La Familia Brophy

We’ve been catching up on our sleep (view image). Nathan slept for ten hours last night. I was up making coffee by the time he woke up. We were a little worried, but he seems fine so why complain?

Nathan met his Granma and Granpa Sweeney today. Nathan slept most of the time but spent 30 minutes intently watching his Grandmother eat sushi. Mike and Debi are driving back to Conneticut as I write. We’ve stayed in the house, giving the kid a chance to get his bearings after a turbulent couple of weeks. Nathan is adjusting quickly, as is Mr. Jones.

We’re home!!! Nathan did a great job on each of the flights, he only cried when the plane was at the gate and we were waiting to get off (doesn’t everyone want to cry at that point?). His Grandma Tobin and el Abuelo Veijo (aka my Dad) were waiting for us there.
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We had our Ellis Island experience at the Miami airport. Since adopted kids aren’t US citizens until after clearing immigration, we were in the same line with new immigrants. It’s amazing how rude the INS workers can be when they are not working with US citizens. We were urged to switch lines after the US citizens were through (”Come on you people move it!”). We got our passports stamps and the woman who stamped them said “He’s adopted. So he’ll learn English.” Um, yeah, but that’s weird thing to say… I think it says something about the INS/Miami mentality that that was her reaction. We don’t have too many options with bilingual education now outlawed in Massachusetts. Read the extended entry to hear how we almost had to return to Colombia!
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This is, with any luck, the last post from Colombia. Sorry there haven’t been any photos for a while, I’ll post a photo of Nathan arriving in Boston on Thanksgiving. I’ll also write tonight from Miami if it’s feasible. I’ve got to get back to packing. Thanks for all your comments!!

In Tibetan Buddhism the time between when you die and when you are reborn is called the Bardo. It’s supposed to be a very powerful time, because you are setting in motion the cycle of your next life. I feel like this trip to Colombia has been like the Bardo - we return to the US tomorrow to a whole new life. Staying at these hotels full of families and children getting ready to embark on a new life togehter is amazing - everyone is so actively transforming their lives. When we left Cali I looked our hotel room as we left and realized I spent the happiest days of my life (so far) in that room getting to know Nathan, starting to learn to be a father, and watching Lisa become a mother.

It’s incredible that we’ve known Nathan for only 2 weeks, but that’s such a big part of his life. He’s already changing - he can hold his head up more, track an object with his eyes well, he uses hands a lot more, and he can now make the sounds of a couple consonants, it was vowels only when we arrived. Lisa got him to say “A Good” perfectly, by saying it to him until he imitated. I try this all the time and he gives me some pretty good imitations. I also try to convince him to say “dad” all the time but no luck yet!

I AM WRITING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I CAN•’T FIGURE OUT THIS KEYBOARD! BOGOTA IS VERY BEAUTIFUL AND THE WAETHER SEEMS TO BE AGREEING WITH US ALL MUCH BETTER. ALTHOUGH BEN AND I HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN THE TROPICS WE BOTH GOT HEAT RASHES IN CALI. NATHAN SEEMS MUCH HAPPIER IN THE COOLER TEMPERATURES AS WELL.

EVERYTHING WENT WELL TODAY. WE MET WITH THE DOCTOR WHO HAD TO APPROVE NATHAN’S HEALTH IN ORDER TO ENTER THE US. NATHAN PEED ALL OVER THE EXAM TABLE.

MARIA CONSUELO HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL IN GETTING OUR PAPERWORK READY FOR THE EMBASSY TOMORROW. HER WHOLE FAMILY IS VERY WONDERFUL.

MANY ADOPTIVE PARENTS HERE IN BOGOTA ARE JEALOUS ABOUT HOW FAST OUR ADOPTION WENT. IN BOGOTA THE PROCESS IS MUCH SLOWER AND MOST PEOPLE SPEND 6 WEEKS HERE.

WE’LL TRY TO WRITE AGAIN TOMORROW BUT WE PROBABLY WON’T BE ABLE TO GET ANY MORE PICTURES UP BECAUSE OF THE COMPUTER.

We were happy to be heading home, but we’ll miss our new friends in Cali. My Mom came with us to the Cali airport and we said good bye until Thursday. We had a hard time in the airport because we couldn’t understand the orders the security guards gave us. They patted us all down, even nathan, they opened every bag including my wallet. They opened the infant formula and took some out to sniff. Nathan had no trouble on his first airplane ride. The flight was very quick. We were picked up by Maria Consuelo, her husband and son, but their car was towed while they waited for us to get our luggage! It must be those Giuliani style parking rules they have in Bogota now. We came to the Hotel Zuetana in a cab. The hotel is very impressive, they even have wireless internet access, but I haven’t been able to get it work with my mac yet (some kind of security issue) so no photo tonight! Tomorrow we’ll get started on the INS bureaucracy with Ma. Consuelo’s help.

Nathan felt a bit overstimulated this afternoon. Understandable after a morning at the zoo, the market and the mall. He is asleep now but it wasn’t easy. As a result I’m feeling overstimulated myself, so it will be just a quick post tonight. We fly to Bogota tomorrow afternoon. Not sure if I’ll be able to post messages or photos, but I’ll surely try. Once we leave, the hotel will be entirely full of Norwegians (and their soon to be Norwegian adopted children) who all met over the internet while waiting for their referrals. One of the best things my Mom brought with her was our copy of “What to Expect in the First Year.” It’s been a lifesaver tonight.

Nathan’s Grandmother Tobin spent the day with us today. She and Nathan are having a great time (see the photo). Nathan had tummy trouble yesterday, and he was still fussy this morning. Between all of the attention he’s getting and adding prune juice to his formula, he felt well enough for us to go to Gertrudis’ house in the evening. We had empanadas, and cheese fried between two slices of plantain, with a special salsa. So good! It was great way to celebrate the completion of the adoption process here is Cali! Nathan is treating us to some evening happy time right now. I’m going to sign off so I can enjoy it properly.

I have good news - our court case went really quickly and we are now legally Nathan’s parents! We can leave early and we’ll be home just in time for Thanksgiving dinner!

My Mom arrived safely tonight. Her trip was meant to coincide with the middle of our trip but c’est la vie. We’ll all hang out in Cali until Sunday, when Lisa and I fly to Bogota. My mom flies from Cali to Boston on Monday morning. We will spend two days in Bogota getting Nathan’s visa to the USA and then fly to Miami on Wednesday. We’ll spend the night in Miami and fly to Boston on Thursday morning arrivingat 10:40. Amazing - we’re incredibly lucky, one family has been here for 6 weeks and we’ll be out in 2.