Day 4: All Together Now

Again, today could not have gone much better. Luisa woke up at 6:00 on the nose (just like her routine at the orphanage) and happily came to me. We snuggled for a bit, and then the rest of the family woke up soon after. We played and played, ate breakfast, had a visit from Magnolia and Abby (the OT visiting Cali to work with kids at Chiquitines). I was relieved when they got here that Luisa still clung to me, as she has been around both Abby and Magnolia a lot in the past. It poitns to the fact that the bonding process is going well. Abby came to show us how to use the gait trainer that Keely was able to bring down to Colombia. We will use it while in Cali, and then there is another little boy that will be able to benefit from it after we are gone.

We visited the market again this morning, and it was much less stressful than last time. We tried to go the pool, but it was closed for cleaning or having work done (not sure, our Spanish is not so good). We did get that it will be open again tomorrow, so we will try again. Both girls conked right out for nap and slept a good two hours again.

It is obvious that Luisa is getting more comfortable with us. She is testing boundaries and getting into EVERYTHING she can reach. We busted out the blocks, and they were a huge hit with her. (I am trying to keep some toys in reserve so that the novelty can be spread out across our trip. I hope they last, because the toys here are very expensive. I asked about the price of a little rag doll at the mall today, and it was $45. Yikes.)

Luisa ate ALL of her dinner (Caroline ate one bite) of beef stew prepared with random and unfamiliar herbs from the market. It actually turned out quite yummy. Cooking here is an adventure.

After dinner was bath time. I was a little nervous about this, as Luisa always showered at the orphanage, and she isn't able to sit up very well without support for too long. She rocked it, though! She even loved Caroline dumping water on her head. She was able to sit (or crawl) independently throught the entire bath time.

We watched the Winnie the Pooh movie tonight, and Luisa LOVED it. We heard more vocalization out of her during that movie than at any other time. She pointed as each character came on the screen and wanted us to name them all. Maybe she's seen the movie before. It definitely piqued her interest. She will love Caroline's Eeyore collection when we get home.

Bed time tonight was much improved over last night. Luisa doesn't want me to leave the room, but she was fine with me sitting in a chair by the door tonight.

All in all, it is going so much better than we could have dreamed. Luisa is really bonding to me, and she is getting more and more comfortable with Philip as well. She let me pass her off to him several times throughout the day without a second thought. It feels like we've had her much longer than two days.