Day 4-some challenges

Okay, let's try this again! I had an entire entry ready to post last night and my connection was lost. By then I had lost all patience to retype it! Jay-R kept walking from the bed to the bathroom to fill water bottles and he must have bumped my internet cable out of the connection. Oh, well such is life!

Anyway, we had an overall good Wednesday. We went to the province of Muntinlupa, about 45 minutes away, to the Parenting Foundation, our US agency's liason agency. We met the director and received Jay-R's important documents. The director and our social worker treated us to lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant. One of the challenges we are experiencing is his potty training, and when we are in new situations, he does not tell us he has to go. So, we had a bit of a mess when we arrived at the restaurant but nothing we couldn't handle. We have learned two imporant words, not sure if the spelling is correct, but we understand them and that's the important part-ee=pee and tatay = poo. Very important words! After lunch (I was thrilled Kory ate Asian food and liked it!!!!) we endured a looooong drive back to our hotel. We saw the US Embassy so that was neat. We spent the remainder of the day swimming and relaxing in the room. The Nickolodeon station has cartoons in tagalog so Jay-R loves to watch cartoons and he talks back to them. It's cute! We ate room service and are loving the fact we can all eat room servcie, ice cream included, for around $20! Last night was a bit of a challenge. Jay-R started repeating everything we were saying and hitting. He said, "No, daddy, No!" as if telling Kory not to do something, then he would start laughing. It is hard to tell him not to hit because it is hard to make him understand with the language barrier. The most important thing is to keep our voice calm and even and do our best to make him understand. He was very wound up last night. Finally (after I lost my blog entry), we decided 8:45 pm was a perfect time for all of us to go to bed. After 4 drinks of water, he decided to go to sleep!

We expect challenges-this is a huge adjustment for him. We are taking everything in stride. His personality is fun-loving and easygoing but he is fiercely independent. I think he has been used to doing things on his own, that he likes to be independent. He does allow us to help with some things like opening his banana, etc but he likes to do on his own what he can. He always ask permission before taking things like cookies, etc. so that is good. I love when he wakes up in the morning. He looks around and then shouts "Mommy!" We have had a few tearful moments-I'm sure he misses his friends and caregivers but he is easily calmed. I am finding it challenging to divide time between two children. He is very demanding of our time right now but I know Ashleigh understands and she loves her little brother. It is also hard to establish any sort of routine given hotel living. My arm hurts from carrying him but I love holding him and think that is important for the bonding. He weighs just a little over 30 pounds- not too much more than little Franklin our puppy (who I miss!).

A little bit more about our son: He loves magic tricks and did some "magic" tricks for us yesterday. He's a picky eater-so far, we know he likes, fruit, pancakes and the like, peanuts, ice cream, pancuit, and French fries. He loves mangos but these mangos are 900 times better than the mangos back home! He is ornery! It takes a hotel key in the slot by the door to operate the room lights. I was in the bathroom and all of a sudden it went dark on me. I could hear his laughing on the other side of the door! He is a fish and loves the water! The social worker at lunch commented, "It's like he found his home." He was on daddy's lap laughing and very content.

I forgot to mention the other day that we bought him a barong, the national attire for men in the Philippines for special occasions. We plan to have him wear it when he is dedicated at church. I love the Philippines, the people are so warm and friendly. At the store, there were sales clerks everywhere-I'm not used to that much hands on help when shopping! The thing that amazes us besides the traffic is that street vendors walk through the traffic to sell their goods! I was afraid the other day just to cross the street! There is also security guards and police everywhere-stores, banks, hotels, on the street, by the toll plazas on the streets. We are homesick for quiet-there is seldom quiet here. We are used to hearing horns and motorbikes constantly. Even 17 floors up in our hotel, I can hear traffic outside.

Well, we have a meeting this morning and I need to get a shower if we are going to eat breakfast. So, yes some challenges, a little homesick although I love it here, but we love this little boy and can't wait for him to walk into everyone's hearts when we return home!