Haiti Mission Trip, Mar09 - About E & J

Elijah & Josephine were awesome on the trip! We had such a great time with them.

Elijah is still fun and playful and busy and silly and cute. Josephine is still quiet and cuddly and sweet and cute.

Elijah was brought out to us on the orphanage porch first. He was fine with both of us right away - maybe like he remembered us, but that could just be wishful thinking. He hadn't seen me since July, and not Jock for a year. Maybe he's just beyond his fear of strangers. The minute we tickled his big tummy we got his cute little smiles out of him.

He is now in the Toddler room, and I think he's enjoying it. He's reserved around other kids, and likes to stand back and observe what they're doing. There are some very fun little girls in his class, and also some kids that are older than him, so I can understand why. That's just his personality though - just kind of goes with the flow.

Josephine was very reserved. They brought her out to us soon after I'd handed Elijah to Jock. She was very cuddly at first, so I just held her, but then she started quietly crying - it was like she was just very sad. So, I stood up and talked to her a bit and she calmed down. When we started eating lunch, though, she couldn't take it anymore. So when Jock was finished with his lunch I passed her off. That was a bad idea - she screamed - more a scared scream this time. He couldn't calm her down so handed her back to one of the nannies hold her for a bit, and then when I was finished eating she handed her back to me, and she was then OK

She was fine with me after that, although it took a day or so for us to see smiles. We didn't think we'd be able to show you any though, as she'd only smile for me, then she'd immediately turn towards Jock and her face would return to a blank stare. Same for the camera until the last couple days, when we did get some nice smiles on pictures and videos. She did let Jock hold her a few times - mostly when there was food involved. Otherwise she only wanted me.

Elijah was happy most of the time when we were playing or eating or just sitting around. One day at the hotel someone had left out Uno cards, and he had a fun time playing with those - looking at them, putting them in the tin box, dumping them out, and trying again. Josephine also played with them a bit, but I had to watch closely, as she kept trying to eat them.

I was very happy when Josephine started smiling, and would let me get a look at her teeth. She's got 15 in there so far, and it looked like the 16th was ready to come out soon. They're a little jagged, but look clean, same as Elijah's. I think the nannies are good about brushing the kids' teeth, which I've heard from other families who've brought their kids home and they seemed to know all about that. I didn't count Elijah's teeth though, for some reason.

E & J both liked the bubbles I'd brought to play with them. Josephine had big smiles when I got them out - but Elijah then got busy with the cards at that time. He really had fun with them back in July though.

The hotel has a few dogs and cats that wander around, and the orphanage has a couple dogs too. Elijah just watched them when they'd go past, which is an improvement from last July when he was a little scared of them. I think Josephine liked them, as she would yell at them at bat her hand towards them - so funny!

Elijah and Josephine both got in the pool. I think they were scared of it for about two seconds. Then E just kind of sat in his floatie and watched what was going on around him. I taught them how to splash, and Josephine really got into it. I loved her smile and her sticking her tongue out when I'd lift her up and then splash her back down into the water. Elijah liked it too but would just smile.

Both E & J are good eaters. They wouldn't take a bottle, or maybe they just aren't used to formula/cereal anymore. I'm kind of bummed about that, as bottle-feeding is a great attaching thing, but I can do that with cups/water too. Elijah did drink milk at the orphanage, and I'm certain they do that for both groups - I just saw it for him. They both liked the baby food bananas and the fruit bars I'd brought, they ate the toast, french toast, and eggs at breakfast. They also ate pasta, french fries, fried plantains (if they weren't too crunchy), mashed potatoes. They didn't care for the hotel beans & rice, but they were different than the orphanage's, so understandable. One day we had lunch at the hotel and they shared a hotdog. They both enjoyed that - I cut it up into small pieces and they each had part of the bun. So, we didn't branch out a whole lot, but they were good eaters.

Josephine is walking now, although still wobbly on those long skinny legs. I think she's going to be tall! We measured them the last day, and she was about 32 inches and Elijah was about 34. She's grown so much, it was less noticeable with him. He's still pretty chubby, she's skinny. The 24 months clothing & 2T clothing fit her well for length but ballooned her. He fit well in the mix of 2T-3T clothes - depending on how big his belly was on a given day. One night he must have eaten a lot, because his belly was enormous! It went down some overnight though - wierd! Both seem healthy though, despite her possible pink-eye and his patches of scalp ringworm, which we put anti-fungal on a couple times a day. That's pretty common in the orphanage, as it's very contagious, and takes a while to treat. We just did what we could while we were there.

With a busy day planned at the orphanage on Tuesday, we left E & J in their rooms, and they didn't like it one bit - both cried at first, then calmed down, then cried again if they saw us walk past - especially Josephine was this way. It was nice to feel wanted and loved, but also sad that I know they were getting attached and we may not see them again for a long time. At this point, we're thinking that we may not travel again until it's time for them to come home, but we said that after the last trip too, so we'll see...

I just pray every day for this adoption process to speed along, or for me to be able to accept it if a longer wait is what God's perfect plan is for us. Like someone said earlier - every day is one day closer to having them home. I am holding dear this knowledge and thanking God for this every morning as I thank Him for the day.