Day two is over...............

It is 2am & I just woke so thought I would do a quick update of the day. It is so busy during daylight hours that there just isn't enough time to fit it in. During nap time - well I nap of course!

They have a wonderful set up here in the volunteer house. A & I & the two kids share a room with our own private bathroom & shower. There is a queen bed in there as well as a play pen & little cot. The little kids have decided they want to sleep with us though so all four of us sleep in the one bed. The kids are so good & go to bed so easily as long as we lay with them. C clings to me & D is a real A suck, he has really attached to A so he cuddles up to her. They are very cute together.

D showed his terrible twos today with not one but two melt downs today. I tried walking away from the 2nd one but he followed me with tears & snot flinging everywhere. Note to self: bubbles cause melt downs. To all the adoptive parents: I did try to eliminate all the snotty noses today for awhile but I am telling you it is a losing battle. So if I took a picture of your kid with a runny nose - it was because I was defeated.

The birth family did show up today & we did take a lot of photos of everyone. Dad, Mom, new baby brother & four older brothers came as well as Dad's two daughters from a previous relationship & one of them had a one month old baby & a uncle (Dad's younger brother) came as well. They were all dressed in their Sunday best. I won't go into details on here of what went on, as it is very private but it was extremely emotional. Both kids melted down when they saw their family & ran away. We did finally calm them & got them all together for photos. This is all so confusing for the kids. The kids will treasure all these photos one day & it was wonderful that such a large group showed up. Daryl sat & translated for us & also took photos - he is really wonderful.

So much happens here in one day......... so many kids all wanting just a little attention. They cling to your legs & all want to be held. A new group of volunteers showed up today so the kids kind of left us alone a little & were all over them. We brought Jody & Sammy over to the volunteer house to play today & Woosben spent a lot of time with us. He loves the new photo album you sent Nadine. That is his favorite thing by far. He was really into the stickers too & even I ended up with quite a few on my body. We got out the little car set to play again today & somehow the two little cars are missing. We searched for quite awhile but didn't locate them. We will look again tomorrow - sorry. Ben wasn't upset about them being missing though so that was a good thing.

The kids all understand a LOT of english! They don't really speak it but they definately know what you are saying most of the time. C is like a little tape recorder everything you say gets repeated. We are going to have to be more careful about what we do say. She will be speaking english in no time. D doesn't talk so much but he does say Mommy, Ashley, more, please, up - but he just isn't as verbal, but he does understand us & nods or shakes his head appropriately.

Food at home I don't think will be an issue. When food is being served to the kids they all just yell & let everyone know its food time & they all go running for their bowls. My kids go pick up their food & come back to the volunteer house to eat. Then when we eat D sits on my knee & does his baby bird impression & eats as much as I will give him. Neither kid is picky about food & eat everything given to them as quickly as possible.

D even peed in the potty today! We were getting them ready for the shower & I asked him if he wanted to pee on the potty & he nodded yes so he sat down & peed. He was so proud of himself. I think he could be trained pretty easily once we are home. C is completely trained & hasn't had any accidents even at night or nap times. We have put pull ups on her at night & she went out & showed everyone her diaper & told them in Kreyol that she had diapers on so now she was going to go on the airplane to Port au Prince. :) She has noticed everyone puts diapers on their kids for the flights. She said to me today lets go on the airplane to Port au Prince & I stay with Mommy forever. She seems to understand what is going on & wants to leave. The kids had a blast in the shower as we have hot water in the volunteer house. They have cold showers in the baby house so they ran around & danced & really performed. They were just giggling & having so much fun. It was so cute I wish I had that on video tape. I can't wait till we get in Canada & have a bathtub for them to sit & play in. They will have a blast. They do not get to sit here during their shower they run the kids through pretty quickly. They are not afraid of the water at all & didn't mind it on their faces.

Maybe the missing bag will show up today. There wasn't a Lynx flight from Miami today so maybe tomorrow. Julie your package is in that bag but I do have the money envelopes in my purse (I will give those to Daryl tomorrow). Daryl is sure that the bag will show up eventually they just left it out on purpose because of weight restrictions. I have never been on a small plane before when you had to bend over at the waist to get to your seat.

Daryl, Sara, Maria are some of the long term volunteers are my heros. They work from sun up to sun down for these kiddos. Actually they all have the little babies that need nursing / extra care in their rooms at night so it is a 24 hour a day job for them. The girls spend all their time with the sick babies but they all go non stop. They really are the heart & sole of this place.

Well it is almost 3am now so I must get to bed before all the roosters go off.

Having a blast here getting to know my kids & all the rest of the kiddos. Everything is going as expected or better & I am really happy. I can't wait to be home & start our new life - although I prefer the weather here. :)

I will try to blog again tomorrow or I mean today.

Hugs, Laur