Sweet Sophia

Sophia in Baby Carrier, originally uploaded by wireframe.

As I write this entry, sweet Sophia sleeps next to me in our comfortable room at El Refugio, an amazing residence for adoptive families. There are six families here, and we've all recently adopted beautiful children from Colombia. Both Ryan and I grow more in love with Sophia each day. My favorite time to be with her is in the early morning when she's most alert. (Ryan might disagree--mainly because Sophia gets up a little too early for him). By 5:30 or 6:00 A.M. Sophia is full of smiles and coos. We can't wait for all of you at home to be able to hear how adorable she sounds and see how brightly her eyes light up.

We are happy to be at El Refugio where there is a bottle sterilizer in our room (no more boiling bottles the old-fashioned way), a baby swing for Sophie, delicious home cooking, and good company. It's definitely a different experience in comparison to being in an apartment. I think it actually worked out well that we were in an apartment first. It gave us some alone time with Sophia and a taste of what life will be like at home with Sophia (when we're on our own.) Granted there are a few added challenges when you're in another country, but it's been fabulous.

Not only are Ryan and I in love with our daughter, but we are also in love with this country. Everything we've seen in Colombia thus far has been beautiful. Yesterday we took a little day trip to La Candelaria, which is the historic part of Bogota. We walked around for over two hours soaking in the history of Colombia. We looked upon some stunning architecture from the 1700s, reveled at Botero's unique artistic style, and ate fabulous food from the Cauca Valley at a place called Futalitos. While I listened and tried to take in bits and pieces of the history of my daughter's birth country, Ryan took charge of capturing the lovely area on film. Meanwhile, precious Sophia slept soundly in her baby bjorn.

We finished off the day by meeting our friends Sarah, Bryan, and little Ava Christopherson for supper. We ate at Las Acacias, a restaurant that serves typical Colombian dishes such as Bandeja and Aijaco. The food was delicious, but the portions were huge! A trio of musicians serenaded Ava and Sophia with the song Amor Chiquito as Sophia slept away. It was a delightful evening.

Tomorrow we're looking forward to going to church and then walking to the market to do a little shopping. We anticipate another good day. I suppose everything seems just a little sweeter when I'm holding Sophia in my arms.