Tuesday is it?

We got home Saturday night and it’s now Tuesday night. So that means that we’ve been home 3 days. We got through the voicemails, triaged the emails, and sorted the mail/paid the bills. Haven’t unpacked yet. Ca is a joy, and very verbal/responsive. But the language barrier and our desire to connect with her means that one of us (almost always B or E, but occasionally I or Co) needs to provide direct supervision every waking moment. It’s kind of like having a 24-month-old who doesn’t nap, sleeps like a newborn at night, and runs with the speed of a 6-year-old. Today she ran around with the neighborhood kids a lot, and tonight she ate more food in 2 hours than she’s eaten in the last two days, so we are hopeful that she will sleep better.

We’ve had a few really funny or frustrating instances of using our translator app (iTranslate) for communication since we’ve been home, but tonight, we had two moments of God-given understanding through the means of the app. 

The first one was about her snack. She wanted something that used to be on the counter, and was apparently round, but the size of a loaf of bread (?) judging by her hand motions. We were stumped. She kept saying one word over and over (and may have been thinking,’what kind of people are these that they can’t understand a simple word?’) so we repeated it back until she was satisfied with our pronunciation and then spoke into the app - “Peaches” (!) Hooray, we knew what she wanted! Unfortunately, the peaches that we have aren’t ripe. (They were in a paper bag on the counter to ripen, which is why Ca couldn’t find them). So now we had identified what she wanted, but weren’t going to give it to her! With the help of the app, we were able to explain that they weren’t sweet now, but would be in a few days - and our previously frustrated little girl happily chose grapes and melon instead. Thank you, Lord!

The other one was about Ca’s hair - she’d really like it to be longer, but apparently (perhaps because of regular cuts when she lived in the orphanage?) has very little idea about how fast hair grows. After discussing it on the plane, she asked again tonight if she could have long hair like Co. We told her (with the app) that she would have to wait and it would grow - she used the app and asked ‘how long do I have to wait’? Then we used the app and explained that the longer you wait, the longer it grows. Then she took the phone again to use the Mandarin -> English setting and said “Aaah, Thank you!”. No translation necessary. :)

I (E) have been astonished and humbled by the energy that I’ve had. Since feeling physically miserable and emotionally drained on the trip home, I’ve not gotten a solid night’s sleep yet. But I’ve had plenty of energy and a fair amount of patience with Ca, and have felt very grateful. 

B got a decent night’s sleep last night and is feeling approximately human. He’s also gotten accustomed to not going to work and is looking for ways to telecommute. :-) Just kidding. He’s grateful that he has the flexibility to be home right now. We know lots of other families don’t have that luxury. 

I is doing well with sleep reclamation, but unfortunately injured his shoulder since arriving home. Please pray for his healing. His pain is small, but he’s lost a considerable amount of strength since the injury. We’ll probably be heading to a doctor soon for some help. 

Co is catching up on all the hugs she missed while we were apart. She’s enjoying her brothers again and is finding ways to have fun with Ca - doing hair together, sharing dolls, playing in the sandbox.

S is adjusting to life as no longer youngest. It’s tough, but we know he’ll do well because he has such perseverance. We are working to help him appreciate his new special big brother role and his continuing value as son. 

All four kids, together!