This story begins this last Thursday.
Once again, we went to Gideon's district [Mpigi] to see the the magistrate about getting the care order for Gideon [the care order is what is necessary to obtain custody of a child]. We were led to believe that this step wouldn't be that difficult. We thought we would go to Mpigi, answer some questions, and walk away with it.
To be nice about it, the magistrate was not a pleasant woman to speak with [and believe me, that is being nice]. She acted like it was absurd that we would want to obtain custody of Gideon and questioned us as to why. We also heard for the first time about a biological sister that Gideon has. She used this and many other things to say that there was no way she would sign a care order for Gideon. After awhile of her and our case worker talking back and forth, she decided that she would not give a care order until strong evidence was given that we would be fit to have custody of Gideon. Her "ruling" was that we would care for Gideon until September 25th and come back.
First of all, this goes against what we wanted to do because we do not yet have a court date for Gideon. However, our case worker seems to think that this won't be an issue. In fact, he doesn't think getting the care order will be an issue either; so much so, that he suggested that Gideon go back home with his grandparents. But, after seeing how things sometimes work in Uganda, we wanted to take no chances. So, we sent grandma and grandpa on their way and took Gideon home with us.
He cried a little at first [like literally 90 seconds]. Other than that, he's been AWESOME. He has been the most fun 2 year old to take care of for the last 3 days. He's an exceptionally bright little guy that loves to play with cars, crayons, and cell phones. He's picked up a few English words already and [drum roll please...] HE'S POTTY TRAINED! We hasn't had an accident yet. His signal that he has to pee is when he pulls down his pants. I'm confident that if we don't catch him doing this, he'll pee all over the floor.
His little laugh is so cute that I'd prefer to tickle him all day. He also gets embarrassed easily. When he does, he covers his face with his little hands and smiles from ear to ear; flashing his bright little white teeth. He's quickly fitting in with the children who live here as well. He plays well with them and fights with them too, but not too often. It often feels like we're now taking care of 3 children since the 2 that live here just run wild all day. Its an interesting dynamic to have full responsibility of 1 child, but have some responsibility of 2 more.
When we first got him, we noticed he'd been sweating a lot when he slept. We were also told that he'd recently gotten over malaria. We pushed a lot of juice through him and he seems to be doing a lot better. Also, watching him eat is quite a spectacle. He eats almost anything you give him and at first, he would eat so fast, that we couldn't cut it up and get it on his plate fast enough. We think the reason for this is because he may not have always gotten enough to eat at home. However, since he sees us eat with a fork, he now tries to eat with one too. He's got surprisingly good dexterity in his fingers so he's surprisingly good at it. It also helps him to eat slower [the first day we met him, we gave him too much food and he threw up...].
Lately, he's also been saying this phrase that sounds like "ya kukuba!" We've been repeating it, not really knowing what it means. It seems to spur on whatever playful thing we're currently doing. We found out tonight that it means something to the effect of " I'm going to beat you up!" So, needless to say, we've been having a lot of fun saying it :)
WHEW. While we wouldn't have set it up this way, we've had a blast with him for the last few days. The plan is to keep loving on him and hopefully secure a court date this week [I know, I know, I say that every week]. If we don't, I doubt we'll make it back home in early October when we thought we would. So, pray for...
1. A court date this week
2. The Magistrate to grant us the care order for Gideon
3. ME. That I don't commit bodily harm to the other children living in this house [mostly kidding, but seriously...]
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming,
Derek and Kristen
Praying for you both! Praying for little Gideon. Praying that the magistrate lightens up a bit and sends this beautiful child home with you!
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