Day Two: Gotcha Day (Part One)

In the world of adoption, the term "Gotcha Day" refers to the day the adopting family finally gets to meet and take home their adopted child. Yesterday, March 21, 2009, was our Gotcha Day, and let me tell you, it was one of the most memorable, amazing days of our lives. I am really at a loss of words to describe the day because "amazing", "wonderful", "joyous", etc. just don't cut it. Let me tell you how it all happened ...

We left out hotel at about 5:15 a.m. with the hopes of getting to the orphage before Camille woke up at 5:30. I suppose she woke up a little early because when we arrived at the orphanage about ten minutes later, she was already awake. Darren led us to her room where still-groggy Camille was being held by one of her caregivers, Len Len. Before this joyous day, we've read many, many stories about how it take a while for the adopted child to bond with the adoptive parents. However, whenever I imagined this moment, I always just assumed that Camille would see us, wobbled over to us with outstretched arms, shouting "Mommy! Daddy!" Well, that didn't happen. Camille had just woken up, and she just looked us with a "I-wonder-why-these people-are-in-my-room-so-early-in-the-morning" kind of look. Oh well. Regina gave Camille a toy doll, which Camille seemed to like. The doll came with a fluffy backpack, which turned out to be a big hit amongst the other kids.

We then proceeded to the main play room where we were greeted by about 5 or 6 other kids, all waiting to be adopted. For over an hour, Camille seemed very much content sitting with Len Len, while Reg and I interacted with the other kids. Well, "interacted" isn't quite the word because once we got the play area, I was bombarded by four of the kids. Senon, an engergetic three year old boy, instantly reached up to me asking for me to carry him. Bernadatte, an adorable 1 year old girl also wanted me to carry her at all times. Meanwhile, these handsome 3 (almost 4) year old twins, Dennis and Jay, were doing everything they could to play with me. They loved my camera and camcorder, and I had to pry the electronics away from them many, many times. It was very obvious to me that these four kids in particular desperate want a father because they seriously would not stop playing/attacking/grabbing me from the second I walked in to the moment I left. If Bernadette had it her way, I could have carried her all day long. And the three boys (Dennis, Jay and Senon) wanted me to play with the so badly. At one point, I was carrying three of them while the fourth was tugging my shorts waiting for his/her turn to be carried. Meanwhile, Regina was playing with Camille and two absolutely adorable 1 year old girls, Diane and Jekey (sp?). Again, Camille didn't really interact with us. She'd high five me every once in a while, and I could see her sort of interacting with Reg. But for the most part, she was content sitting in Len Len's lap, adjusting to the morning. She played with the paperback photo album we sent her many months ago. It's full of pictures of our entire family, and from the looks of it, it's probably been looked at about a million times. It's now ripped, wrinkled, tattered and torn. That was actually nice to see because the idea behind the photo album is to introduce the baby to his/her adoptive family before his/her Gotcha Day arrives. The fact that this album was nearly torn to pieces means that Camille's been looking at our pictures as much as we've been looking at the referral picture (which is in frame on our wall just above our computer monitor). Then, the kids all ate breakfast. Len Len fed Camille as Reg sat beside her. We then all played outside on the small yard outside. Camille let me hold her hand as she wandered around, and she definitely seemed to be liking me. I was so happy.

At about 7:45 or so, we walked over the home of Deborah and Darren, the couple that run the orphanage. Camille still hadn't taken to us at this point. We sat in the backyard bahay kubo (Filipino hut) and had pancakes, fruit and some much needed coffee. Then, IT HAPPENED. At about 8:15, the connection finally happened. At first, she let Reg feed her. Then, she put her hand on Reg's lap as Reg fed her. Then she actually sat on Reg's lap. Finally, she let Regina pick her up and she rested her head on Reg's shoulder. After twenty years of being together, Reg and I can pretty much tell what one another is thinking, and I could see by the look on Reg's face that she was one happy and relieved mommy. Deborah and Darren (who've been through this routine many, many times) allowed us to play inside with Camille while they enjoyed the rest of their breakfast in their bahay kubo.

For the next twenty minutes or so, Camille played with Reg and I. It was the breakthough we had waiting for. It's good we have experience playing with babies because I pulled out all the silly games I could think of. It was a fun, quiet twenty minutes. After that we actually Skyped with our kids back home! The kids, along with my parents, were able to see Camille, who still wouldn't let Reg or I carry her. I still blows my mind that we were able to video chat with our kids from the opposite side of the earth.