Seeing Joshua looking so un-Joshua-like, still breaks my heart. On this trip my friend estimated his age to be no more than 16 to 18 mo. Joshua was not walking well at all and she described him as very babylike. We believe that Joshua was actually 28 to 29 mo. at the time this photo was snapped.
While it is good for me to remember all this, I am actually sharing it for a different purpose.
Joshua has no cognitive memories of being in Ethiopia. He never says, "I remember doing, eating, seeing__________________ in Ethiopia." We talk about Ethiopia every day, and he asks a lot of questions, but he contributes no memories to our conversations.
Anyway, I showed him the above photo. He looked and looked at it.
Then he said, "That me?"
I told him it was! I said I could not believe how much he has changed.
He responded, "I 'ook sad. I not happy Ethiopia. I waiting, waiting for you get me."
I snuggled him tight and said that I agreed, he does look sad in this picture.
He gave me the biggest, tightest hug ever. Then he responded, "I NOT sad anymore! Now I happy!"
Me too, my son. Me too.
