YokweYukNejuLerik: Birth family visit

It has been 10 days since we last saw the birth mother. We planned this span of time to facilitate Baby B's attachment to us- and it has been very successful. Baby B is very attached to us. If Baby B was way younger and maybe less that 12 months, we would have spent more time with the birth mom and family. Although she is too young to understand, I still talked with her about our visit today.

Maddy picked us up and we went to Payless to buy groceries for the birth mom and her family.

Here is where Baby B was born- in a health center and not hospital

We drove to Laura to the birth family's home. Initially, Baby B wasn't sure what to do- she looked at me, I smiled and then handed her to her birth mom. Baby B would look at me and smile while she was with family. She played mostly played with her brother and cousins. The birth mom tried to hold her a few times and all BabyB wanted to do was play but eventually Bina allowed her birth mom to hold her. Baby B ran to her Bubu and to her aunt. The birth family commented on how much weight she gained and that she looked "fat." I thought to myself- her physical in Feb showed that she weighed 19 lb at 15months and her physical in July showed that she was 19 lbs at 19 months- she now looks like a toddler should !! Maddy clarified that it was a Marshallese compliment and that she looked healthy. The birth family also gave me earrings and a flower for my hair.

Here are a few more pics from our visit. Interesting how I was showing Baby B the pictures from today and she seemed to recognize who was in the pictures. She started to whimper and cry. We switched to our beach pictures. Baby B, I promise you that in the future we will together look at these pictures, share your story and your tears.