Evan and the Babies: Inspirat

This morning, as I was walking down the hall with Delia in the walker, we stopped to say hello to a boy named Bogdan. He looks to be about 13 or 14 and has a cast on one foot. As we walked back he said, "Inspirat" which means inspired. I'm not sure precisely what he was referring to but figured that was a good thing.

Yesterday and today were quite a bit warmer. I think it was in the low 70s yesterday and a bit cooler today. Yesterday, we were able to take the children outside. Shannon wasn't feeling great so stayed back for the afternoon and Cora gives her bones a rest afternoons so it was Mitchell, me, Mihaela and her daughter Delia. We managed to keep control of the children for the most part. Alina went down the slide about 20 times. Ionuts found a dead frog. And Georgiana decided to pee in the grass before I could get her inside.

Delia, MIhaela and Dan's daughter, is 10 but looks about 13. Thank goodness she hasn't passed me up in height yet, although that will happen soon I'm sure. Her English is vastly improved and she carried on quite the conversation with Mitchell and Shannon at dinner last night.

I keep forgetting to mention that little Delia makes a rolling r sound and practically purrs when she is happy. It is so cute. I asked Dan today about prosthetics for her. She has gone to the hospital in Iasi several times to be evaluated. Dan thinks they may give her a prosthetic for her left arm at some point but sounds like that may be the only one. Of course these things are never quite clear so who knows. Kind of discouraging.

I also wanted to mention that I've been writing Ionuts because that is how it is pronounced but the spelling is actually without the s and with a comma under the t. I have improved my Romanian vocabulary this trip. I now know to say "nu I voi" (not sure of spelling) which is said to the children and means something akin to it is not allowed. I heard it said a lot so finally asked. It is a quite useful phrase at times.

We had a good day today. The afternoon started off with an impromptu game of volleyball using the inflated ball that I brought. Coca, Nicoletta and another aide were sitting with us as the children were waking up and being brought into the playroom. Next thing you know the ball was flying. I'm not sure who had the most fun, the aides or the children. Everyone was so happy that they didn't even make us close the window.

The BIG news is that Luca took about 5 steps on his own today. We used the trick suggested by Shannon of giving him something to hold on to that we then let go of. He kept going until he realized he was on his own. Great progress.

Ionuts can walk holding one finger, although he is a bit shaky. And Luciana is pulling herself up to standing. She is also getting into the one unlocked drawer and knows how to crawl around any obstacles. Lavinia likes the ball on her and had quite the giggling fit yesterday. Delia sat in the chair today looking at herself in the little mirror and pretending to be singing the Yo Gabba Gabba song, dancing, and generally admiring herself. If only I could get pictures of all of these moments! But we get too busy playing with and corralling children.

I always hit a point in each trip where I get so sad and frustrated about the lack of opportunities for many of these children. Then I try and get back in the moment and hope that the love and attention volunteers give them while they are here will make some small difference. I used to cope with leaving by knowing another team was right behind us. Unfortunately this doesn't happen as much anymore and it looks like the next team won't be until December. Sigh.

Hard to believe we only have two more days with the children.