Last night after bath, I held and rocked her for a little while. She puckered up her face like she wanted to cry but no tears came. She has not quite been herself yesterday or today, and I'm sure it is a combination of her anticipated travel, overstimulation, and coping. When we laid down, she asked for her cat (the stuffed animal she received from the Deters), but it was too large to fit in her backpack. It was one of many things that she had to leave behind. She snuggled between us just like we did the last night at our house. At one point during sleep, she was using my stomach has her pillow and Chris as her footrest (yes, she was horizontal in the bed).
Chris and I got up about 2:30 this morning and we woke her up about 3:15. She was in good spirits, but a little groggy considering she only had 6 hours of sleep. We met her chaperone in the hotel lobby and walked to O'Hare. She was still refusing to walk and wants to be carried by me only. We quickly met up with the other host family and their 10 year old boy.
My super smart and traveling extraordinaire of a husband really out did himself today. He "purchased" fully refundable tickets for he and I for a later flight in the day. This allowed us to be able to assist the 3 travelers through security and sit with them at their gate before take off. The chaperone speaks limited English and getting through security with two children would have been a challenge.
We had about a half an hour at the gate before they boarded. She wanted Chex Mix for a snack and was saving her strawberry poptarts for the airplane. (I don't think we ever got a picture or video of her airplane motion.) She double-checked her rolling backpack and showed her chaperone all of the pictures in her photo album. That sure made my day knowing she is so proud of her photos. I hope that she will cherish them and they will bring her comfort in the months ahead. It was time to board so we said our (*tearful) goodbyes. Again, she acted like she wanted to cry but she did not. She waved from the door of the jet bridge, and we waited at the gate until the plane pushed back.
We have been (and will continue to be) in communication with the chaperone. We know they safely arrived at JFK where they will meet up with 7 other children. The rest of the hosting group children will depart from LAX. The chaperone said that as soon as she sat down on the plane, she began crying and asking for mommy. Somehow in the last week, I transitioned from Mama to Mommy. Most likely she picked this up from Kinsley. We understand that she slept most of the first flight, but as soon as the plane started its descent, she started asking for mommy again. The little boy she is traveling with told her that mommy had left. Her response was "no bye-bye, mommy, no, no, no." It breaks our hearts that she is upset, but it is just part of the process, I guess. The chaperone will continue to stay in contact with us by email and will send us photos. This is such a relief until we can begin sending her care packages. I know many of you are praying, and I ask that you continue to do so. She will have some difficult days ahead as she deals with jet lag and adjusts back to her routine.
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