First and foremost, and the one that breaks my heart, is we lost 1 piece of luggage on our return trip. It was one of our carry ons (so we have no one to blame but ourselves). And unfortunately, it was the carry on that carried most of our souvenirs and gifts for the kids and my family. But probably the saddest part is that this carry on had some special things of Ben's which can never be replaced.
So if you are reading this post and know of anyone who works at O'Hare Airport in Chicago or for United Airlines, maybe you can help us out.
We are reasonably sure we left the carry on at carousel 9 in the baggage claim area. What happened is that in the middle of retrieving our checked luggage, after going on almost 24 hours of no sleep and then being put the maze of entering the USA with a child who is has just become a US citizen which means you have to stop at about a zillion different checkpoints with your VERY IMPORTANT PAPERS (but I digress....), some custom official came up to us and told us we had to move out of the way of this door that we had set our baggage cart in front of. So all of a sudden we were rushed to move everything and Ben out of the way as we finished packing up our checked luggage onto the cart. In all that hustle and bustle, we (me, but I am trying to spread the blame...) think we left this carry on sit in that baggage claim area.
We noticed we were missing it about an hour after we arrived home. In a sleepless daze, we called the O'Hare police who had nothing but advised us to check with them in a few hours again. We actually checked with them for a few DAYS, and our carry on was never turned in to their lost and found.
The other thing we did that night was file online (this is the only way to communicate with United about lost luggage-they will NOT take phone calls) an official lost luggage claim with United.
I think that is the most annoying thing about this ordeal is that we could never talk to a person at United. If we could have just gotten someone on the phone that night, we probably could have talked them over to the exact spot our carry on was sitting at. URRRRR.... Anyway, United investigates your claim for 30 days before they give up. Its been 30 days so we officially got their notice of nothing last week.
I try to have a sense of humor about this. One of things in this bag was 7 pairs of knee high socks that were the colors of the Lithuanian flag. I imagine the person who found and took our bag as their own sitting their with all these Lithuanian socks, What a find!
Probably the bag was just thrown away because as a carry on, we had no identifying info on it. Note to those of you getting ready to travel: put your name and phone number on your carry ons!
Oh well, it was only stuff. So much worse could have happened. I just feel bad because we had found some very nice gifts for everyone, and now no one gets to enjoy them, except maybe that person who is sitting with 7 pairs of Lithuanian socks, 6 homemade handbags, 6 Lithuanian t shirts, and plenty of amber jewelry....
Ok, now on to the rest of the post. Other things we have lost since adopting Ben:
When Ben first came to live with us at the apartment in Vilnius, these were some of his orphanage behaviors that we found amusing and very telling:
1. When he woke up in the morning, he IMMEDIATELY got out of bed and made the bed. There was no cuddling or just relaxing when you woke up. It was open your eyes and feet to the floor!
2. Ben only wanted to eat by the kitchen table, even snacks.
3. When Ben would take off his shoes, he would neatly place them on the rug by the door.
Ben has now been with us for about 6 weeks. He has been in America and living with 3 American teenagers for 5 weeks. As a result, he has learned to cuddle and chill in the morning when he wakes up. He doesn't make his bed anymore upon waking up. He loves to have a bedtime snack in the living room while watching "Rescue Heroes" or an "Adventure Bible" video. His shoes are now in the heap with the other 50 pair from our kids that no matter how often I remind them to place neatly in a row in our mudroom, it just never happens!
In other words, I think we have created another American teenager!
Seriously, I am glad to see Ben feeling comfortable enough to put aside some of his orphanage behaviors and just be a little 6 year old boy who isn't totally responsible and dutiful. I want him to be a goofy little kid whose biggest chore of the day is to play and have fun. Besides, as a member of this American family now, he is entitled to the experience of a mom reminding him constantly (aka nagging) to pick up after himself and put his stuff away. I wouldn't want to deprive him of that!
Now here are some pictures of the past few days. Just so enjoying and cherishing getting to know Ben better and better everyday! What a precious little Lithuanian treasure we brought home- our best souvenir by far!!!!
On Wednesday, Ben had his check up at our pediatrician. Our doctor was very impressed with how healthy Ben was which was so wonderful to hear. Thank you Lord for watching over this sweet boy his first 6 years without us. Unfortunately, keeping him healthy meant 3 immunizations and a blood draw to check for Celiac disease, his thyroid, and CBC. So although it was good appointment, it was rough on Ben. After that ordeal, we took him to a bakery where he picked out a HUGE chocolate chip cookie. This is him on the way home after eating half of his cookie.
His first donut and coffee time with my family. We got together as a sendoff for Abigail who leaves for college on Monday. That will be a hard day for this mom....
Abigail and the boys. I think she is going to miss them both very much when she leaves for college,
A week after we arrived home, we took Ben for a haircut at the salon here in town. Grandpa always cuts Jonah's hair, but we didn't want Ben to be afraid of his new Grandpa so we decided to make our friend from church the "bad guy". However, today I took Jonah for his haircut by Grandpa. Ben sat and watched. When Jonah was done, we asked Ben if he would like a haircut too, and he readily agreed. He actually did need a trim because our friend wasn't able to cut his bangs a few weeks ago because he started to get a little upset. But today, he sat very nice for Grandpa, and I think the experience was actually a bonding time for the two of them! Jonah always thinks its funny to have the Christmas tree skirt put on him before Grandpa starts cutting his hair. Now Ben got to have that funny thing happen to him too! What a handsome fellow!
Oh and here is our other handsome fellow, Jonah:
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