Sorry it's taking me a long time to update... Here is from Wednesday. Grace is even doing much better, will try and catch up soon!
The weather has warmed up here to the 60s, which is great for us since we left weather back home in the single digits. Funny enough, the people around here still act and dress like its 20 degrees. We are just plain roasting. We sit around in our hotel room in shorts, I'm sure people think we have totally lost it. I have yet to use a heat wrap for my back because I am sure I might melt. My back is doing pretty well, so no worries.
We got to visit Grace's orphanage, which in stark contrast was 100 times better than Matthew's. It was clean and when we visited Grace's room there were just 6-8 children living in that room. One of her nannies swooped her up immediately to hold her. We were told many times over how smart she is and how many words she knows how to say. They all say she is very outgoing and smart. We were also told how she doesn't like strangers and especially men. Many nannies stopped by to talk to her and it was easy to tell she was a favorite here. The best gift of all, was that we received about 30 pictures of her from when she was a baby till recently. I am a little frustrated in that if I hadn't been very persistent asking for these, I would have never received them.
I didn't stay long in the orphanage with Grace and decided to head outside, leaving Jeff and the boys inside. She was upset when we left, but one of the nannies brought her down some cookies and she soon quieted. She fell asleep and slept the whole way back. We were unable to visit her finding spot since it was too far away, so that was a little disappointing too. I know these orphanage visits are upsetting, but my hopes were to give her some closure and to soak in the small bits of of her life that we could. The hard part is that Grace doesn't realize yet she needs a mom and a dad. She only knows orphanage life, which to her benefit probably wasn't horrible.
She still whimpers around Robbie and Jeff, but she is trusting of Matthew and I. I am thankful she will let me take care of her and pick her up. It's hard waiting for this flower to blossom. We so want so see the real her, but for now she is very closed up. She has yet to speak a word or utter a sound besides a cry or a whimper. She mostly will just stand and not move. Since her walking is unsteady, people mistake her for a baby. She is eating well and otherwise seems healthy. Her behavior right now is not uncommon for some who has recently experienced what she has, so I am not alarmed.
We are trying to take it easy from here on out. We have started to socialize a little bit in the hallway and she actually stood up and played a little bit by herself. When we made this trip with Matthew two years ago, he was happy to be with Jeff and I, but would flip out with any new transition. He also was very obsessed with food. Grace is the opposite. We could probably take Grace anywhere and she wouldn't make a sound. She also is totally fine with food. She eats exactly how she should. I was hoping to be more of a seasoned veteran on this second trip, but God is contininually showing me that I don't have it all figured out yet. Each child is so different and it doesn't take much to too look around at all the children in our group to see how they are all processing their new lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment