Day 5

Nothing too exciting to report today (which is good) - just stayed around the resort today and continued our adjustment to Maggie, and her adjustment to us.  Things are progressing with her, which is good and bad - she's getting more comfortable with us, which is good, but with that, the defiance comes out too.  We've been trained that kids from orphanages will often be on their best behavior for quite a while until they "attach" to you and then start showing what's really going on inside.  We think we're already there.  The best behavior thing?  Long gone.  :)  So thankful we were prepared for what we are experiencing!  Also thankful we have Mary and Leighton here from TN, who are going through the exact same stuff with their 18 month old.

Remember the bedtime battle last night?  Well it continued at 3:00 a.m.  :-/   She got up and decided that was IT, she was done sleeping.  As Hamza would say, "oh my Lawd!"  Thankfully it was shorter go-round this time, and she finally stayed put and went back to sleep. 

Today brought more drama - mainly when we enforce something, such as quiet time, or taking something away that she shouldn't have.  That sets her off, but I think so far, we're winning.  :)  She doesn't realize we can be MORE bullheaded than her.  Ha.  Mark had a good analogy for it today - he said it's like breaking in a colt (interesting analogy for Mark, yes?), and he's totally right.  So I guess in some ways, this time spent here is useful in getting that process started, and making some headway before coming home.

And oh, do I miss home.  I think everyone else is doing better than me - today it really set in for me - missing my shower, my bed, my washing machine and dryer, my home in general, the smell of the air there, just good old American life.  We are really struck this trip about how HARD life is here for people.  It's just total chaos and insanity and stink and masses of people and filth, all. day. every. day.  Absolutely everything imaginable is different here and I've decided it's both physically and mentally exhausting - even staying in a nice place like this.  As a minor example, the restaurant doesn't open for supper until 6:30 - and we wait for our food for about 45 minutes every night - making it very late for the kids, but that's the culture here.  For them, eating at 6:30 is very early.  So Maggie is DONE by the time we get back to our room - which is likely a contributing factor to the bedtime issue.  Although tonight she didn't get out of bed once.  Like I said, we're winning.  :)

I don't mean to focus on Maggie's difficulties - just giving you a real picture.  She is totally delightful 80% of the time - smiley, lively, curious, funny.  She's repeating more and more of what we say, which is good - although today she chattered on and on and on in her language and we were dying to know what she was saying, so that's hard.  She's incredibly self-sufficient - she'll see me do something once, and she's got it down herself immediately.  It's amazing, but I can see her survival skills there.  She's orderly and cleans things up - Lane, Mark says she gets that from you.  :)  And she's brave - the resort had one of those giant blow-up slides today for kids, and she went up in the thing and down the slide with Jack twice, and then was on her own.  No fear whatsoever.   She also started going under water today all on her own (more than just the face in), with no suggestion from us.  ?!?  It's amazing.  This bravery will serve her well in some areas, and I'm sure cause us grief in others!
So anyway, we're here, we're fine, Jack and Noah are great, Mark is good (enjoying the workout facilities!), and mama just wants to come home.  PLEASE pray that we can get the IOM appt. DONE on Monday.  That would be a big step in us getting home quickly.