Big sigh as I sit down to write this. It has been a long week. I have had no time to write down anything in between 2 hours meal times, 2 hour bath times, and 2 hour screaming, fussing fits to go to sleep! But there have been many sweet, sweet times with our little Malia Nagima. Gotcha Day could not have been any better. We arrived after Malia's lunch so she had a full tummy on her way out. Her caretakers were wonderful as they dressed her in the clothes I brought for her and told her we were her new "Mama and Papa." They hugged and kissed her and took several pictures of themselves with her and a few of us with her. Then I put her coat on and they took more pictures of her. I stood back and watched and one of the caretakers cried as she held Malia for a long time and said her final goodbye. I was crying too, I didn't know how much they loved her. I had no idea. It made me so happy to know she was well taken care of these last 2 years, 5 months, and 1 day.
I carried Malia out of the orphanage and as we started to walk away, one of her caretakers opened a window and called out to "Nagima." I carried Malia over to the window and Malia waved again to her caretaker. Our representative told me Malia had been their favorite, that she was well liked by everyone.
One little thing I want to remember about that time with her caretakers saying goodbye is the 4 little potty's that scooted over to the open bathroom door watching intently at everything going on. We were told that after every meal, all children, even children under 1, sit on their potties several times a day. We arrived after lunch so when I walked in to the bathroom to give Malia's new clothes to the caretaker, all the kids were sitting on tiny potties. So when we all walked into the play room to take pictures, they all scooted to the door to watch. It broke my heart.
The next few days were a blur. We had appointments to go to and of course, a toddler to take care of. She has been so fun! She is very interactive and repeats everything we say. She has several Russian phrases that she repeats over and over. I love it! I hope we capture them on video to be able to show her later. One phrase she repeats is "I'll do it myself" in Russian of course. Too funny! She loves to sing and hum. We have been singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat over and over. She will say "row, row" now, but with a heavy Russian accent. It's the cutest thing ever! All English words she repeats has her Russian accent so it makes everything she says even extra cute! And does she ever call me Mama!!! I love it! It's a strong Mama, almost like calling it out loudly when she says it. And daddy is "Papa" in Russian but now it sounds like Poppy when she says it. It melts Scott into a puddle!
We have had some very hard times too over the past few days. That's mainly why I haven't had time to type out a post. (Courtney, I haven't had much Skype time either. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to talk to you.) Malia's eating has been very hard. She would not eat for us. Last night, I had to call our translator to come help. I cannot sing enough praises to wonderful Anna!!!! She sat Miss Malia down and in Russian, told her to eat her dinner. Malia didn't fuss at all. And she ate more in that one meal than she had probably eaten all week! I cried silent tears watching her. Anna even taught us how to make porridge the way Malia would have eaten it. This morning, Scott was already making it when Malia woke me up. I sat her down the same way Anna did last night and she ate the whole bowl!!! For lunch today, she ate everything I gave her, without fussing. And nap time today didn't have one peep. Anna suspected that Malia was still hungry when I put her down for naps and bed time and that might have been why she has been so upset the last 3 days.
Ok, it's about time for Malia to wake up from her nap. I have much more to get down, but one final thing I wanted to share is that Malia doesn't understand why she can't brush Mommy's hair. The brush just keeps getting caught, ha!
We come home tomorrow!!! Can't wait!
~wendy
I carried Malia out of the orphanage and as we started to walk away, one of her caretakers opened a window and called out to "Nagima." I carried Malia over to the window and Malia waved again to her caretaker. Our representative told me Malia had been their favorite, that she was well liked by everyone.
One little thing I want to remember about that time with her caretakers saying goodbye is the 4 little potty's that scooted over to the open bathroom door watching intently at everything going on. We were told that after every meal, all children, even children under 1, sit on their potties several times a day. We arrived after lunch so when I walked in to the bathroom to give Malia's new clothes to the caretaker, all the kids were sitting on tiny potties. So when we all walked into the play room to take pictures, they all scooted to the door to watch. It broke my heart.
The next few days were a blur. We had appointments to go to and of course, a toddler to take care of. She has been so fun! She is very interactive and repeats everything we say. She has several Russian phrases that she repeats over and over. I love it! I hope we capture them on video to be able to show her later. One phrase she repeats is "I'll do it myself" in Russian of course. Too funny! She loves to sing and hum. We have been singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat over and over. She will say "row, row" now, but with a heavy Russian accent. It's the cutest thing ever! All English words she repeats has her Russian accent so it makes everything she says even extra cute! And does she ever call me Mama!!! I love it! It's a strong Mama, almost like calling it out loudly when she says it. And daddy is "Papa" in Russian but now it sounds like Poppy when she says it. It melts Scott into a puddle!
We have had some very hard times too over the past few days. That's mainly why I haven't had time to type out a post. (Courtney, I haven't had much Skype time either. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to talk to you.) Malia's eating has been very hard. She would not eat for us. Last night, I had to call our translator to come help. I cannot sing enough praises to wonderful Anna!!!! She sat Miss Malia down and in Russian, told her to eat her dinner. Malia didn't fuss at all. And she ate more in that one meal than she had probably eaten all week! I cried silent tears watching her. Anna even taught us how to make porridge the way Malia would have eaten it. This morning, Scott was already making it when Malia woke me up. I sat her down the same way Anna did last night and she ate the whole bowl!!! For lunch today, she ate everything I gave her, without fussing. And nap time today didn't have one peep. Anna suspected that Malia was still hungry when I put her down for naps and bed time and that might have been why she has been so upset the last 3 days.
Ok, it's about time for Malia to wake up from her nap. I have much more to get down, but one final thing I wanted to share is that Malia doesn't understand why she can't brush Mommy's hair. The brush just keeps getting caught, ha!
We come home tomorrow!!! Can't wait!
~wendy
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