it finally hit him, Eom-ma was not coming back. He crawled into bed and laid there sobbing, it was heartbreaking. So I laid there with him and rubbed his back for about 15 minutes until he fell asleep. He has woke up once since then and with a little help fell back to sleep. I suspect there may be a few more of those throughout the night.


Hopefully he sleeps ok and tomorrow goes well, and we can get out and about for a bit.