Reunited

We first met Dooly on June 10th - the day we left Korea.  She was presented to us as 'Zander's girlfriend' at the agency as we prepared to begin our long journey home:

Dooly is a pink dinosaur (based on a Korean cartoon character) - complete with a bow in her hair and flowers on her shoes - with some resemblance to a Tweety Bird.  Dooly is a huge source of comfort to Zander - so we were delighted to be able to bring her home with us to ease his transition.  During our first several weeks as a family, Zander would often give Dooly hugs and (affectionately) chew on her nose to soothe himself.  It is always so funny to watch him carry around this big doll... which is definitely not very masculine!  Last weekend, we believe we may have uncovered an explanation as to how this inseparable pair came to be...

We recently confirmed that Zander had a foster sister during his 13+ months in Seoul!  Our guess is that Dooly was intended to be his foster sister's toy, but that Zander really bonded with the pink dinosaur and she became his.  Here is a recent shot of Zander on his glider with Dooly as he prepared to cheer on the MN Vikings:

 Zander even lets Dooly share his horns & braids - that's love!:

Zander loves to hug Dooly when he is sleeping - so yes, she makes the daily journey to his school so she is available at naptime.  And, it turns out that Dooly wears the exact same diapers as Zander:

Dooly even borrows Zander's clothing on occasion (and apparently Daddy's cell phone as well).

Back to Zander's foster sister - she is just a few days older than he is, and, amazingly, now lives near St. Paul!  We had the privilege of meeting her and her parents on Sunday for a play date - it was delightful!  We visited the Children's Museum and then went out for some delicious Korean cuisine.  It was wonderful to see the children reunite and compare stories - the children share such a special connection.  Here is Zander jamming on a drum in the 'Japan and Nature' exhibit at the Museum:

He loved all the colors in the Festival of Lanterns display:

We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to meet Zander's foster sister and her family - we are still in disbelief that she lives so close!  Zander thoroughly enjoyed the reunion, and was completely tuckered out after dinner:

Sweet Dreams Punkin!!