Wednesday in Vlore

The week is more than halfway over! I wondered what we would do with so much time at the orphanage each day, but it seems to fly! Today we decided to take Ellie on walks up and down the corridor outside of her room. Even this seemed scary for her and ended when it seemed she could hold the whimpers in no more. How long before we venture for the stairwell, and then 2^nd floor? She’s on the third floor – at this rate it will be February before we get out the front door!

We forgot to mention yesterday the visit by the local doctor. He seemed like a kindly man. It was sort of humorous to us that his rounds seemed to consist of walking from crib to crib, touching each child on the cheek, tousling their hair, and moving on. One child must have figured out the way to get attention because he started coughing as soon as he recognized the man who walked into the room! (It was to no avail though). I think we really underestimate the children’s intelligence.

Today Ellie definitely recognized us when we came in, but it seems like she’s just tolerating us. We try to remind ourselves that she’s learned to live by herself and to be smothered with attention by two adults at the same time must certainly be annoying! Nathan had the good idea of sitting her in her stroller in her room since she seemed to enjoy sitting in the walker so much. I was surprised that she didn’t seem to mind it at all! I think she was just happy not to be in our laps or arms. Eventually we took the stroller out in the corridor and pushed it up and down the hall close to a dozen times until we couldn’t take the look of sheer terror on her face any longer.

I guess she doesn’t seem to be progressing as quickly as we would like. Nathan is really anxious to see progress as he only has tomorrow and perhaps an hour on Friday morning remaining with her before our appearance in court at noon. Saturday, Nathan flies back to KY to finish teaching this semester at Asbury and wrapping up WGM Student center ministeries until January.

One “new” feat we witnessed (though supposedly she’s been doing this for months) was Ellie crawling across the carpet, albeit slowly. Before today she would lay down and roll, or drag and pull herself with one leg while seated. It’s possible that mom and dad are too quick to get things for her. We also saw her first hesitation to eat lunch today. After sampling lunch today, she pushed the cup away and refused to eat more. One of the caregivers (“the loud one”)* witnessed the exchange, stirred in a couple teaspoons of sugar, and returned it to an eager eater.

Thank you for your comments and e-mails. We so appreciate your prayers on our behalf.

*we’ve knick named each of the caregivers. There’s the “old one”, the “short one”, the “nice one”, and the “loud one,” to name a few. We think the “loud one” believes we’ll understand her better if she raises her voice when speaking to us in Albanian. Isn’t that hilarious?