Testing the Waters...

A week (in region) has come to a close and although we're pretty exhausted (we are pretty new to the parent thing), we're certainly hopeful. We struggle with the mental aspect of handing over our little one to the institution every day, hoping that the little progress that we made during our visit...sticks with her after we leave (we are only able to spend a total of 3.5 hours a day).

Often we visit the orphanage to find either a reserved and quiet girl... or a blabbering, speed walking champion. Our little girl is in a room full of kids half her age, and mimics what they do (not talking, barely walking, wailing out of frustration, etc.) but when we bring her out of that environment, we see our "real" little girl (the one that she wants to become...the one she's striving to be) for about 30-45 minutes. She's walking... and when Mama and Papa skip, she actually tries to "skip"...but it looksmore like a "midget hop" instead. Sheenjoys climbing up and down stairs... holding on to the rail (safety first). She wants to sing along (hums, and tries to mimic some sounds occasionally) when we sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "Jesus Loves Me".

Yesterday, while we were letting her take a sip of water from her Camelback water bottle, she wanted to stick her hand in the water. So I took her water bottle, and dumped some water into the top part of her Camelback, and let her splash her hands in it. She LOVED it... wait, that might be an understatement... it was probably the highlight of yesterday's visit for her... wait another understatement... it was probably the highlight of her entire week. Hopefully her love for water will transition into a love for bath time (we're pretty sure the kids NEVER get baths here...only washcloth baths), and eventually transition into having fun in the pool with Papa.