10/9/04-Pictures, Videos and the Days Events…

I know many of you wanted your Jack and Grace fixes. There are many more pictures and videos at the bottom of this entry for you to check out.

In the morning, Grace was out of it again. She was just fussy. All she wanted was to be held. We’re not sure what was happening. It may still be her teeth bothering her or she just may have been cranky. Dad started the day feeding her. We haven’t discussed the feeding process yet, but it is quite an experience. Because of the sheer numbers of kids in each room and the limited number of caregivers, all the kids are feed in rapid fire manner. They hold the kids in their laps and literally shovel the food in their mouths with a large spoon. The first couple times I tried feeding Grace, they took her away from me because I was taking too much time. This morning I was left alone, but she is hard to feed. She likes to look around rather than eat. It is tough because this kid does not need to miss any meals.

After breakfast, Grace hung with Mom, while Jack took off around the room. He just wanted to explore anything. After a quick chase of an empty bottle, he settled by a bookcase full of toys and went through everything. He was eventually joined by Travis, who is being adopted by Candy through another agency. They just hung out exchanging toys. At the end of the morning, we took them back to their rooms.

Check out the morning pictures – Jack on the move, Grace being fussy.
Video 1- Jack on the Move
Video 2- Cranky Grace doing a little crawl

In the afternoon, things were more lively. We noticed the other day that Grace really like a rattle one of the kids had. So we went out in the afternoon and bought her one. She really took to it. Of course, Jack really like it too. (We will get him one, but he usually will play with anything.) The rattle seems to make her more verbal. She was chatting away all afternoon, which joy to our ears because all of these kids are so silent. I think they learn early that screaming gets them nothing. Only the schedule gets them what they need. For a moment, Grace looked like she was going to be fussy again, so she and Dad took a walk around the room. After hanging out at the mirror for a while, we ended up at the swing again. This brightened her up. She began to babble more and more. After the swing, we went and hung out in the pit of balls. She really liked it and was blabbering more and more. You can check out the videos.

I like call Grace the little bird because her head is always jerking back and forth looking at everything. I find myself humming the Chava song from Fiddler on the Roof when I’m holding her. (Little Bird, Little Chavala…)

The other big event was that they got their passport photos taken. They were able to get Grace’s picture on the first shot, but Jack took multiple tries. He just does not want to cooperate for photos. (One of the pains of a digital camera is that it takes a second or two for the picture to go off. We have many pictures of the back of Jack’s head.) After the individual shots, they took a family picture. We’re not sure what that one was fore, but it will probably be used later. We need to have a picture of them with Mary Jo for when Mom and I bring them home. That may be for that.

At the end of the afternoon, we took them back to their rooms. All in all, it was another good day.

Check out the afternoon pictures – Grace coming out of her shell, Jack hanging out.
Video 3– Grace back on her swing
Video 4- Grace in the Pit of Balls
(Note: I have more to post. Look later tonight or tomorrow morning.)