We walked back to our rooms after breakfast and got our things together and then T. came to pick us up for another visit at the care center and to meet the other families so we could go to our Embassy appointment.

T. spoke to Ben in Amharic, asking him how he was doing, how his night was, if we were good parents, etc. and Ben smiled and answered him (and gave us good marks!). When we got back to the center he took off to find his friends and find out what he had been missing, but he stuck much closer to us than he had the day before. We played with the kids and took lots of picture and video.

After lunch it was time to head to the Embassy and we piled into the van along with the other two families. The Embassy was HOT and crowded and felt like it took forever, but in reality we were there for about an hour and a half. Everything went great with Ben’s paperwork, and it was lovely to hear “No problem!” There were lots of congratulations and “Happy Valentine’s Day” going around.

We went back to the hotel to cool off and have some down time. We played on the play ground and bought a rubber soccer ball at the little gift shop that Ben ADORED. From that moment on, if he wasn’t eating, sleeping or in the bathroom, he wanted one of us to play soccer with him. He moved the furniture around in our room to make a “goal” and would either cheer “Yay Dad!” “Yay Mom!” or “Yay Ben-ja-meen!” whenever someone scored or made a good save.

He was copying everything Josh did, and thought it was SO funny. He would imitate Josh’s movements and the things he said, and they would both crack up about it. He also liked to hide and jump out and scare us. His sense of humor was so funny and we were so touched by what a sweet heart he was, and how loving and trusting and brave he was.

He also definitely knew what he liked and didn’t like…rice krispie treats got a huge grin and a "this is GOOD mom" and oatmeal got a tongue sticking out, before he even tried it!
His English seemed to be improving by the hour, and it is always amazing what you can communicate through gestures and pictures when you have to. But my worries about communication quickly went out the window, because he always found a way to get us to understand what he needed, wanted or was trying to say, and he was just so dang clever figuring us out too.

Continued...