Puddles

The good news is the weather has warmed up a bit. The bad news is that in addition to slushy snow there are massive puddles to navigate around. That did not stop us from walking to the hospital this morning. Unfortunately we were minus one as Robin has come down with a cold and wisely stayed behind. We ran across to the pharmacy this am and got her the super duper Romanian cold medicine that worked well for me before.

The children mostly had a good day today. I feel so badly for Andrei the boy with hydrocephalus
as he cries and can not be comforted. He seems to be in worse condition than Cleo. Cleo did her calisthenics this morning and ate well. She definitely enjoys attention and once used to it can fuss when you step away. I try to sit in a chair next to her entertaining one child and holding her hand. She seems to like hearing our voices as well.

Speaking of voices my terrible singing voice doesn't seem to bother those kids. Out of nowhere Alina started singing Old McDonald Had A Farm and she can even sing more than e-i-e-io. Listen to the video of her as I had her saying Go Niners. This is now added to her repertoire that includes "ooh la la". I tell you that girl is smart as a whip. And she actually GAVE two toys to Luciana today. Such a spirit of generosity and kindness to the younger children is new behavior indeed. She even kissed Delia on the cheek!

Luca actually held on to the handle of a toy and was able to push it and walk on his own while holding on. He definitely has some autistic behavior but he can also be quite the cuddle bug. In the spirit of the Super Bowl I was raising his arms up and saying touchdown and go Niners. He must be a fan because he enjoyed the game.

Delia is saying mama and was dancing up a storm a few times today. She is being fussy about eating but superwoman Coca can get almost any child to eat. Same with Luciana who seems to prefer eating from a spoon than a bottle.

Marius is getting more comfortable in his surroundings. The first two days he wouldn't be venture more than two doors down the hall. Now he is going all the way down AND up and down the stairs. Almost like he now remembers where he is. I know he comes to the hospital less frequently.

Yesterday afternoon we tried to clean out the toys and Robin and Beth did a great job washing some while I kept the kids away from them. There are a lot of small blocks a Diego's and pieces of broken toys that no one plays with so we put them in a bag in the therapy room. Of course Marius found that bag today and started to get into it before he was stopped. He also had great fun this morning taking toys out of the bin and throwing them on the play pen. I was just glad to see him not self stimulating on a toy. I try to get him to play ball and walk and do other things. It is so good to see him after such a long time. Wish we could have Ion as well but I know he is a handful. I think he only comes to the hospital when there are enough volunteers to deal with him.

Speaking of which Dan said the number of volunteers last year was less than half of the previous year. They've gone from something like 200 to 65 a year. And there used to rarely be a time without a team, maybe occasionally in the winter, and now there are longer periods without volunteers. I'm guessing it is partly the expense and suspect also partly the change in the program from the clinic in Tutova to the hospital in Barlad. There are now fewer children and fewer babies. So anyone reading this who knows anyone who might be interested, pass the word on!

Will try and write more about the children's ages etc this weekend. I am not going anywhere nor is Robin. Beth went to the Painted Monasteries with Dorel our faithful driver and I'm sure will have a great time. I may go to the hospital for a few hours on Sun since the team is only 2 weeks whereas we used to do 3. To anyone who prays, pray that Gabi will join us next week. I miss her.

BTW, I am doing pictures from my phone as the signal is too weak from the doorway of my room to transfer the pix to my IPad. I brought a signal booster but neglected to notice that is isn't dual voltage and didn't bring a transformer. I am not good with details!