Mommy

Adi packed up an old canvas sack with some of her favorite family photos and has been carrying it around with her. Every few hours we open up the sack and talk about each photo. There are a lot of pictures from Africa in there, as those seem to be her favorite.

We went out for mexican tonight and on the way home in the car we opened the sack, again, and looked at them all. When we got to a photo of Belay with his birth mom, or African mommy as we say, Belay asked to hold it.  While it seemed he first cared more about the cool blue socks he was wearing in the picture, he eventually began staring at the faces. I pointed to his African mommy, said her name, then said "mommy".  At that moment his eyes were fixated on her face as he pointed repeating mama mama. 

It kinda shook me up.  I can't say if it was good or bad, but it did feel important and strong.
Watching my son stare into the eyes of the beautiful woman who gave him birth. The woman who loved him so much she gave him to us.  The woman he was supposed to call mommy. 

I know these moments will get more clear and more frequent as he grows and his speech and cognition grow too.  These moments and talks are only beginning, but this was defiantly our first.