Flashback

This morning Ezra and I are going to visit a friend and her 3 week old baby girl. Admittedly, I have moments of sadness that I didn't get to be with Ezra during those early stages of his life. I can usually talk myself out of them pretty easily but I surely would have loved to have cradled him in my arms at 3 weeks old. I have some pictures of him when he is 4 weeks and 6 weeks old and that is the furthest back they go. The photos of him at 4 weeks were taken by Gladney when he arrived at the Gladney foster homes in Addis. The photos from 6 weeks were taken by a friend/fellow adoptive mom, Maribeth, when she went to bring home her sons. At the time she didn't know he would be referred to us. After we got our referral, we exchanged a few emails and I described Ezra to her. Here was her response back to me. (Hopefully she is okay that I am quoting her.)

"Oh, Emily, I knew it! I woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning about 3 days after your referral and just knew that it was him. I am almost certain I know your little guy, and if it's who I'm thinking of, I have some pictures for you. This little guy is amazing."

As you can imagine, the tears started flowing as I read those words. I sent her some photos so she could confirm if it was him. After receiving the photos and confirming it was our guy, she told me a little bit more about her interaction with him.

"He was so tiny and fragile I was afraid to hold him. So, I just touched his sweet little face and let him hold my finger. I won't lie... he fascinated me. Just lying there in his crib, he was just so tiny... but he was wide awake and looking at everything going on around him. I would expect a malnourished child to be so weak that he couldn't interact with his environment, but he was definitely checking out all the people coming in and out of his room. He broke my heart, but I can't tell you how amazing it is that he's yours."

Her description of him is still so accurate to this day. He does not miss a beat! His physical appearance has obviously changed so much since those early days but the brightness of his eyes and the joy in his smile remains.

About two weeks after our referral another friend/fellow adoptive mom, Heidi, went to bring home her boys. Ezra was about 4 months old at the time of her visit. She was able to take some video of Ezra and I blogged about the excitement of receiving those videos. Since today is Ezra's 11 month birthday, I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and share those first videos. I still cry when I watch them. Enjoy.

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