even better the second time around ...

Today we had a 2nd meeting with JD!  We took the subway to the agency for our 2pm meeting with JD.  We got there early, so went into the play room to wait for his arrival.  About 10 minutes later, in walked his foster mother, but no JD.  Hmmmm.  Then she turned around and started to unzip her jacket.  I noticed a little hump on her back and, sure enough, there was JD hiding underneath to stay warm while riding in the "padaegi" (baby carrier) on his foster mother's back!  It's been very cold the past few days in Korea.  The first 2 days of our trip it was in the 60's, but the past few days it's been low 40's and windy (remember that jacket I had to purchase here in Seoul the other day?)

So we spent another hour playing with JD and talking to both the social worker and his foster mother (with help from translation by the SW).  Again the time with JD went well, he was very mellow and easy going.  He played with both me and David.

huh, they're baaacck!

He also paid some attention again to the vacuum cleaner in the corner of the room :) 

he made "shhwooosh" noises at the vacuum

At the end of our visit, his FM crouched down to the ground and said something to JD while motioning toward her back.  He walked over and hopped on, and then she proceeded to wrap him up in the padaegi and put her jacket around him for the walk back home via the subway.  It was so cute! 

look at those sleepy eyes

Our SW gave us a "travel bag" that contained formula, diapers, wipes and a baby carrier (which of course likely won't work with JD, since he's a little tank)!  His FM said she would bring a tin of his formula and some other food that JD liked when we see her tomorrow, to help with his transition with us back home.  We were told to be back at the agency tomorrow at 2pm to pick up JD and travel via their agency van to the airport for our journey back home.  OMG, it's almost THAT time!  :)

We then toured around the agency, taking pictures of various rooms for JD's memory book.  We took pics of the business center, where we used the computer to update this blog and look up travel info; of the meeting rooms; the cafeteria where we had lunch with the agency director; and the "photo room", which is where the infamous red chairs are located that are used for the referral photos.   The famous red chair is actually tall and skinny like a highchair!  In the referral photos that everyone receives, it always looked like it was a low-to-the-ground mini child chair!

Red throne chair used for baby referral photos and the larger one used for FM/baby referral photos

Toddler bed used in baby update photos (looked like a crib in all the photos I've seen)

We then proceeded to check out the baby hospital (nursery).  There were 2 rooms with babies.  David counted about 25 in one room and across the hall I counted another 32 all in small little box shaped beds on tables lining the walls and some on the floor in bassinet type beds.  "But wait", I told David, "I think I see more ... ".  Yep, I spotted even more babies in little box beds underneath the tables holding the others.  We figured there were upwards of 70 babies, all looked like they were under 2 months of age ... many were just weeks old.  God bless the women working in that nursery. They went nonstop from baby to baby - changing, feeding, caressing, swapping babies in/out of the baby swing - they were truly amazing.

Needless to say, they were adorable and I kept thinking how my little JD was in there at one point early in his little peanut of a life.  All of these babies will one day find forever families just like JD.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about scooping a couple of them up and taking them home with me, David and JD  :)

Also in this building, they have a home for pregnant mothers.  It was on one of the upper floors.  I knew that Eastern had these "homes", I just didn't know that one was located right there under this roof.  It's amazing all that Eastern is involved in, from helping pregnant mothers, to coordinating adoptions, to caring for special needs children and senior citizens.  They are a wonderful organization.

After our time at the agency, we went to visit the Gyeongbokgung palace, which was the seat of power for Korea's kings for many, many years.  The buildings and ground were beautiful and you could see the mountains that surround Seoul off in the distance.  The cherry blossom trees were blooming here and that, along with the great architecture and lakes/mountains, made for some amazing photos.

an Australian man visiting Seoul w/his adopted daughter took our picture

After the palace we grabbed some food and made the subway trek back to our hotel. 

It had been a long day. Last night we moved out of the agency guesthouse and into a hotel for the remaining 2 nights of our stay. We were thankful to have stayed there the 1st part of our trip, to help us get acclimated to the neighborhood and to this big city. That being said, we're delighted to be staying at a hotel back in Yeouido ("do" means island), the area where we enjoyed our bike ride the other day. It's a great area and we are thrilled that we will now get to see the cherry blossom lined streets that weren't quite there just 4 days ago (they are popping open as I type this).

Tomorrow we leave Seoul with our little prince and head back home.  I'm bracing myself for an emotional day ...