A pretty quiet day...

Not much to report today. I went to the Eban House around 10 am and stayed there until about 5pm. When I arrived, Selina was sleeping and slept until about noon and so I took the opportunity to take a lot of pictures of the other kids. I took them outside in small groups and we had a great time just taking some pictures!

Selina woke up and so I fed her lunch. She was wearing a white dress and so I asked the aunties if I could just take the dress off while she ate and save them the trouble of changing her afterwards! Then with her dress off, she discovered that the liked the feeling of putting the water in her mouth and letting it drip down her chest and stomach. I couldn't blame her, it is Africa and it is hot. I am sure it felt good. I thought it was a rather brillant idea although we don't want it to become a habit so I had to discourage her from being innovative.

Most of the other kids napped right after lunch and so I had a few hours with just Selina and a few other kiddos. I went in the classroom and grabbed a few books. We were looking at the books together and then she would get down and go grab something else and then come back again with the book and want me to read it to her. When I say read it to her, I mean that loosely. She has not had the reading experience yet of having books read to her and discussing what is on each page and pointing at things like we tend to do with our kids in the states and so she does not have the stamina for an entire book although I can really think she will enjoy having books read to her as she did better than I expected and kept coming back for more.



We also rolled a ball around to eachother for awhile. It was fun. She really enjoyed rolling the ball back and forth. We sat a few feet away from eachother and I spread my legs out. It was cute as once I did this, she also did the same so our feet were touching. She would giggle as she rolled the ball.



I stayed until she got really tired. I was holding her but she couldn't fall asleep and so I had the aunties put her down for a nap. I would ask to do it myself but there is a guest in the room she sleeps in that I do not want to disturb. I know the aunties can put her down much quicker and with less disruption than I would doing it for the first time! I will be going over there in the morning to go to church with them so I decided to call it a night and come back and get a few things done. I also was anxious to see if Molly made it home which she did after a delay that caused her to have to be put up in a hotel for a night in New York!

I am scheduling some of the things I still want to do while I am here. I called Brother James who was with my great uncle Father Fran. He was so excited to hear from me and so we set it up that I will go to McCarthy Hill on Tuesday. Edward will drive me and we will go to see the last house he lived in, visit the cemetary where he is layed to rest and will have lunch together. I can't wait to hear all Brother James has to say about Father and his time here in Ghana. I can tell that he will be wonderful to talk to!

I am also planning my trip to the orphanage for children affected by HIV. I am thinking that I will go next Saturday. I still have to finalize that but that is what I am hoping for.

I also want to figure out my plan for helping at the Kasoa Orphanage. I will start working on that Monday. A food donation was made by Chalene about 10 days ago so we agreed that I would wait a little longer before I go so I can bring a little bit of food along with the other items I am planning on.

I am hoping that through my conversation with Brother James, that I will be able to identify others that need help and so I have saved some monies for that purpose.

I am feeling much more content today. The bonding with Selina is going much better than I expected. I prepared for the worst (against the advice of all my neighbors who recently read "The Secret" for their bookclub book) and so I am quite pleased with where we are at. The one on one time is really valuable and so I enjoyed our time together today as the kids napped.

I think this has to be hard on Selina though as we are at a point where I interact with her differently than the aunties. I think I probably allow her to get a way with things they would not because I am trying to bond with her and at the same time I don't allow her to do other things that they let her do.

One big example of that is the first bonding experience we had was when we were sitting at a table and looking at a book. She started dropping the book. Me wanting to show her that I am here for her and will help her, kept picking up the book. I would say "uh,oh" when she dropped it and it got to a point when we were laughing about it. It was actually the first thing we laughed together about! In my toddler adoption book, it mentioned this stage and how it is important for Selina to know I am here for her. So in honor of this stage, I picked the book up about 40 times! So now she enjoys dropping things looking at me and saying "uh,oh". Or anytime anyone in the house drops something, she says "uh,oh". This also was one of her first consistant words besides "more". So anyway she is still dropping things although I am now working my way out of this purposely dropping things for me to fetch! I am working on showing her how to set something down "gently" or if she drops it, I encourage her to go and get it. This little dropping things will go away but I am sure it is not as fun for the aunties to suddenly have Selina dropping or even sometimes throwing things around!

This has to be hard for a child that is not yet two to understand. When in doubt, I refer to the aunties at this point because I leave every night and she is in their house with them and without me at times. I know that every parent goes through this when adopting children but if you are adopting a child that is seven or eight, they will more easily understand that things are different with different people than Selina can. I am starting to really look forward to being at the point where I can take her to be with me. It will be easier to be with her alone and to be able to be consistant and have me being the one caring for her 100% of the time. Don't get me wrong, it will also be tiring and a little difficult while we are here in Ghana. I am just feeling more prepared for it. I have been through several crying tantrums with her and am feeling more comfortable in dealing with them- this was something I was nervous about before coming here. They are really not that bad for a two year old! I do know it will be different when she is with me though and I still have some questions about her schedule and such that I need to be asking!