Well where did the week go? Ibssa has been in Canada for almost a week.
The flight home was fairly uneventful – not what we
expecting at all. We got to the airport
3 hours early as suggested.
Normally I
would think was way too early, but given I had left Ethiopia already, it made
sense. The last time I left by myself,
it took the full 3 hours. This time we
had three times more luggage, a child with an Ethiopian passport but it only
took us just over an hour to get through.
We were able to walk around and sit down for a coffee before going
through security to get to our gate.
Ibssa was very patient going through all the lines. Once we got through to our gate, we had about
another 45 minutes to wait. Ibssa played
a game on the tablet and made a friend while we waited. He was amazed at the big plane outside the
window. There was about a half hour
delay boarding, but even that went fairly smooth.
The plane ride was fantastic for Ibssa. He was excited about the TV in the chairs; he
could turn lights off and on, volume up and down and even call the flight
attendant by turning another light on.
We were concerned about the pressure in his ears but there was no issue
there. The flight attendant always
brought a glass of water before taking off or landing. Ibssa only slept about 4 hours total during
the 16 hour flight. He was up most of
day before as the plane took off at 10pm.
There was another slight delay once we landed. We were all ready to get off when there was
an announcement that the liftway that comes out and attaches to plane, had
malfunctioned and they were repairing it.
This took another half an hour and they actually used the forward doors
to unload the plane. We went through customs
but found out officially Ibssa doesn’t have his Canadian citizenship until we
get it stamped in Canada. We had to go
to the immigration counter to get this stamp. We were worried that we would
encounter more red tape but it was literally just a stamp and a “Welcome to
Canada”. He now has his Canadian
citizenship but we have to wait for the official government paperwork to come
in the mail and then we can start applying for Canadian passports etc. Jake was the first to officially meet the
little guy as he picked us up at the airport.
He was comfortable with Jake in no time – I loaded up the luggage while
he sat in the truck with Jake and played on Jake’s phone.
His firsts started right away – his first time in a car
seat, his first time in a vehicle moving quickly (traffic in Ethiopia never
moved more than 30mph I think), his first Timmies stop – timbits are yummy. We thought he would have fallen asleep in the
truck but there was too much to see.
We arrived home and he was greeted by Rosie and Rocky right
away. He wasn’t sure at first about
these overly excited animals. It didn’t
take long before they somewhat calmed down and Ibssa was able to sit with them
and pet them. Later in the afternoon,
Ibssa was comfortable enough with them that he could lay his head on them while
he watched TV. We decided that there was
no way, we were taking him out for Halloween as it was too exhausting. As the night went on, he had no issues
adjusting to the weird kids coming to the door.
He handed out the candy without being scared.
He was so comfortable, a man from the church dropped over
and he kept saying “C’mon, C’mon” and motioning him to come upstairs to see his
room. Rob obliged and Ibssa told him a
story that only Ibssa understood. I’m
kind of glad it was cold and rainy as all the trick and treaters were done by
8pm. It didn’t come soon enough as I
think Ibssa, Karen and I were all in bed by 8:30.
Friday started rather early. Three a.m. came early and Ibssa was wide
awake. Ibssa and I went downstairs to
watch cartoons while mommy went back to sleep.
Thank God that after an hour and a half it was time to go back to
bed. We were going to take it easy today
but we realized Karen’s license sticker had expired (Oct 6th) and
since it was now Nov 1st, the boys in blue would easily pickup on
this. We got her new sticker, did a
quick stop at work to get some paperwork printed off and proceeded to London to
get Ibssa a health card so we could book an appointment with the doctor. Again an uneventful afternoon as the process went
quite easy and only took an hour to complete.
Karen’s mom called and it wasn’t
long to see that Ibssa was going to get acquainted with anyone who called from
that point forward. He had a
conversation with Gamma which I think Grandma appreciated it more than we will
know. Karen and her mom made a date for
the weekend so Karen’s mom, dad and sister could meet Ibssa.
Saturday, we ventured out for our
first walk with the dogs. Ibssa took
Rosie and I took Rocky. He thought it
was fun until he decided he would run off sidewalk onto the road. He laughed about it til Dad explained to him
that it was not funny but bad as a car could hit him. He became sad in a hurry and started to
cry. I comforted him and the rest of the
walk was Ok. I think he understood as he
told mom when we got home. We have been
on subsequent walks and he will point to road and say “no road”. A lesson, I think he learned quickly.
