Day 4 -- Ethiopia -- Gotcha Day!

We both woke up rather early this morning and managed to make it out of the hotel and to the airport with plenty of time. We enjoyed our stay in Dubai but the real reason for this whole trip was just hours away. The 3.5 hours on the plane from Dubai to Addis Ababa actually went by pretty quick thanks to four episodes of our family's favorite show, Top Gear.

--One side note I thought was interesting. I noticed for the length of the entire runway, about every 100 yards there was someone seated no more than 10 feet from the runway. Big no-no in the U.S. but it appears these brave souls are the bird scare team. I noticed a big 777 on the end of the runway readying for takeoff and two men running around chasing birds. --

We made it through the Visa line and luckily they allowed us to go through the "Diplomat" immigration line so we didn't have to wait so long. Lisa exchanged our money while I waited for our bags. We color-coded the luggage tags so we'd know which of us (KK, LK or Gutu) would be going without clothes but luck would continue on our side and we got all of our bags and the big, pink bag full of clothes donations for the orphanage. Our agency's director Agitu met us at the door. It was great to see her. As we left the airport she informed us that Gutu was already at our Guest House waiting for us. (insert Lisa's piercing squeel)

After a wild ride through pedestrian and car clogged streets, and then through what seemed like a four-wheeler path, we made it two the guest house. The guard opened the big, black steel gate and we pulled into the compound. We jumped out of the van and headed for the door...video camera luckily in hand. We entered the home and the nanny met us in the hallway with little Gutu. It was a very emotional experience for everyone. His nanny loves him so much. She cried and cried and Agitu later told us she kept saying, "God, please take me now." She did not want to see Gutu go. This same nanny was actually responsible for naming him too. He was one of two kids that came at the same time to the orphanage and he was the stronger of the two, so named him Gutu which means "full" or I suppose strong. The other nannys tease her that she was missing her husband (who lives far away) and Gutu is a shortened verison of his name.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening bonding to him. The nanny was always offering to take care of him. She'll be staying here at the Guest House through our stay to help take care of him. We did give him a bath, which he did not like. He cried (a deep voice cry) while we washed and later dressed him in his PJs.

Gutu is tiny. Even though he's 7 months, he easily fits in size two diapers and 3-6 months clothes are baggy. He only drinks about 3-5 ounces a sitting. I guess he was having stomach issues so they have him on a lactose free formula. We can't wait to get him home and try some rice cereal on him and maybe that will enlarge his stomach a bit. He is absolutely adorable....even cuter in person. His lips are very kissable. We've got to work on his head though. You can tell he prefers to sleep with his head towards one side. We'll get him on the side sleeper when we get home and maybe it will even things out. He does roll if you put him on his stomach. He neck is pretty strong but wobbles occasionally. He likes constant rocking....and he'll tell you he wants it by shaking his head like he's saying "no."

We decided to have him sleep in our room. We quickly learned why our nanny looked so tired. It took us a while but we figured out that swaddling makes him fall asleep pretty fast along with the bounce and twist move. He woke up a little while later and seemed hungry. However, we couldn't figure out why he didn't want the bottle. Did we mix the formula too strong? We went and asked the nanny and it appears we may have (I read the directions though). Then Lisa discovered the "nipples" on the bottles that had been previously used were torn and he was getting a fountain of milk each time. We quickly remedied this with another nipple and he fell back asleep. However, he woke up every few hours. At around 4 a.m. he was wide, wide awake. Nothing cuter though than seeing those big, big eyes looking for you. Hard to get frustrated with someone so stinking cute too.