The first 48 hours

<<Update: Pictures in this post.>>

Hey y'all. There is a lot to update you guys on. Let's see if I remember it all? Ha ha, we have reached the place where we are wondering if we will ever eat/sleep again? It's been great. And not that bad. But the panicked thought has crossed my mind on occasion.

So, where did I leave off....? We got the kids home from the orphanage, right?

That first night had us both surprised. Both kids slept through the night! Jayce never woke up for 12 hours straight, and Anya only needed a bottle a few times and she was happy. We (they) took a bath in the morning. Joni had the idea to "play" with the bathwater first, before we ever tried putting them in it. The idea was to make the water fun, not scary. It sorta worked? They were clean by the end of it, and much preferred snuggling in a fluffy towel after the bath than the bath itself. We messed around until 11:30 when we left for Embassy. Jayce started screaming at the sight of the van. I guess that every car ride he has ever had resulted in drastic change for him, so it was no wonder he was expecting the same this time. Other than that, they did great. Jayce settled down, and refused to be put down the entire time. We met up with our lawyer without trouble. The Embassy "interview" mostly consisted of swearing that we had not falsified any documents. I think it lasted 5 minutes. Sweet.

We went straight back to the guest house because the kids were hungry and tired, and so were we. Jayce never did nap yesterday, but from what I heard, he had some great play time with Philip and Joni. I took a nap with Baby Girl, and enjoyed every moment.

Dinner was wonderful, as always. Yeshi's cooking is as amazing as I remember. Last night, both kids slept again, amid some fussing. We put Jayce in the crib and he was perfectly fine. I got up a few times to rub his back when he cried in his sleep, but it was nice he didn't need to sleep "on" someone.

We aren't doing goat's milk today. Baby girl loves her goats milk, but we have had some vile encounters in her diaper. We'll wait until things become more solid and try introducing it again. Philip decided he was the official "poop checker". He has a almost-non-existent sense of smell, so he's perfect for such tasks. And considering I almost lost my dinner the first time, I'm one grateful mama.

This morning just started out rough. Anya was wanting milk (which we weren't giving her), and Jayce kinda began missing his friends. I put in in a moby wrap and he and I went to the store for some apple juice for his sister. He was happy in the wrap until I left the gate. Then we screamed the first part of the journey, and in the store.

<<ok, lets see if I can finish this post before I loose power again!>>

…. But, we had our first mother-son outing. We acomplished our goal of apple juice for Baby Girl, with a minimum of trauma.

Anya isn't feeling very well. I'm glad I brought ear drops and Advil and vitamin C. Please be praying that she gets better. The diaper issue is getting slightly better, but I still pass off the icky ones to Philip.

This morning Philip was exhausted. Anya needed some Advil, and that put her asleep, and Philip slept next to her for several hours. He woke right before lunch, human again.

While he was sleeping, Jayce and I went outside to play. It’s interesting because we’re having to teach these kiddos how to play. Seriously, they don’t know. They have never had anything to play with before. Yesterday when we showed Jayce a few toys, he stood in the middle of the room holding them and staring. He didn’t even know how to turn the pages of a book. Now, being his mama’s son, he is very proficient at books. But, I digress….

We went outside and I showed Jayce a bright red ball I brought for him. Seriously, his face lit up! It was so adorable! The security guard at our gate, Gabri, was super cute playing with him. Gabri is all but infatuated with the kids and seems to take great delight in watching them and interacting. We played with water, hoses, the ball, leaves, string, buckets, dirt, and big plastic storage drums. Oh, and stairs. We are much better at ascending and descending stairs now. It was fun to see Jayce smile and laugh and relax. He had great eye contact, and was even “checking in” with me when something new happened. Gabri makes carriage whips in his spare time, and was showing all of us how to use them. It was a beautiful “crack”, and Jayce was properly impressed. He was fascinated, didn’t cry, but did come to stand by me. This is a huge step in the right direction!

I had to tell him “no” at one point, and we had a melt-down. Poor baby. Mommy said “no”, and poor Daddy had to endure about an hour of screaming. We protested at naptime, but eventually fell asleep. Anya and I snuggled during her nap.

After nap, I went on the porch and Jayce joined me. He was content to just stare at the scenery and watch cars and people and donkeys pass by. Soon he decided he needed a snuggle, and we had a wonderful snuggle and listened to Zac Brown Band together. Hey, I gotta start this kid off right!

Jayce is very sensitive to being left. Even if I go around the corner into the kitchen without inviting him to go with me, he becomes almost dejected. It takes quite a bit of time for him to feel comfortable again and his little happy self. So, we are all making sure that, even if we are going upstairs for 2 seconds, we invite him to go with us. Baby Girl doesn’t seem to be as worried, though she does become almost frantic when she can’t see the next bite of food. Jayce simply points at the food he wants next, non-verbally instructs me to dip his doughnut in my oatmeal, and opens his mouth like a little bird to be fed. He’s almost OCD about some things. He insists on being clean and knows how to use a napkin with reasonable success. He prefers both socks and both shoes on. (“missing” a shoe is not a problem with this kid. They stay on very well.) If he has a hoodie, it must be zipped. No leaving it unzipped because it may be too warm. He communicates so well! No English words yet, but I think they are beginning to understand some things.

We had a family outing before dinner to the fruit stand. These kiddos go through bananas like no one’s business. Anya tried snuggleing withher banana today, and didn’t understand why I was not ok with that. Bless the person that invented baby wipes. I’m glad I packed a lot.

On our way back from the fruitstand, I stopped at our tailor friend’s shop. He makes dresses now as well, and has upgraded from a portable tent to an actual shop! He’s making Anya and I a dress, and Jayce a shirt. They will be ready by tomorrow night! I’m totally shocked! I can’t wait to see how it turns out. They had to measure me for the dress, but Jayce was strapped to my front. They helped unwind the yards upon yards of moby wrap fabric, and then tried to hold Jayce for a moment. Nope. That kid put his healthy lungs to good use and clung to me like velcro. By that time, we attracted an audience of about 15, and they all were laughing at me. Not everyone we have encountered is positive about adoption. Indeed, it is a great loss for their country. However, in this situation, no one was questioning who Jayce belonged to.

I’m super tired right now, even though it is only 8:30pm. I’m not even sure if this post makes any sense. Meh. I’ll add some pics, and call it a night. With any luck I can post it before the internet goes out again.

ok, forget the pictures.  I'm tired of fighting with the technology.  Let me post this and I'll see if I can add them later.  'Night.