Gotcha Day

We left Sofia around 8:00 this morning and headed to Pleven to the orphanage to get Yuli (Aleksandar). Our friends from our first trip to Pleven in December were with us again and headed to another orphanage to get their daughter. We arrived in Pleven a little over two hours later (usually a three hour drive) and went to Yuli's orphanage first.

Our translator, Petko, took us to the second floor where we met the director and went over some paper work that we needed to sign before they brought Yuli in to the room. A few minutes later, he appeared and was smiling. I do think that he remembered us, especially when Rob got down on the floor and began playing with a little nerf ball that we had brought for him. Julia quickly joined in on the fun.

We were able to ask the director a few questions regarding his care and then it was time to go. The director and Rob led Yuli down the stairs and toward the door. The smile quickly turned to a frown as our little guy realized that we were leaving and he did not want to go. Tears quickly followed as his main caregiver ran out to kiss him and tell him goodbye. He really became upset after that and finally I just took him from the director and carried him to the car. He became calm for a few minutes and then began crying again as soon as the car started to leave the parking lot. On the way to the other orphanage, he would cry periodically, but he finally settled down as we neared the building.

While our friends were in getting their daughter, we took Yuli for a walk around the building. The orphanage where our friend's daughter was at was also the same orphanage that Yuli spent the first three years of his life. We wondered if he would remember it or not. We soon got an answer to that question when we met two women on the sidewalk who were walking two children back to the orphange stopped and asked us if this was Yuli. I said "yes" and the women were very excited. A few minutes later, Yuli pulled my hand trying to get me to take him up to the stairs into the orphanage. I think he might have thought that we were bringing him back there.

A few minutes later our friends came out with their daughter and then we were on our way back to Sofia. Yuli was very quiet as he sat in my lap, but a few silent tears fell as he lay his head against my chest. He later fell asleep for part of the drive. When he woke up he seemed a little agitated, and I quickly learned why. He needed to go potty, but he did not know how to tell me so we had our first accident in the car. Luckily, I had brought some pull-ups, so our driver pulled over and I changed Yuli clothes and put the pull-ups on. He is supposedly potty trained, but I don't know if we will put in big boy underwear for the rest of the week since we are not sure when he needs to go.

When we arrived in Sofia, our first stop was the police station where Yuli had his picture made for his passport. After that we went to see a pediatrician who gave Yuli a checkup. He did very well at both of these appointments considering that we had to wait a lot at both places. He is truly a very calm little boy for the most part. As we waited for our driver to return, we took Yuli downstairs and got him some juice at a little store in the medical building. He did not want to drink from the straw out of the juicebox so we asked for a cup. He drank the whole cup! It takes a while for him to drink because of his palate issues, but I am hoping that will be repaired soon after we get back to the states.

After this, our driver took us back to our apartment where Yuli ate some Gerber yogurt snacks. He really loves the strawberry ones. Then he went down for a nap. We are hoping he sleeps throught the night since he did not get to nap until almost 6:00 p.m.

Rob, Julia and I then had some macaroni and cheese that I had brought from the states. We are all exhausted so I think we are going to turn in for the night as well.