An email from Erin

We are LOVING this little guy, Dereje. He is so very cuddly! He knows his name, Dereje (da-ray-jay), so that is what we have been calling him (as opposed to Levi, which we have been calling him for months). He has the most beautiful long curly eye-lashes! It seems that everyone notices them. We were able to get him to smile today and giggle just a little bit. I was able to feed him for the first time today and after I fed him he fell asleep in my arms - so sweet! We won’t get to see him again until Monday, but on Monday we get to bring him to the hotel to be with us for the day. We are so looking forward to it!
We have had a chance to play with and hold many of the other kiddos. If you are a Holt parent we probably loved on your little one today! It has been amazing to watch the nannies taking care of the kids. They do such a good job of loving each one. This morning the babies were getting some sun as the nannies changed their clothes. Each one would get rubbed down with skin moisturizer and laid down on a blanket. I watched as a nanny did this for one little one and as she did it I could hear her very softly talking, almost in a whisper. I have a hunch that she was praying over that little one. When they are talking to the kids they are very animated and loud and this was quite different. The care center is amazingly clean.
Internet has been hard to come by. Tonight we are at the Hilton for dinner and internet usage. I don’t know if I will be able to send another update before we leave or not. I already have 3 pages of journaling so there will definitely be much about our trip that I will post after we get home.
Tomorrow we will go to church in the morning and then to the National Museum in the afternoon. The care center is closed on Sundays so that the nannies can have a break from all of us crazy parents J I may not be able to post again until we get home. If you are family reading this, know that we love you all and will be very glad to be back home again and introduce you to our sweet Levi Dereje!