Walking

Before I bed time tonight, I went and spent some time in the Bato room. As soon as I got there all the kids mauled me like usual. A few days ago Nick and I had been working with two girls from this room trying to get them to walk. When I went there tonight, I stood up one of the girls and was amazed that she could walk to me. I had her walk across the room several times and then decided I needed to go get Nick so he could see. She is Nicks little girl and he loves her. When I told him she was walking, he hesitated and told me that she started the day I had left.

Apparently all the volunteers had already seen it. I was disappointed. If this much can change in the day and a half that I am gone, I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when I return in 6 months. All the kids are going to come and go and I will have to relearn everyone’s names. We are really tempted to just stay, only if I could finish my degree up online!

The other little girl that I have been trying to get to walk took two small steps today. They weren’t big, but I was proud of her. I hope that she will be walking by time I leave!

One thing that I have read on adoptive parents blogs is that when they get their child home they are terrified of the pet dog. I have made it a goal of mine to have the kids help feed and take care of the 4 dogs we have here so that they won’t be scared when they go home. The problem is that the nannies are terrified of the dogs and tell the kids that if they don’t behave they will throw them out with the dogs and they’ll be attacked.

Today I was petting Roxy, the boxer that we have, and a few of the kids came over and petted her too. They were all very hesitant and ran away any time that she flinched, but still even getting close to her is a big deal. One boy kept trying to kick and stand on Roxy, and I had to teach him that we have to be nice to puppies. Roxy needs a little work as well. She is not quite a year yet, and still is a little feisty. I hope to get her to calm down so that she can be the kid’s dog. Animals are such great companions for kids and I think she could really be a great asset to these kids!