In July 2004, we were informed in a surprise phone call that the birth mother of the four boys that we were about to adopt, had delivered another boy. After a brief skirmish with state social workers, it was time for Gotcha Day for Isaiah. The other boys had been brought to us, but this time we were asked to come pick our new child up.
It was to be a busy day at the state office. First, the family that Isaiah had been placed with for ten days had to bring him in. We were willing to meet with them to tell them how sorry we were about the confusion, but the state worker thought that it was best that we not meet.
The birth mother was also going to come in to see Isaiah before he left for our house. We did not want to encounter her, so we stayed in our car until we saw her leave the building. We had not seen her since the goodbye meeting for the other boys six months before. Having to visit with her would have been very awkward.
The lady who was responsible for Isaiah had told us several things about him. He was definitely African American and we expected that, since three of the others were also. She said that she saw new babies every day and, in spite of what people tell you about their own children, most of them are not pretty. She then said that Isaiah was an incredibly handsome child.
We went into a room beside her office and saw a car seat with a blanket laid over the top of it. We gently pulled the blanket off; he really was a beautiful baby boy. He was sound asleep.
As young babies of drug addicted women are prone to do, he had been sleeping all day and staying awake a good part of the night. Our pediatrician explained the phenomenon to us. She said that while in the womb, the baby has no choice but to party with the mom at night since that is when she was usually taking drugs and stimulating him.
The people who had been taking care of him had dressed him up and bought nice things for him. All of the other children had come to us in old, dirty clothes. We left the building quickly as we were still a little concerned that Lola might be hanging around.
It was an exciting day at our house. All the boys were quite anxious to see their new brother.
I do not remember when I gave Isaiah his nickname. I think that I started using it the moment that I first picked him up. He is a very large child, always maxing out on the height and weight charts at the doctor’s office. My wife is afraid that someday people will wonder why such a large young man is called Peanut.
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