Karen’s family came to visit. It was like he knew them all along. Grandma was doing a puzzle with him, and then
Grandpa started working on lego like blocks.
Karen and her sister got re-acquainted over a bottle of wine. Jake went off to Ottawa for a visit, so it
was just Mom, Dad and the dogs for the weekend.
Ibssa was adjusting more and
more. It is amazing how comfortable he
is after just two days. We have kept his
routine the same as it was in Ethiopia.
He gets up, has a little TV time, get breakfast, gets washed up, dressed
and teeth brushed before he plays. We
get his lunch around 12:30 and then his nap around 1:30 for 1 ½ hours. Supper is around 5:30 – 6:00 and then to bed
around eight. Although sometimes he
doesn’t really want his nap or bedtime, he usually can tell us when it’s time as
he is used to the routine. When it is
time to nap or bedtime, he usually goes without complaining and falls asleep within
10 minutes.
Sunday was church where Ibssa was
quiet most of the time. I did an update
of our journey as I did most Sundays when I was there. It was amazing to see so many smiles as I
updated everyone holding our precious gift from God. Many people shook his hand as we passed the
peace. Karen asked Ibssa if he wanted to
go downstairs with the other kids and he did so the both of them went
down. Karen said he was pretty quiet at
Sunday School. When I went down, he was having
a drink and cookie at coffee hour. It
wasn’t long til he seen our blog was printed all out and hanging
downstairs. He was over there with many
people pointing out pictures and telling them stories about them. There was also a “Welcome Ibssa” poster where
many members had their names written on hearts and stuck to it.
Monday was total relaxing day. We called the doctor but can’t get in till Thursday,
so we worked on trying to get the house back in order. For a small little boy, he seems to take up a
lot of room. There is always toys to pick
up and laundry to do. I must have
forgotten how such small individuals can make a mess in a hurry. Karen went through 2 bags of clothes we were
given to see what fits. There was a lot that
fits him, so Karen washed them up and put them away. A funny thing happened after lunch. Ibssa was standing in the kitchen, turning
round and round. Karen asked him what he
was doing. He said, “I’m thinking”. Karen and I both started to laugh as we
realized he was imitating the computer.
When he uses the computer and the circle is going round while loading,
we tell him the computer is thinking.
I installed the second car seat
into the car while Ibssa napped. There’s
not much head room in the back seat of a Honda Civic once you get car seat in
it. Once car seat was in, I cut the
grass as it had been three weeks and it needed it. Once Ibssa got up, we went outside and played
for a bit in the afternoon but it was quite windy and cold. That is not Africa like weather so it didn’t
last long.
After supper, we did a quick trip to Wal-Mart. We had to get mitts, a hat, a booster seat
and a step stool – just a couple of things we forgot. Since we were there, I thought I would
introduce him to ice cream in Canada. He
was used to going to Kaldi’s where he would get a small scoop in a small cup
and eat with a plastic spoon. We got a
soft cone at the McDonalds. He loved it,
although mom didn’t love the mess on his winter jacket that was washed earlier
in the day. Oh well, what’s another
washing.
Tuesday’s weather was much better
so we spent more time outside. We kicked
the ball around and watched Rosie attack it.
I think Ibssa liked the grass. He
would kick the ball then fall down and lay there laughing until Rosie came over
to lick his face. That seemed to make
him get up quickly.
Nap time was a new first as Ibssa
napped in his own bed in his room. So
far, he has been sleeping with us.
He definitely is becoming accustomed
to his new life. Every day there seems
to be a new experience for Ibssa to conquer.
He has met many people in these few days. He starts out quiet but quickly starts talking. When he is startled by something such as the
dogs barking when someone rings the doorbell, he quickly comes to mom or dad
for protection. As hard as it was in
Ethiopia for three months, God knew what he was doing. Ibssa and Karen had the time to bond without
any distractions. This has made the
transition almost too easy. I know there
will be harder times to come, but I know we will all get through it with God’s
help. Some days it was hard to keep the
faith as our journey progressed, but we know now, we are reaping the rewards.
