Checking in...

OK, Ok.. I apologize but I figured anyone interested either got the phone call, e-mail, smoke signal, whatever indicating that we got home safely and are enjoying life with Cooper.

I have more pictures of our 'family day' with Cooper which was one of the best and worst days we have ever had. Obviously getting Cooper and bringing him back with us to love forever was the best part of it, but having the foster mother follow us halfway down the street from the agency was probably one of the worst things we have ever done. I won't go into specifics because it is painful just to think of how this woman could care for this wonderful little boy just to let a few fancy-dressed Americans come over and take him half a world away; the pain and sadness she must feel are the complete antithesis of our joy and elation.

Sorry, now that I have bummed you out, let me see if I can pick you back up. Cooper has been just wonderful since we brought him into our lives. Sure we have had some very trying times.. more details to follow... but overall he is one happy little man. And surprisingly he takes well to new people; very limited stranger anxiety and has a smile to melt you. His worst time is at night either trying to put him to sleep or after an hour or so of sleep. He wakes up and screams inconsolably for anywhere from 30-60 minutes before he can be calmed to sleep another 60 minutes or so; then the process repeats itself for 1-2 times. He finally gets into a sleep pattern for about 5 hours straight. All advice and past experiences from other adoptive families indicate that this is a rather normal process for the first few weeks as part of the grieving process he will be going through. And we can understand that... everything you have ever known is gone and replaced by new faces, new sounds, a new atmosphere, new smells, etc, etc..... think about it a little and you might understand it, I know we are keeping that in mind at 3 AM with blood-curdling screams in our ears.

Anyway, just wanted to drop a line and confirm that things are going well. As I get the photos sorted out, I will post them individually or as a group like I had before. They should all be up on Kodak gallery, so feel free to print them for yourself if you would like some copies. Now may be the time to get a little sleep so I will take advantage of the few peaceful hours.

Talk to you all later...

Sattans

PS - thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers... now let's focus some of that positive energy on others who may be in need!!!