Understanding

Alright, I know I'm behind. I haven't posted about Wednesday yet. Yesterday was so fun and exciting and now I've found that I've already forgotten so much about Wednesday. Isn't that sad? A lot of people who come here to adopt describe living like that movie Groundhog Day, where every day is the same, old thing. We haven't had that experience at all. Well, our schedule is pretty much the same day to day, but every single one of our visits with Vera has been different. No two days have been the same. We never know what to expect. And sometimes we come home for lunch, sometimes we go out, sometimes we stop at the market on our way, sometimes we walk, sometimes we take the bus, sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's pouring down rain. We haven't been bored at all.

So, our afternoon visit on Wednesday started with a minor fit within the first 30 seconds of our arrival. But I think I know the reason. Another little girl had two visitors at the same time. A young woman and an older woman. Vera and other girl came out at the same time and the other girl was instantly given candy. So Vera saw this and went directly to my backpack to find out what snack we had brought for her. We kept her from opening it and Jon kept telling her, 'later.' We haven't had this problem before. Usually she leads us somewhere where we can all sit and then we enjoy the snack together. This day she wanted it right away and started to have a fit when we told her she could have it later. One of her caregivers came out and we could tell she was saying, "If you're going to have a fit, then say bye bye to mama and papa." Vera shook her head and pulled herself together. We left her room and went to the hallway. It had quit raining by then, but there were huge mud puddles everywhere. I KNOW it would've been very difficult to keep Vera out of those puddles. They are just so enticing, especially when you've probably never been able to jump in one before.

So, off to the hallway we went. Vera went to the very first bench, sat us down and without missing a beat said, "Puh-lease." We enjoyed our snack and then Vera started looking through one of her purses. We had been meaning to clean out one of them since the sand incident, but always forgot. Well, Wednesday she dumped her purse and out came about a half cup of sand...all over the nice clean floor. So off Jon went to find a broom and dustpan. Meanwhile, Vera was cleaning it up with her hands. Jon returned with the broom and Vera wanted to help sweep. We got the sand all cleaned up and Vera had some trash she wanted to throw away...in the bathroom of course, where the faucet is. Have I told you how much she loves to play in water? Well, we're on to her little games now. We knew what her ultimate goal was and we were determined to be strong. We were NOT playing in the water! We got to the restroom and I stood so I was blocking the sink while Vera threw away her trash. Then of course, she thought she needed to wash her hands. We said 'no' and stood our ground. Vera, of course, did not like this turn of events and that she wasn't in control. She started to meltdown in the hallway and there just happened to be a nanny down the hall who heard her carrying on. She obviously told Vera to hush up and go with mama and papa. Vera realized she was not going to win this battle and reluctantly came back to the hallway with us. So the score now is Vera - 202, Jon and Amy - 1.

This little jungle scene is in the corner of the hallway.

Vera wanted so badly to try to climb that ladder.

Jon helped her up so she could at least hang from the bar.

Vera's group came down the hall at one point and

it was like they hadn't seen her in years.

Vera, Nice Girl and 'Allie' squealed and did the cutest little group hug.

Jon took their photo and no one gave him the evil eye, so I guess it's okay.

This photo (below) was right before the group hug began.

Nice Girl is wearing Vera's sunglasses.

Aren't they precious?!

We spent a bit of time at this window (below).

Vera loved being able to open and close it.

She had found some paper and pencils in a stroller and decided they were hers.

Here she is drawing.

See how close she is to the paper?

Yeah. Glasses are in her near future.

Our wonderful facilitator, Sasha, was there for a few minutes during our visit.

We got her to get Vera to take off her shoe so

we could trace her foot to find her shoes that fit.

The ones she wears and the ones we brought are clearly too small.

So that led to Vera taking off our socks and shoes and tracing our feet.

She traced each of our feet several times.

We now have a notepad filled with tracings of our feet.

And then Vera thought it would be funny to tie Papa's shoes together.

And what a fun game began.

Vera would tie Jon's shoes together, wave and say 'paka.'

Jon would turn around and start to walk away and then pretend to fall down.

Vera thought this was incredibly funny.

She laughed and laughed and laughed.

Sasha and Vera had a little conversation and I kept interrupting to ask Sasha what Vera had said. There are a few things that Vera says a lot and we haven't known what she's saying. Vera says, 'How' a lot. Whenever we encounter someone unusual on the grounds (like the man with the puppy), Vera will start a long conversation with them. There are two things she repeats and repeats and repeats. How and Why. We knew the word for 'how', but had no idea what 'why' is. Well, now we know that when her little fits begin because we're taking something away or removing her from a situation, she's crying and saying, "Why? Why? Why?" Not that we can explain things to her, but at least we understand that she doesn't understand what the problem is. We also noticed how much calmer Vera was after talking with someone who understood her. I think things will be much easier once Vera learns English and we can communicate better.

While Sasha was talking to her, Vera was very distracted by all of Sasha's accessories...her watch, her bracelet, her rings, the tassle on her purse. Sasha finally put both her arms behind and her back and said, "Vera! Listen!" Vera asked to see Sasha's watch (she's really got this thing for watches) and Sasha took it off and let Vera hold it. Jon told Vera that we would get her a watch. Sasha translated for Vera and without hesitation Vera asked, "When?" We laughed and told her as soon as we get her out of here.

So now we need to find shoes and a watch.

And that was Wednesday.