Korea Trip: Meeting Taeho

On Monday we had our first meeting with Eli Taeho. This meeting was at his foster family's house and we were pretty nervous. 

Can you tell?

We had no idea what to expect. Since he was sixteen months old, we knew that he would he would be pretty attached to his foster mother and possibly even be scared of us. We were also worried that Joel would run through their apartment or act out in jealousy. His foster family lived in a very nice apartment complex with a great park in the middle, which we thought was so great for Taeho. When we walked past the park, Taeho's foster brother and his friends were playing there and immediately knew who we were. We went up to their apartment and were welcomed by his foster mother. We had seen many pictures of her and could tell what a warm and happy person she was, and this proved to be right! She had a beautiful smile and made us feel so welcome. Taeho had just woken up, so he was very quiet. He did sit in our laps and play a bit, just looking at us and Joel a little curiously.

Gangnam Style, of course!

Taeho's foster mother gave us a hanbok that he had worn on his first birthday, and she also bought Joel a new hanbok, which brought me to tears. We had been wanting to get him a new one that actually fit, and the fact that she had been thoughtful enough to pick one out for him was so touching to us. She also bought a Pororo phone for both boys to play with.

At the end of the meeting, we went outside and played at the playground. Taeho clearly felt comfortable there, running around and going down the slide. We finally saw some smiles and were able to interact a bit better with him.

When we left there, we were happy to have seen where he spent the last ten months, and also even more nervous about how he would react to joining our family.

We were also scheduled to visit with him again the next day, this time at the agency. He was very reluctant to leave his foster mother's lap or play with us. We tried our best to interact with him and make him smile. We played a little peek-a-boo and helped him fill a container with balls, which kept him occupied for a long time. We could tell that he was a smart and healthy little guy, which made us happy.

You can't go wrong with fruit puffs!

When we left, his foster mother told me in English that he was a smart, cute, and lovely little boy. We knew that they would miss him terribly, and our hearts were so sad for them and our little boy as well.