Visiting Stephen

Wow, what a surprise it was when we saw Stephen for the first time on Monday!  He has been living in a foster home for 8 months and has experienced significant improvement in his ability to walk on his own and has gained significant weight.  He has also shown some clear signs of ability to communicate. This is not what we expected, in fact, it was almost opposite what we thought we would find.  We have enjoyed two long visits with him each of the last three days. We play with him at the playground and we have taken several walks in the area near the American University.


 He has warmed up to us quite well and is a great hugger and he gave Tiffany a kiss today.  His two favorite things to do are riding a small carousel in the area and enjoying a swing we have done with all of our kids when they were young while walking and holding our hands.  We also were able to visit the orphanage today where he spent most of his little life to this point.  While we were there, we met a Therapist who had worked with him to teach him to walk.
We are very optimistic about his future and believe he can be strong one day both physically and mentally.