Day Five...

Monday morning 2/16th...President's Day! After breakfast we headed to the O & arrived in time to see the school kids before they left for school. Three of the team members had appointments to go to, the rest of the men on the team got busy working on their projects. Clotide (the O nurse) & I were going to get weights & heights on all the children as well as trace their feet for shoe sizes but she had to take one of the children to some appointments so I recruited my bud Kelly & Phoebe to help me. We did the nursery children in the morning & the school age children in the afternoon. The other woman on our team, Gina, played & loved on the children. As soon as we returned to the guest house, Shakria, Samara, Phoebe, & I headed to the pool. It was Shakira's night to stay but Samara "conned" me into letting her come for dinner & returning to the O in the evening. Shakira likes the water & had a great time the last time we were in the pool but this time she kept "drinking" the water which caused some problems. She would get anxious when she started coughing & then she held her breath...for a really long time...and I had to forcefully "pat" her back to make her open up her mouth. After all that drama she was done with swimming :o( but she sat by the pool & watched Phoebe. I didn't have as much one on one time with Shakira as I usually do & I think she realized it because she was quite clingy. Overall she was a lot more hyper than she has been the past trips but I think that was because she was so excited to see Phoebe...and she wants to come home! I could tell that Phoebe was somewhat overwhelmed with Shakira but she did pretty well with it. I'm glad that she experienced it now before they come home. We tried to tell her about Shakira's needs but you don't really "get it" until you experience it. Phoebe understands that Shakira will be going to her school & will be in a special needs class. I can't wait to see how Shakira will continue to blossom once she gets the therapies & education she needs!

Loving Unconditionally...



The joys of trying to get a family picture(minus one)...