Sunday

I keep trying to post photos but it goes soooooo slow and then quits so I may not be able to post any photos until we are either home or back in Sunny K.

Life here is becoming routine. Today our taxi didnt come back for us so we walked home. We have walked a few times just because we wanted to but today we walked for miles already so we wanted to ride home after our visit with the kids. I asked the taxi driver to meet us back there for virnoot(return) at 18:00 and he pointed to the spot as if to say here? and we agreed. I was so proud of myself that we were getting so good at communicating. so at 6 we were ready to go, didnt want to keep the cab waiting. but he didnt come. 6:05 no taxi. Finally at 6:15 we started walking home. We saw a taxi go by as we were walking and slow to stop so we thought hey thats our cab! and we walked toward it and he DROVE OFF! so we kept hiking towards Hotel P town. We saw another cab go by at about 630 and sure enough we watched and he turned down the road that the orphanage is on. there is nothing else on that road. but too bad for him, or too bad for us we kept on walking. We stopped at the store for yogurt. got home exhausted.

Today (sunday) the doors were locked and no one answered when we went to see Ben this morning. so we didnt get to see him this morning. But this afternoon he was subdued and quiet, not at all the wild man he has been. we played in the sandbox together squishing sand clumps. daddy would hand them to Ben and Ben would give to Mama and instruct me to squish them and then he would brush it off my hands with his little hand. if that didnt work he would put it back in the sand box and STOMP on it with his AFO! he doesnt wear shoes over his AFO, but it has a tread on the bottom so he still has traction. but it was funny to see him just stomp on the clumps. he is clever, if that didnt work he rubbed it against the side of the sandbox, grating it. He is very much getting into climbing up any kind of monkey bars. We have to hold him the entire time because he is not very coordinated and his feet are slippery. He has only been walking about a month. His detsky dom is very small. there are only a couple groupas. maybe 3? It is right next door to Sophie's, seperated by only a small grove of trees. in fact you can look from one and see the other. We had played with both kids together one day but the next day they said no no no. you have to play over THERE with little boy, and play HERE with little girl. not little boy and little girl together. Which is rather sad because every day each asks for the other.

Sophie is such a little doll. she is very tiny. Ben is pretty solid. and heavy! He wears about a 4T and she today she had on a little sweater sized 86 that fit perfectly. Not sure what that translates too but will look it up later. I know Hannah Andersson sizes are in cm. Sophie has quite the little temper when she doesnt get her way. Ben cried and cried yest when he didnt get his way, and today it was sophie. but at least she let me redirect her. he was too stubborn for that. She was playing with my cell phone(from home) and figured out how to turn it on. So I turned it off and gave it back and sure enough she turned it on again. So I turned it off and put it away. boy was she mad. but she loves to write so we gave her the pen and she was happy again. She drew lots of pictures. She sure loves to clear out my purse to see whats in there. usually she finds the pen and thats the end of it and she writes/draws. She was holding a grudge against Daddy today because he brought her back to her groupa yesterday and she didnt want him to. But by this evening when we saw her she allowed his kisses and hugs but no holding. She doesnt complain when Mommy holds her though. She likes "kristina" a lot. Chrysta let her listen to my ipod and she loved that. musica. she says musica. She talks all the time. sometimes this little quiet singsongy voice. sometimes loud and clear. She was mad at Daddy but she didnt want him going off into the woods, she yelled at him DAAA DAAA! She is always dressed so cute. Yesterday we met Mama Nina. She was with Sophie when she has been in the hospital. She likes Mama Nina very much. While we were there yesterday she phoned Sophies grandmother and let her talk to her. She gave us her address so we could send pictures.

The orphanage grounds are at the edge of town in the country. its very peaceful and quiet. The neighboring properties have chickens and you often hear a rooster crow. It has been so warm out that the children play out every day. Every time we go there Sophie's groupa and the others from her building are outside. The older ones not as much. That doesnt make a lot of sense but thats the way it is. The children all LOOK and seem well cared for. The nannies speak softly to them(most of them anyways) and seem to really care about them as children rather than just a job. It is a stark contrast to where we went for Ethan. The children here wear nice clothing, even brand name. the children where Ethan was wore rags if they had anything at all. The children eat about 5 times a day here it seems. They are mostly on the smaller side but definitely NOT undernourished like ethan was. We saw Sophie eating an apple today. I dont think Ethan ever saw an apple before he came home. And the whole feeling around the orphanage and with the nannies is very different. Everyone knows who we are and why are there. they are all kind and friendly or offer guidance. we never met any of the workers where Ethan was. We didnt get to go to his room but once or twice to return him. We have been all over this orphanage. They are very welcoming when we arrive to take a child for a visit or to return them afterwards.

Still it isnt home. And we miss the kids. and we miss our bed! we sleep on two twins pushed together. guess who sleeps in the crack? I miss our quiet little neighborhood at night. it is very noisy here at Hotel Ptown. Well I guess thats about it for now. more to come, no doubt.