~ He Thinks He's Korean

I walk through the door to his squealing delight.

"Mooommmmy, you're home!"

"Yes, and I got a Christmas tree."

"Yea!!! Let's go open it. I do it and you do it and Siah do it...," and he continues, eyes bright, until he has gone through the whole list of us.

His enthusiasm contagious, we open boxes and pull out treasures, each like a friend from the past. As I remove each one from its box I unwrap its significance for the boys.

To one I say, "You have more ornaments because you have been with me the longest."

To another I warn, "Be careful. This one was Mommy's when she was a little girl." (Daddy points out it is verrrry old!)

And then I pull still another one close and whisper, "Let me tell you about this one. See the date. I bought it for you on your very first Christmas while you were still in Korea. I wanted you to know you were ours even though you weren't here yet."

He turns it over and reads,

"We can't wait until all your Christmases are with us!"

His face dimples and he cradles the precious words in his hands all the way to the tree.

They continue placing each ornament in its perfectly appointed spot, sometimes one right on top of the other.

One says, "I love doing this!"

The smallest one says, "I do one more." He keeps saying it until the boxes sit empty and then he comments about how "bootiful" it is and plays "I Spy" through the branches.

"I see you, Mommy!"

He is mesmerized by the shimmer of the lights and all the ornaments. He spots the star with the picture in it. (You know, the kind the first grader brings home, made with paper and glue and glitter, lots of glitter.) Once again, his eyes dance with excitement.

"Daddy, it's me!"

"No buddy. That's your brother."

"No Daddy, it's me."

He argues like this for a while and what we always snickered about, from the moment he was a miracle in my tummy, has become a reality.

We used to joke, "He'll probably grow up thinking he's Korean."

After all, these are the faces he plays with all day long.

These are the faces he hugs good night every night.

These are the faces he touches when he first says good morning. (He pets their heads.)

We often look at the twins' pictures from the past and get them confused. That's the thing about identical twins. But trust me, there is no mistaking this little one from his brothers!

His blue eyes and blond hair are a constant reminder that God chose to complete our family in His own perfectly imaginative way.

There will always be a blur of white in the sea of dark heads.

There will always be a little piece of sky among the earthy brown eyes.

And there will always be a little one who wants to be just like his brothers.

Children often ask us when they see our Korean boys, "Are you going to tell them they are adopted!"

We just laugh! Isn't it obvious!

It just never dawned on us we might have to tell our youngest one he's not Korean.