Rain and tantrums.

We had strangely little rain this rainy season, until February hit.  Now, it's making up for it.  As I type, rain is pouring outside and I'm wondering if Moses and Scotty are staying dry in their trek downtown.  Although Moses came down with a bad cold earlier this weekend, I decided to make an appointment with our lawyer to go to immigration and get started on the paperwork for his passport.  We'll be travelling to the US in June and he'll still need to get a US visa, since he can't become an American citizen for two years after the adoption.  We packed a snack and diapers and wipes and all the documents and water and extra tissues since we both have the cold.  I drove us down to where the bus stop is and thanked God the rain had let up enough to get to the covered bus bench and still be dry.  An elderly woman walked up to wait for the bus and immediately started talking to Moses.  "Hey, little man!"  She tried to grab his hands and I immediately wondered where her hands had been last.  He pulled away and she tried again.  He pulled away and turned his whole body from her and she says, "He really doesn't want me to hold his hands!"....at which point she made yet another attempt to touch a stranger's baby.  Of course, nothing clever came to mind to let this lady kindly know that his mommy didn't want her touching him either.  So, she sat down and looked over at him again and made some comment about his ears sticking strangely in one spot.  Yes, his ears slightly roll...let's move on.  We made small talk about other things until the bus came and it was packed! I was thankful that a city bus system has made it to La Paz where there is a set route and the "host" of the bus makes people get up and give a seat to elderly, pregnant and people with babies.  Most public transport stops every 5 ft. or wherever someone wants to get on or off and doesn't show as much courtesy.  Anyway, we made it almost to immigration without a problem until Moses started coughing so hard that he threw up on us.  Sigh.  Wiped that off super fast and then ran across the street for some photocopies and then off to find our lawyer.  She was prompt and we got in line to wait our turn to start paperwork.  Sadly, by the time they got to us, Moses was done with being there, being held and generally being awake.  When Moses gets tired, bored, annoyed, etc... he begins to throw himself backward, usually hitting his head on something around him and if he can make it to the ground, he'll lay down crying and kicking his legs.  It's cute.  His response today was a bit toned down because he's partially lost his voice and doesn't have much energy.  But, I'd already been lugging his 25lb. self around all morning from one transport to another and it was still tiring to maintain control with one arm while I clutched my bag and paperwork with the other.  I got a fair number of looks for his childish outburst, especially from a couple of women behind the counter who were shooting me the who-let-this-woman-adopt-a-kid vibe.  We only had to endure another 20 minutes before we found out that, contrary to what our lawyer had recently been told by an immigration official, Scotty needed to come sign the paperwork- today.  Before 3pm.  Nevermind that he has a job about an hour away from the office.  Well, the Lord was gracious because he was able to get off of work early, pick MoMo up after his early nap (yay, he actually went to sleep early!) and they are currently in route.

So, one more step in making Mo official.  It's always good to get these things accomplished, even though they are never easy or convenient.  He is definitely showing some temper issues but I am trying to remind myself that he is both an immature baby and a child who had a tough start in life, which can dramatically alter many many things, including responses to disagreeable situations.  I'm so grateful for the wealth of information out there about families like us when I begin to wonder.  These last few months have felt heavy as he's started to show a bit more "spirit" and regressed a bit with sleeping.  Sometimes it just feels overwhelming as a mommy.  However, the Lord has truly given me a lot of peace and strength in those moments when I'm just not sure if I can take one more outburst, from any of my children.  And grace, for when I fail to handle them well.  He's now been with us longer than he was in the orphanage and I still remember with gratitude those long years of waiting- that they are over.  What a gift he is to our family.