It’s been a fairly light day here.  I’m reminded a bit of being at mile 9 in a half marathon.  It’s close enough to feel the finish line and far enough back to look at how much has happened. It’s here where you need to be careful to crush the mental aspect of the game. 

There wasn’t a lot on the schedule today.  In fact, it was rather slow. We are stuck out of the pool till tomorrow and the tb test is done, so it was a lot of playing today.  this morning, I made it out to a park to walk around and then we went to the folk art museum and got to catch some amazing local art.  Lunch was Chinese and it was the hottest thing I think I’ve tried – all chili peppers, it was a little more bruit force hot.  

Tonight, we spent some time with the paez family over pizza from papa johns. Holy cow, it was expensive – and they got our order wrong.  A lot of time today was spent hanging out with Brendan.  I was telling Melissa tonight that as slow as it is, I’m reminding myself that these are important moments.  we are growing in our trust, bonding, and attachment to Brendan.  He’s opening up more, beginning to look like a 5 year old and growing fond of us. Today he screamed as he played with bubbles for the first time.  

He said his name for the first time today, said “bubbles”, knows a couple of colors in English, and said “Iona”.  As nice as mile 9 is, the finish line is still a ways away.  

Pray for our time tomorrow.  We have a tight schedule and several things to do.