Day 1. Coming out of their shell.

I mentioned in my last post that the girls were very reserved at first when we met. Flat affect. Not responsive.  For example, they had runny noses and when we wiped them that first day they didn't move away or respond at all. Seriously, we'd wipe it 4 or 5 times and no response. Have you ever wiped a 2 year old's nose?? In my experience they usually turn away...at least if you try it multiple times!

Anyway, let me tell you about what it was like when we left the orphanage with them for the first time. We walked outside the green metal gate of the orphanage and the girls all of the sudden became very "cuddly". What I mean by that is that they held on and moved in much closer. Il actually had a bit of a death grip on my neck and whimpered just a bit. Her respiratory rate increased and she put her head against me. They were nervous to leave those walls...and probably especially with these people that they just barely met.

Il seemed to be much more afraid...or she at least expresses it more outwardly. El looked around a bit more and didn't grip Mark quite as much. El seems to be less quick to react to things...she was less quick to warm up to the idea of Mark picking her up and holding her, but also less quick to react with fear. Il more quickly and outwardly expressed her emotions, both of fear and happiness...

We walked down the dirt road, knocked on the gate to the guest house and after being let in walked carefully down the uneven stairs to the door of the guesthouse. Some of the steps were deeper, and some were deeper or more shallow. We were cautious carrying our precious little girls down the uneven steps for the first few times...and we commented on how quickly our brains adapt with muscle memory as it wasn't long before we could quickly descend those stairs without having to think about it, adjust stride or give it much thought.

When we got inside the guest house we set our quiet little girls down to walk and they immediately whimpered and reached to be picked back up. They did not feel comfortable being put down in this place that probably felt strangely quiet away from all the other children they spend their days with. This was also their nap time we realized later, so they were surely also tired as well.

We got out a few toys that were a bit to overwhelming at first...like the type you push button and it makes a sound and an animal pops up. That was a definite no (thought they loved it days later). We decided that painting nails seemed like a good, quiet, cuddly thing to do! We pulled that out and let the girls pick their colors. El chose hot pink and Il chose an aqua blue/green color. They sat completely still and seemed very happy about their painted nails. Il especially kept holding her hands out and admiring her nails. I particularly loved watching Mark sweetly interact with the girls and paint fingernails. It was adorable and tender.

The girls both seemed to relax doing that activity. They were also tired. So they cuddled and eventually they each fell asleep with us holding them.

Their little bodies became heavy and limp in our arms and we could cuddle and kiss them without reserve as they slept. It was the first time I think that Mark and I both allowed ourselves to be a bit overcome with emotion regarding what was happening. These are our girls. We're cuddling them. They are sleeping safely in our arms. We got to touch their soft skin and their lovely tight curls. Our journey getting to know them had just begun and they already had us wrapped around their beautiful brown little fingers.

We chose to take them back over to the orphanage each day at 2:00 for their main meal of the day (they have 2 meals a day). It was a lot of fun to see their little personalities perk up when we took them back to the orphanage, especially when they got to their room. They were so excited and ran around taking inventory of all of their comrades from their room. We got to feed them. Rice and beans on a metal plate. We found out that they are great eaters, and if even one grain of rice would drop they would stop and find it before continuing to eat. They ran around the "babies' room" after eating and I was taking a little video of the commotion when El walked over and took Mark's hand and tugged on it to get him to come over and see something she wanted to show him. It was so, so adorable.

After a bit of of playtime at the orphanage (and it is a lot of fun to see the girls fun personalities come out when they are on their turf with their little buddies) we decided to take the girls back over to the guest house for a bit more one-on-one interaction with us.

We pulled out several activities and toys that we played with the girls. They especially liked the little sequin purses we brought with small items like these little Tiana figures inside. Since the girls only got a short nap earlier while we were holding them, and I think they were likely a bit overstimulated with all the newness (new location, new people, new toys/activities) they fell asleep for a bit more...

It was a wonderful first day getting to know these beautiful girls who we have the honor of calling our daughters! It was so nice to know that when we had to walk back up to the orphanage to drop them off for bedtime that we still had 13 more days to get to know them. They were slowly coming out of their shell bit by bit.

That night we also enjoyed our first Haitian meal at the guesthouse. This is the deliciousness that our cook had ready for us when we came back to the guest house! After dinner we washed up the dishes and gave them a rinse in a bleach bath (to kill anything in the water). We sat down and looked over pictures and just reveled in the fact that we were here. This part of the journey was finally happening. And not only are we getting to know our girls...but they are getting to know us too, and that's an important step to them feeling like part of our family. Our family of seven.