November 21, 2011

This morning we had to go to the Social Security office so we could apply for social security numbers for the kids now that we have their permanent residence cards. Fortunately, Jason was able to go into work late and come with me. While there are some major difficulties bringing together African and American cultures, there are some good things about it as well. One example is having to wait at the SS office while I filled out paperwork and waited for the employee to fill out paperwork. Our three African kids – due to the culture they come from - have a high tolerance for waiting patiently for lengthy amounts of time and finding things to do on their own. Same with longer rides in the car. The girls sing and talk and sing and talk (makes me kind of glad the van radio is broken). Abram, on the other hand . . . not so much! And speaking of Abram, today he asked me for a banana using the Lingala word for banana. It was so funny and yet one more aspect of the blending of two cultures.

I ran errands after going to the SS office so that made the morning fly by. I’m letting Isaiah have quiet time in my room with books today instead of napping since it was taking him a long time to go to sleep and I’ve been thinking about doing this. We’ll see how it goes. Claire Muad wanted to do her quiet time in her room and Zoe Mujinga is in the living room. She is okay with being in the living room by herself but she is not loving her quiet time.

Jason and I have both noticed lately that our daughter who was having problems with running down the street and other crazy behaviors (because she was/is scared) is doing REMARKABLY better in terms of crazy behavior. She is noticeably more calm and under control. I think our consistent (though not 100% the same every day) schedule, along with not doing many new things/seeing new people has really helped her feel more safe. I noticed the other day, she had finished cleaning up the kitchen (which, by the way, this one is my right-hand helper, always eager to help set up and clean up for meals) and was standing around but then looked at the white board and said, “bath.” She knew it was time to take a bath and moved onto that task relatively easily. I also think having two full days with Dad home has helped, too. Another sign that consistency with routine and no outsiders is helping her is that when my sister stopped by - (and we let her come in for 10 minutes!) yesterday, as soon as Kate walked in the door, this daughter did one of her crazy behaviors that I hadn't seen for several days. Just the newness/change of one outsider (who is the closest to our family) coming into her world, created feelings of being scared/unsure.

Our other daughter seems to be more withdrawn lately. I think she will be the daughter who expresses herself more verbally and would be more interested in have adult-like conversations (much like I did when was her age) instead of playing around all the time. But, the language barrier does not allow that. I’m sure there are other things going on but I think this is a big part of it. And there is nothing I can do to help (except for starting Rosetta Stone, I guess). UGH!

I keep forgetting to mention Isaiah’s health. All of his tests have turned out 100% okay so far. No malaria and all his blood work came back fine. I think he probably just had the same virus w/ fever that Abram had the first two weeks. We are taking all three to Blank next week to be checked out by the infectious disease doctor for parasites, etc.

The girls each did Rosetta Stone today and loved it. It is wonderful! They did not score very well on the first lesson (it tracks the percentage of what they get correct and allows them to go back and do sections over to practice more) but it was a good start for each of them and Zoe Mujinga was already asking at dinner to do it again tomorrow. I am so excited (and relieved) to have this for the girls to do each day.