We met!

And of course, we fell in love.
We were told to meet our social worker in the lobby of the agency at 10:00. We got there early and at about five minutes to 10:00 a toddler and a foster mom walked by us. She was holding the child's hand and spun him toward us so we could see his face. It was Max! The foster mom obviously recognized us right away and stopped so we could see him. He looked a little sleepy (we learned later that he woke up at 5:00 am this morning). He started to cry a little. The foster mom stepped into an open doorway to get the social worker, but she left Max on the floor by us. I couldn't just leave him there, so risking further tears I picked him up. To my surprise, he stopped crying, laid his head on my shoulder, and snuggled right in. That's when I fell in love.
The social worker moved us into the room in which parents meet their babies and told us we had to fill out some paperwork before we played with him. I reluctantly set him down. His foster mom put him inside a Little Tikes-type car while we got Max's passport and visa. We still managed to sneak in a game or two of peek-a-boo while Kurt filled out some paperwork.
Then we were able to get on the floor with him and try to engage him with the toys while simultaneously grilling the foster mom with questions about sleeping, feeding, and soothing. Kurt played with him a lot and got him to roll balls with him and even got Max to sit on his lap for awhile. That's when Kurt fell in love.
The time went by much too quickly and before we knew it, we had to say good-bye. Max gave us both high-fives and waved bye-bye.
It was really hard to walk away. Our social worker whisked us away. We were scheduled to meet with Dr. Kim and the other families that are here to bring their children home. We (and the other parents) were also honored guests at a luncheon where we were served some terrific Korean food. (This a great country to be in if you are gluten- free!)
Now all of our meetings are done. We get to take custody of Max the day before we fly and we can't wait!
We met two other couples who have invited us to join them on a food tour tonight. An adult Korean adoptee will tour us through several restaurants and teach us about Korean food. It is only about 3:00 in the afternoon here and we have already had such an amazing day. It will be great to get out tonight and see a bit of Seoul.
If I have the days right, my Gleason Lake friends will be having their Open House tonight. Good luck to you!
(Amy, is that detailed enough for you?)
And who is posting under the name of Ladyslipper? We can't figure it out.
For those of you who are struggling with the technology, I feel your pain. Kurt has to assist with everything I do on this thing. We can read and send email by the way. That is it for now. We send lots of love to all of you back home!
Dede (and Kurt)