Trip two...day two...

T and I had a decent day today. We spent much of the day on the balcony and took a few walks around outside around the grounds. Our translator helped regulate the number of kids on the balcony today, which was nice. It was manageable, but still not the easiest environment for bonding. I had to bring all of my luggage with me to the orphanage today because I transitioned to the Heartline Guesthouse for the rest of my stay. This was part of the plan so that I could meet up with an adoptive grandma and her two friends. My luggage and bags were tempting for lots of little hands, including T. She was pretty sure there was a whole lot of fun in all of my bags with her name on it.

T feels pretty comfortable wit home now so with that comes a little testing of boundaries. She is not a fan of being told no. While I am certainly picking my battles because the orphanage is no place to try to build structure, there are times when you have to say no. I am pretty sure we have a strong willed child on our hands...a future leader! :) She had a couple meltdowns, but nothing I couldn't handle. All was well after some cuddles, singing and rocking her...to sleep on the second meltdown. I am sure emotions are all over the place for these poor kiddos as they try to navigate this process of excitement that their mom is here, but wondering when she is going to leave again and for how long. The whole process just takes a toll on all of us all the way around. Praying we are on the home stretch with just over 5-6 months to go. (Praying it is no more than that and far less.)

I brought a bay doll for T today. It is one that has a pacifier, sippy cup, teddy bear and a bottle of milk that came with it. The bottle of milk was one of the ones that looks full when you have it right side up but as you tip it up to feed the baby it "disappears". T thought that was pretty cool. She loved the baby doll and took pretty good care of it. She fed it using the play items that came with it. The sippy cup actually held water and could be used to actually drink out of, son you know how that went. :) A wet baby doll and then a tiny sippy cup for T. It was clearly better than her Dory water container I bring for her. :) At one point she undressed the baby doll and disappeared for a minute. When I found her she was in the bathroom giving her baby doll a bath. She also tried to force feed her baby doll crackers...she is a good sharer. If only the doll could swallow!

Other items we did today...let's see. We played with playdoh together. It was just 4 of use and four small containers of playdoh so it was manageable, fun and entertaining. I got to hear T singing a tune as she worked with her playdoh. A plus! We also played with floam. Loved that. one of the older girls played with it with us and made T a snazzy floam bracelet. :) We spent a good amount time on the swings. She and another boy had a good time as I pushed them as high as I could. At one point I heard T reciting something and I figured out it was her numbers!! Woohoo...school is working! :)

I had a chance to see all of the kiddos in T's room today. I went down to take a photo of them together with their nannies. There were at least a couple kiddos MIA, but otherwise it was a sweet photo. I am trying to do my best to take some shots of her world as it is today. It is part of her life story and I want her to have things to look back on if and when she wants to to remember the beautiful people in her life. It also helps our family to appreciate and understand where she is coming from as she transitions home. Praying that is soon!

My favorite part of the day was T falling asleep on me. It is so nice to just hold her in my arms and enjoy some much needed cuddle time without chaos. I pray that she will still enjoy cuddle time when she gets home. I wish you could see the angelic face that I get to see when she is sleeping in my arms. It is absolutely precious!

It is a shorter blog tonight. I am wiped out, so hopefully more tomorrow!