That's T in the middle with the green shirt. She's sharing her cheerios, right down to the crumbs at the bottom of her cup. It can be overwhelming when there are more kids then this in the room.
T didn't seem to have a fever today, but she is now nursing a cold. She christened me with her sneezes and coughs. (Libby, I'm using my "on-guard" essential oil, so hopefully I am good!) I brought her toothbrush and some toothpaste today and she was quite excited to brush. (Aunt Shannon and Jen A. will be happy to hear that!) She held on to her baggie with the toothbrush and toothpaste in it all day long. We tried to have her give it back so that we can bring it back tomorrow, but no such luck. She was not giving it up. She and a couple other girls used the barrettes that we brought to do T's doll's hair. Some of the older girls saw the barrettes and word got out because a couple more came up asking for a some. They didn't last long after that. They were quickly dispersed among the crowd. Once you let one go, it is hard to stop the rest from going too.
When she was done playing with her doll T wanted to swing on the swing set, so she and I headed down to the yard. We enjoying swinging together for 10 minutes or so and then I heard, "Peepee, Mama" so it was time to go back in.
When we went back upstairs she wanted to be held, so we stood looking at the mountains again. I had a chance to sing to her and a few of her friends that came over to see what we were doing. I ended up sitting down next to Shawn who was holding a boy named Mama. As I continued to sing to T both of them got heavy eyes and fell asleep. Shawn and I sat with these two sleeping beauties as the rest of the kids continued with the chaos around us. I had to signal to one little girl that she needed to leave the balcony because she kept pinching a sweet little boy that was trying to sleep on the floor. He would wake up crying because she had pinched him. She got "the look" from me. :)
I've often wondered what it is like at the orphanage. I can see what happens with kids on playgrounds and have always wondered what it is like with these kids that are living together 24x7. There is definitely a pecking order and each of the kids do what they need to in order to survive and find their place. Some a quiet and just keep to themselves while others make sure that no one messes with them by being the kid in charge. I've seen some of the children that seem to be the caretakers and peacemakers. I guess in the grand scheme of things it is the same as what you might see in a large family or on a school playground. My heart goes out to the kids that have not been matched yet and don't have a family waiting for them. Many of the older kids are in that situation. We've tried to welcome them up on the balcony as well. They don't always get the same attention that the little ones get. We're sharing what love we can with them throughout our visit.
No tears when we left today. I think she was more concerned with keeping her toothbrush and toothpaste with her! :) We're looking forward to our visit tomorrow. Another couple just landed in Haiti and they will be joining us at the orphanage the rest of the time we are here. We're looking forward to them meeting their son tomorrow! We know the excitement that we had just a week ago. We are also thrilled to have another couple that we can have adult, fluent English conversations with!! Thank you, Lord!!
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