My Haiti Trip 2

As soon as we got back to our room, I brought out N's backpack of goodies. As she dumped the loot and examined everything, I got a chance to really look her over. I had looked at pictures for a year but that doesn't show you the "real" person. Her hair was darker than I had seen it in the pictures. That tells me she is getting better nutrition. It's still an auburn color, though, with lighter ends. Her skin is much darker than I thought. She's darker than my three at home. Her features are very ethnic, to me. Her face is very round with her profile being almost completely flat. As I sat there drinking in the fact that I was really SEEING her, I thought how very beautiful and dainty she is.

One of the first objects, second to the candy, that she pulled out was the photo album I made for her. I let her just go through it at her own pace. I had pictures of us, our home, and one of our many dogs, Max - the Great Pyrenees. When she came to that page, she slapped it and forcefully said something. I couldn't help laughing but I could tell she wasn't too happy with that picture. From then on, she loved her album but always "spanked" the picture of Max and scolded.

Not too long after meeting my little sweetie, I noticed her with a pained expression on her face and a hand on her tummy. Deja Vu! I recognized this from my week with Kaflaure. I grabbed her up and rushed to the bathroom. We barely made it - she had exploding diarrhea. Uggg! Kaflaure had it the whole week I visited so I wasn't too confident that this with N would pass quickly.

After some time of playing, we decided the kids were sleepy so we all went to bed. (Addie and I shared a room.) After a couple of hours, N raised up in bed while saying something frantically in Creole. In my sleep fogged brain, I thought she might have had a nightmare or maybe woke up confused about where she was. I reached out to comfort her when I realized she probably needed the potty. I grabbed her up and stumbled through the dark to the bathroom. This time we only made it as far as right inside the door. "Stuff" splattered everywhere including the walls. I got her cleaned up, back to bed and then grabbed Addie's container of lysol wipes and cleaned our bathroom. We got up 3 more times during the night but by morning it seemed to subside. Thank goodness!

I had brought several cute outfits and I joked that since my visit time had gotten cut short I would have to change her several times a day. I choose a cute little dress to put on her. It's been a long time since I got to dress a little girl and I loved it! She seemed to enjoy the attention and I got lots of smiles when I pulled out the camera.

Later on we decided to head up to the pool with the rest of our group. Lexi had sent a Hello Kitty! necklace and bracelet that N refused to take off from the time she put it on. I slipped off the bracelet and put it with her other things before leaving for the pool because it was loose and I thought she might lose it. She was not very pleased about that. I opened the door and told her to come. She just stood there with a guilty smile on her face and her hand partly behind her back. She just looked suspicious to me. I pulled her hand forward and in her little fist was her bracelet. Little stinker - she won't be able to get away with anything. You'll notice in the pictures that I gave in and let her wear it anyway. I won't be such a pushover at home, I promise.

I almost forgot to bring N a bathing suit since I'm not much of a water person. The water felt cold even as hot as the temperature was outside. The kids shivered but still wanted to be in it. I sat on the edge with N sitting on the steps within my reach.

She was hilarious! Most parents are so careful to keep the water out of their children's eyes when bathing because the kids complain. I won't have to worry about that with our girl. She delighted in pouring water over her head or leaning forward until her whole face was immersed. She would wipe it out of her eyes and nose and laugh and laugh.

More to come......