Referral anniversary

Waiting for a referral gives you a lot of time to imagine, to dream about this mysterious child that will be yours one day. You read other people’s referral stories and build it up to this big, momentous event, in which the tears will pour and fireworks will light up the sky. For us it was a big deal, no doubt about it, but that magic didn’t happen on our referral day.

Buturo wasn’t the Baby Barto we had pictured (as the name of the blog implies, we had always envisioned a baby). He seemed so old in that first photo and a little sullen. We were excited that the call had finally come, that we were going to be parents and this boy was going to have family, but we had to readjust some of our own expectations. We had to get ready for a walking, talking little boy. Our little boy! It took a few weeks to move from the invented baby to preparing for a our real-life toddler. I felt like a terrible person for even having any other emotions other than totally joy and excitement.

Of course you can’t tell from a few photos how his lips will pucker to give you a good night kiss or how his giggles are contagious. Pictures on a computer screen are a sorry representation of how it will feel when he curls up on your lap to read or how his arms will cling to your neck when he’s scared. A few paragraphs provide insufficient insight into the blossoming personality of this little boy. These are things that can only be discovered with proximity and time. A year ago today, the foundation was laid. We were on our way to becoming a family, but the magic has been in the thousand little things that have come after.