Going Deeper

Now that we are almost at the end of our time with the children I went around to my team mates with the prompt. Everyone knows by now that we love the kids and that they are so precious. Can you give me a specific story? An interaction with a child that was funny or touching. This is part of what they shared.

"From the first day I noticed Emma because she was set back and not as involved as the other kids. She would stand against the wall by herself, and so I was immediately drawn to her. The more time I spent time with her, the more little things would remind me of L* (Jenna's adopted Chinese sister). What tugged at my heart the most was that even when toys were brought in she did not want to leave me because she likes being held more than anything." ~Jenna

"They have their favorite team members and will run past others to seek out a specific person. It is endearing to see them bonding with us." ~ Kim

"The first day we got there and we couldn't go right in (we always wait and put on shoe covers to keep the floors clean for the little ones crawling around) I was standing at the window (that looks into the nursery from the hallway), and one of the little girls was having a fit to get to me and so I stuck my hand against the window and she came up to the window and stuck her hand on the window where it would be touching. And now every morning when she sees me coming she runs up and sticks her hand on the window so we are almost touching.

I had another neat thing happen today. Y*, the one who has the AFOs, I would hug her every day and spend hours with her, but for the life of me I couldn't get her to smile. She would cuddle, but she wouldn't even put her arms up to be picked up. If you walked over with outstretched arms she would kind of turn away. Today I had a full lap already but I saw her staring at me from across the room so I scooted my chair over to her crib. Once I got there I reached out my hands and she turned away. I kept my hands up though and when she looked back I curled my fingers in a come on over motion, and all of a sudden she had the biggest smile! and she kept smiling and started crawling over to me smiling all the way. I got her up into my lap and hugged and loved on her, and she put her little cheek up for me to give her a kiss. So that was really special." ~ Cathy

"I used the laggy blankets to play picaboo with two babies at the same time. It was a room full of giggles. Plus I had Cody on my lap and he was giggling too. One of the boys needed me to pull his blanket off, but the other one could do it himself. Plus I was making a popping sound with my finger and cheek and they were all giggling at that too. The baby would point at me to do it again. After I fed A* I was giving him water, but he wasn't really drinking it, so I set the cup behind me. What do you know but Dominic came over and dumped it on my head! It's a good thing I had my rain jacket on! He must have told A* what he was about to do because he gave just the biggest belly laugh. I mean the two of them just thought it was the funniest thing ever, so that was worth it. I remember Dominic saying to Sean and he translated for us "Hey make sure all you people come back" when we left this morning. And this after giving us trouble all day."~Barb

"Dominic had a cut on his finger and he allowed me to wash it and put a bandaid on it and then sat with me and just let me love on him for quite a few minutes which is unusual for the ever rooming ever curious Dominic." ~Joanne

"This one little girl would never smile or laugh. Well sometimes smile, but hardly ever. Today I was touching her stomach and she was laughing and laughing. I was with her for over half a hour and I would say she was laughing 90% of the time. It is so great to see them bonding with us." ~Lois

"I feel like this is the first day they discovered my hair. It was up in a ponytail all the other days, but today it was down in a braid. The girls did not notice it so much, but it was a real temptation for the boys. They undid the braid, and then they realized I had a bobby pin in my bangs and went for that. They just kept changing the hair style. I think my hair was messed with at least ten times. Tucking it away did not work. Oh no! I had to put it all away in a bun." ~Amy

"I love when they don't realize that you have a full lap and can't hold more than three. They run over when you have a full lap and are like "Pick me up! Pick me up!" Another touching thing was this morning Jason came over and I rubbed his cheek and then a minute later he reached out and rubbed mine." ~Kara

"Zzzzzz" ~Anna (guys we just get so tired that by the time I make it through all the rooms somebody is asleep!)

They really are bonding with us as much as we are with them. It is wonderful and heartbreaking to see all the love. Heartbreaking only because tomorrow is out last day with all our new little friends. A week is not long to get to know someone, especially the shy ones who are only now trusting us enough to smile at us. Then of course there is the challenge of not sharing a language! However, love knows no limits and our hearts are all connected in an unbreakable way forever. Our greatest hope is that wonderful families will also feel this connection and be moved to give these kids loving homes. Even our translator who started the week a bit reserved and professional has been taken mind, body and soul by these kids and carries and romps around with them until he is covered in sweat. Tomorrow is our last day with the kids, so please be asking Him along with us that anything we need to note, we will. Anything we have missed till now we will notice.

Goodnight all!
Tatiana

*Children without assigned American pseudonym names are only identified by their initial to protect their privacy.