Yes, its true, 7 years ago today, Billy came home and completed our family. We traveled from Seoul to Mpls excited to introduce him to the rest of his family and most importantly Kay and Jimmy. Upon arrival, they showered him with love, hugs, kisses and he promptly fell off the couch and landed on his head.
No worries, in true Billy fashion, he bounced back and merged into the LoudAmerican craziness.
As you have seen from older posts, Billy is our engineer and absent minded professor. He loves learning how things work and is constantly asking "How does the brake work?" "Why do you need to put gas in the car?" "How does this door handle work?" Almost all his inquires (when we actually know the answer) are met with "Well, that makes sense.". He is a wonderful, loving friend and gives hugs and is generous with sharing his toys and "stuff". He's a BIG cuddlier and loves to read in bed every night before we tuck him in. He can play with Lego's, by himself, for hours, but then is the 1st one "in" for any game of tag or chase. He's a natural swimmer and we think he'd make a great soccer player. He loves everyone in his class or team but does have a hard time remembering peoples names or labels for "things". Frequently, when asked what he had for lunch/dinner, he'll reply "I cant remember, but I liked it". His # 1 request on birthdays? "Make me what I like". He is going to be a Lego engineer when he grows up. Tracy is taking him to the Toronto Indy race on Sunday and we are both worried that we wont be able to get him to leave as he next best love is cars. (Really anything with a motor).
He's also our animal whisperer, he can calm down any dog/cat within minutes and has them literally eating out of his hand or sleeping on his lap. We attribute it to his zen/Buddha like nature. He is currently missing Nikki terribly and all the dogs on the block are on alert for a small 7 year with extra love to give.
We are SO thankful to his birth mother (and father) for making the adoption choice which allowed Billy to be part of our family forever. I just hope that someday they'll get a chance to meet him and see what a wonderful, kind, smart, loving human being they created. We are also truly blessed to have had the most wonderful foster family for Billy before he came home from Korea, they gave him unconditional love and peace in his 1st 7 months of life. I also think they gave him a great foundation of fun and humor. Finally, all the social workers in Korea and MPLS were really our nurses and midwifes, they are amazing people who get to experience the miracle & heartbreak of adoption on a daily basis. Please send all your love, peace and good karma to these folks for without them, there wouldn't be a Billy Balou:)
Billy Balou, we love you!