We write this as we're on our way home following our first meeting with Little Man. What a day of emotions and a moment we could only ever dream about before starting our adoption journey.
We were particularly nervous because we wanted him to like us and went with no expectations other than we would see him in front of our eyes. We would have been super happy with that, but as you read on you’ll see we got so much more than that!
We arrived at the soft play where we waited nervously for Little Man and his Foster Carer to arrive. We were told he had woke in a very happy mood knowing he was going to soft play for a few hours. However little did he know who was there to meet him.
It must've been about 10 minutes before we saw the foster carer and Little Man walking towards us. There he was, the little boy we had seen from a profile. The little boy we had heard so much about was right in front of our eyes. We both definitely had a ‘pinch me’ moment. His face as well as ours must’ve been a picture. We could see the intrigue on his face.
Who were these two men? What were their intentions? Why were they looking and smiling at me? We waited nervously for his reaction for a few moments. It appeared that he was a little overwhelmed as a tiny glimpse of a sad face appeared before he suddenly remembered he was at soft play. PLAYTIME!
Little Man came back several times after some play and each time he became more intrigued than the last. James had gone to get some lunch when Little Man caught a glimpse of his new toy car we had bought for him, whilst I was sat there with his foster carer. His face instantly lit up and he began chattering away to me about his new car. Over the course of the next 30 minutes we interacted with him more and it was clear he absolutely loved having our full attention. We made up games and he would often erupt into fits of laughter. Wow, what a little chuckle he had.
Once lunch had been and gone, Little Man wanted to return to the soft play area to play once more. He confidently stood up and his foster carer asked who he wanted to go play with. His little face turned towards us and he pointed at me and said “him’. So off we went with him skipping in front and I thought he would want to be off and about all around the soft play. However he was happy playing with some building blocks (still whilst holding his new toy car!) and running and jumping at me.
James soon joined us and we had our first playtime as a family. What a magical moment. We both had cuddles too - this Little Man was just delightful and James & I both took a glimpse at each other to signal - this is our son. His whole life lay ahead with us and it felt perfect.
After a short while and more play, we had to leave for a meeting later that day. It was hard for both of us to say goodbye to him and Little Man didn’t want to go either as he maintained a tight grip on James. Once we got in the car we both looked back and waved at him as we got further away. His little face watched us until we were out of sight. We couldn’t wait to see him again and we don’t have to wait long!
Our first meeting with him had surpassed every single expectation and we were all beaming from ear-to-ear about how well everything had gone. The start of a beautiful journey as parents and the day we met our son.
J&S