home for 5 months

Charlie

Today you have been home for 5 months. 5 months!!!!!! It is incredible to us to think it has been that long, but it also seems so short.

When we landed in Chicago and went through customs, immigration, rechecked our bags, found a ticket booth and stood in line to get your Dada a boarding pass (He wasn't given one in Ethiopia for this leg of the flight and they were only able to give him a gate pass at that point. He got his ticket, but for some reason you had a seat, while he had a lap ticket. . .), went through security, and got in the right terminal it was dinner time. (BTW- We had landed in Chicago around lunch time.)

We went to your first "restaurant" that wasn't at a hotel. You had rice cereal, I know big surprise. Your Dada and I had what felt like the best burgers ever at the time. From the picture you can also see we took the time to stop at a Garrett Popcorn shop within O'Hare to get a Chicago Mix. (Okay, we also got Coke and Diet Coke. They were cold and awesome.)

So today we decided we needed to celebrate having you home for 5 months. It required something special. Something grand. We had gift cards. So we went to Olive Garden. To show the difference 5 months makes, here is what you ate: 1/2 a bread stick, 1/3 of your Mac and Cheese, some of your garlic mashed potatoes, and 1/2 of your strawberry and white chocolate dolcini. (In the picture, Dada is helping you get the bread stick in your mouth.) Following dinner we went across the parking lot to Barnes and Noble and you picked out a new book to celebrate. Stop Snoring, Bernard! I think will be a book we will enjoy for awhile.

Love you Charlie!!!!

Mama