Time with tots

I always show the pictures in the order of appearance, because that's the order that we see the kids. The first child lives in a baby house with an easily accessible bathroom, and after a 1 1/2 hr trek, we are usually in need. Public restrooms don't exactly abound here, and I haven't used one yet. David used one of the infamous hole-in-the-floor toilets, but I decided to hold it.

Anyway, this little girl was trying to escape through every doorway, as usual, enjoyed the bubbles for a short period, played with the connecting links, and swung them at me several times. It might have hurt if she was bigger, say, like our big girl. We see plenty of behavior, that while cute on someone so tiny, is less cute on someone bigger. Think of the tiny poodle who jumps on you, and is so adorable, versus the lab who jumps on you, scratches you with his claws, and knocks you over. They're both dogs, but you experience them differently.

Anyway, when it was time for her to go back with her groupa, she cried, and hung on to Daddy. That made him feel good. (I noticed she only cried for about ten seconds, though.)

Bubbles are just good, clean fun!

"Daddy, stop chasing me!  I'm laughing so hard, I can't breathe!"

"Okay, I'm holding this pose until the flash goes off!"

After waiting for 20 min, for the caregiver to dress him, our little guy finally appeared in her arms. He took one look, saw it was us, started hollering, and trying to climb backwards over her shoulder. He was very displeased! He reluctantly sat on our laps for a few minutes, then climbed down, and toddled off down the hall, trying every door along the way. "Toddled" isn't the right word, as that implies chubbiness. He has long, skinny legs, and is very unsteady, so "tottered" is more appropriate. We were happy to see him so active, and clearly stating his preferences. We retrieved him, and tried to play with him for a bit, but today he was clearly in no mood to impress potential adoptive parents. The orphanage life suits him just fine, thank you very much. And, don't let the door hit you on the way out...

"You traveled from where?  So what?  Big deal!"

"You can make me sit on your lap, but you can't make me like you!"

After that reception, I was hoping for a warmer welcome from our big girl. She saw us, ignored Daddy's open arms, and ran straight to me. Then she tried to climb up me, and when that didn't work, took hold of my sweater in her teeth, and wouldn't let go. After that, she got to sit with Daddy for the rest of the visit. She wanted to press the button on Daddy's watch, then played with the connecting links for a few minutes until she got frustrated with them. She doesn't have the fine motor skills to manipulate them well, and tried to use brute force to make them do what she wanted. I can see that she tries things, and then says, "fooey on that! I tried!" She doesn't have much patience to continue with it, if she fails immediately.

After that, she enjoyed trying on shoes, but again, had a hard time being patient enough to work it out. Daddy tried to help her, but she didn't really want help. She wanted to do it! After sitting with Daddy for awhile, while he sang to her, he took her back to her groupa, and he had to carry her, as she wouldn't put her feet on the floor to walk. We felt that was a good sign that she wanted to stay with us, even if she wasn't always behaving.

"What do you mean?  I don't have any wrong feet!"

"Thank goodness they always bring me a treat!"