Miracles Happen

Where do we begin. We have had such a wonderful day with Leena. Since our hotel is only a few blocks from BSSK, after breakfast we walked down to BSSK. We spent much of the morning meeting with Mina, one of the directors at BSSK. She went through Leena's paperwork and history with us, and gave us the chance to ask questions. She also gave us a few souvenirs, such as a scrap book of BSSK and the outfit Leena was wearing when she was found.
Mina told us about Leena's hearing tests. When Leena was first tested, her hearing tested with a profound deficit in one ear and a minor loss in the other. Her BSSK caregivers were surprised at this because they hadn't seen any signs of a hearing loss, so they sought a second opinion, which was consistent with the first. In subsequent tests, Leena continued to test positive for a bilateral hearing deficit. Normally, BSSK does not adopt non-special-needs children to families that already have 3 or more children. Since we already have four children, we would have been ineligible. Even if we were eligible, ordinarily Leena would have been adopted by an Indian family because they have higher priority than us. However, because of her diagnosed bilateral hearing deficit, other families declined. Because of this, BSSK was willing to allow her to come to a family with more than 3 children and be approved for an international adoption. Shortly after Leena's final approval was granted by the Indian courts, Leena's hearing was tested again. This time and since, her hearing tested normal, without a deficit. As Mina told us this story she concluded, as we have, that this was God's way of steering Leena to our family.
After our meeting, Mina took us to meet the Director, and then we were ready to meet Leena. Mina took us to the room where the children Leena's age sleep and play. As we walked in, they set Leena down on the floor and she immediately walked across the room and reached for Heather. It was so fun to meet her and hold her. We spent an hour or so with her and her friends there just playing.

Since his adoptive family is likely going to read this, we'll mention that one of the other little boys, Mayur, immediately took a liking to Nate, and would not let us put him down the entire time we were there. He is a cute boy and laughed easily as we played with him. Nate says Mayur is "tight." We interpret that as a compliment.
After playing with Leena and the children, we went with her to see the doctor for a follow-up doctor appointment. BSSK's car was broken, so we took motorized rickshaws across town. It was such a wild ride that I held the video camera out of the window (which really isn't a window, but an open side) to try and capture some of the chaos that is India traffic. After a few minutes, I decided it was better to keep all parts inside.
Upon our return to BSSK, the staff had prepared a lunch of Rice, Dahl, and Potato Masala for us to enjoy. It was delicious, but I was particularly surprised at how much Nate ate, as were the caregivers.

After lunch, it was time for "the Placement." This is a ceremony where they transfer Leena's care to us. They had Nate, Heather and me sit on chairs holding Leena. They lit incense, and one of the caregivers rubbed a red dot onto our foreheads, and then sprinkled rice in our hair. They didn't really explain the symbolism in detail, but it was touching to see how much they love her. Leena had a special closeness with one of her caregivers, Pravma (which means love). It was clear that Pravma will particularly miss Leena too.
After the Placement, we took more pictures and Leena and her caregivers said their goodbyes. Then we left BSSK and walked back to the hotel. We spent the remainder of the afternoon playing with Leena in our room, and we all took a short nap.
We've just finished feeding Leena dinner and a bath before bed time.
It has been so fun to play with her and get to know her. Leena has a "chirp" that she does as she plays, and sounds like a little bird. So far, she really hasn't fussed much, but we expect that will come soon. We're so happy to finally have her with us, and grateful for all of those that have given such loving care to Leena, and the miracles that brought her to us (and us to her).