November 10, 2011

Today we, again, woke up bright and early to meet Maria Elena to tour Chiquitines and say goodbye to all their wonderful staff members. Michael got to see all the nurses and doctor that he loved so much one last time. They smothered him with love and kisses and wished us all well with full, warm smiles.

Maria Elena gave us a tour of the orphanage. We met the lady who received Michael into the orphanage the very first night he arrived when he was only 18 days old. She was thrilled to see him so happy. When we met her, she had another little baby in her arms bottle feeding him (or her?). The baby was very young, probably Michael's age when he arrived, and we could tell she was going to take just as good care of him or her, just like she did with our Michael. We visited the room where he slept, and they showed us his crib. It was pretty emotional to see where he spent all his nights. There were several cribs in the room. They gave us the "label" with his name on it that marked it as his crib. They still had it, even though another baby was already sleeping there since he left, and gladly gave it to us. We will keep it forever. We saw the "stimulation room" for babies around Michael's age where they play in between meals, naps and bedtime. There were several of Michael's "friends" there, as the staff ladies called them, and I recognized a child from a picture with Michael that the pediatrician had sent us the other day from her collection of pics over the past year. His face will stay with me, and I hope he finds a forever home soon. We saw the cafeteria and also the bathing areas for the older children. There were lockers and locker-room or dorm-type shower facilities. They were very clean and neat. We passed a library, the doctor's office and the psychologist's office. All these rooms wrap around a very pretty courtyard with a big, beautiful tree in the middle.

Then we went outside to a big lawn with a swimming pool, playground equipment, pavillion where Maria Elena told us they had small entertainment sometimes, and a separate smaller building with older children learning rooms and bunk bed rooms. One room was filled with several children around 3 or 4 years old, some maybe a bit older. The windows were open and when we passed, they all wanted to talk to us; some came up to the window and reached out for us and touched our hands - all with huge smiles. We talked to the two nurses there with them. One little girl across the room started waving and saying "Hola amiga!" over and over. When we were leaving, she waved again and said "Ciao amiga!" I don't think I'll ever forget her face either or her full, black curly hair. ;) Maria Elena pointed out a small boy to us with scars from burns on one side of his face and down his body and arm. She explained that he had been brought to Chiquitines because "he was born in a home with candles." She didn't need to elaborate but said he had healed tremendously from the last time she had seen him. His spirit was healing too. ;) He looked like a happy child.

Before we left, Maria Elena took a picture of us in front of the orphanage. Here it is. We love it.

Leaving Chiquitines, Ford and I took a deep breath and thought how lucky and blessed we are to have each other, our families and Michael. I hope all those kids get the same one day, and very soon.

Maria Elena told us we got assigned court number 11, which is one of the faster ones! As a joke, after we asked her if she had heard from Fabiola, she said "yes, you got court 4." Ford and I froze because we had been told that we didn't want to get court 4. Then, she broke out into a grin and said "No! You got court 11!" We all laughed, and I called her a little diablo. Everyone laughed. ;) When we got back home, I talked to our caseworker Beth at Gladney. She said the next 7-10 days may be slow, but then it should pick up again. It was good talking with her. She knows the right things to say. ;)

This afternoon, we ventured out a little farther from the hotel to a specialty grocery store called Pomona, which Maria Elena said had more American name brands that we would recognize. It did indeed. I snatched up a big jar of Jif peanut butter. :) Tonight, the hotel was having "Brazilian night" in the lobby. We went down for a while and listened to the live music. Michael enjoyed it too. He just listened and watched.

He is eating and sleeping well. He is walking on his own more and more everyday. By the time we get home, he'll be walking all over the place, I imagine. I snapped this pic of him standing by himself today!

So, all in all, the second week is off to a good start. More soon! Love you all.