We didn’t have internet last night so I am doing two days at
once!
Thursday:
This morning started off better J Both girls woke up and Elysee was smiling and
she ate breakfast and played with us for a few hours before we went outside to
meet up with her friends. This is HUGE! She played with the baby too which was really
cute! They had never met each other
before this week so they are not used to each other either. A little later we went to the pool and she
did have a few rough moments but mostly she was all smiles letting her friends
pull her around in a little boat. When
we started to come in for lunch she began to scream again and her sweet friend
came over and told her to eat so she climbed up at the table and I put the
computer in front of her with a picture of her and her friends swinging and she
smiled and ate and talked to us for a while.
She does NOT like macaroni and cheese but loves chicken, boiled eggs and
yogurt…lots and lots of yogurt! One of
the other moms offered for Elysee to take a nap with their children so that
went really well this afternoon.
Adam kept both of the kids while I went to the foster care
home this evening with a few other parents.
In his words, one of the other moms that stayed behind had a squirt gun and
she ran around squirting the kids while Adam showed them where to run and get
away J Their little legs were no match for the
adults and the toddlers were completely soaked!
Soon after that, several, equally soaked, diaper clad toddlers J It was a lot of fun and Adam had a good night
bonding with Elysee while playing with her friends. Some of the other moms that stayed behind made
dinner and Adam, Elysee and the baby ate in another couples room. It was quite an event - feeding three
toddlers that do not speak your language! The highlights were the little boy better
known as the comedian, stuffing his face with a fist full of pasta and shaking
his head vigorously…picture long pieces of spaghetti hanging out of a 2 year
olds mouth swinging back and forth while he laughed! And Elysee declaring she was finished by
emptying the remains of her plate of fried fish on her head! He he!
The end result was full kids, a big mess and a several spouses who were
thrilled to see the van of parents pull in!
I had a good evening traveling to the foster home where
Elysee currently lives. I rode in a van
with four other parents, two ladies from our agency and one Congolese
driver. We drove into the nicest part of
Kinsasha which is where the foster home is located. It was huge by Congolese standards! There are five bedrooms and four bathrooms
for 30 kids right now. When we pulled
into the compound, all of the children and the workers were out front singing
and dancing welcoming us! It was the
sweetest thing! We went in for a tour
and I got to see where Elysee sleeps and meet all of her little friends J Once we were through with the tour, they put
on very loud music and all the kids and nannies danced and sang and man, can
they dance! I can’t wait to see Elysee
dance to some African music! We also
gave each of the kids there a bag of Easter eggs with candy and a toy and they
were thrilled! They immediately began
eating all of the candy J This was a wonderful opportunity! I got to take tons of pictures and video of
where Elysee lives, her friends who live with her and her caretakers so she can have them
forever.
After we left the foster home, we went to the grocery store
which was my first experience with buying food here, Adam whet last time. It was a pretty nice grocery store with lots
and lots of choices! Everything was VERY
expensive though.
When I got back to the room, we brought Elysee into the room
kicking and screaming again for a shower and I decided to go and get Papa
Samuel who was in another room (he lives at the foster house, and is the house
manager) to get him to calm her down and sure enough, all he had to do was walk
in the bathroom, speak very sternly to her to stop and she was quiet for the
rest of the night! After the shower, she
did not want to get out of the shower so we let her stay in there for a really
long time and she eventually came out on her own and got dressed. She sat in the floor and played with her doll
and a toothbrush until almost 10:00 and then Adam asked her if she wanted to go
to sleep and she got up and got in bed.
NO TEARS J Praise God!
The baby is wonderful!
We feed her a bottle at night after her bath and she goes right to
bed. She usually wakes up twice to eat
which I think is pretty normal and then usually goes right back to sleep. Sometimes we have to walk her around but that
is it! It has been wonderful getting to
see all of her giggles and coos! She is
precious and loves to cuddle!
Friday:
This morning everyone was great! Everyone got up all smiles! Elysee would not eat but she was really happy
and we played for a bit together before I had to get showered and ready to head
to the orphanage that our baby currently lives in. I rode with two of our Agency workers, two
other moms and the same Congolese driver (Pablo). We drove to a very different part of town. We spent about two hours at the orphanage. I am
serious when I say, I will never be the same.
Please pray that the baby’s court process goes smooth and quick so she
can be moved to live with Elysee at the foster home.
When I got back to the hotel, it was Adam’s turn to go and
visit the foster home so he could see where Elysee lives J The baby and I and Elysee all hung out in our
room together J Elysee did not want to go to the pool with
her friends!!! She wanted to stay in the
room and play with me! I was
thrilled! We colored, played with
stickers, sang songs, read books…it was great!
When Adam got back, we skyped with Eva, Eli and Grandma. It went really well and the kids got to say
hi to each other which was fun.
Later we had an egg hunt with the kids at the hotel which was
GREAT! They had never done that before
but after they realized there was candy in the eggs they were really
excited! Elysee ate most of her candy
tonight and then brought her bag in and put it on a shelf so she could find it
in the morning J
Bath and bed went great tonight with no tears from either
kiddo! Thanks for all the prayers…they
are definitely working!
The first couple in our group will be leaving tomorrow and
saying goodbye to their kids. Pray for
them please. One of their kids is the
little boy that Elysee loves so much so pray for peace for her as well when he
leaves.
Lynsey
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