July 16, 2008 (Wednesday)
The Lord’s Hand in my Life: Well behaved children.

My life was filled with well behaved children today. It was awesome…Andrei was almost a perfect angel. He was being so cute and helpful. It’s amazing how much he understands even though he can’t hear. He is so so smart. Today Maria was yelling at Vlad to get Whitney’s shoe out of his mouth, and Andrei saw the situation taking going on. Without thinking twice he took the shoe from Vlad and placed it on Whitney’s foot. Even though he can’t hear and Maria wasn’t talking to Andrei he still understood. We all clapped our hands and smiled to show our approval of his help. Then he clapped for himself and smiled. It was so cute. He is such a big helper. He is always trying to help with the other kids. He is constantly giving them toys and helping them get whatever they need. Today he kept giving the other kids hugs and loves. Then he kept winking at all of us. It was so adorable…When he was sitting there smiling and winking at me I almost started crying, because the thought that I’m leaving him soon entered my mind. I’m going to be a wreck the last time I see him. I just know it…I love that little boy so much. I’m going to have to remind myself over and over and over again that Heavenly Father will take care of him.

Another cute thing Andrei did today was when Ana Maria ran into the little toy horse he was on. He quickly rubbed her head and then pointed for her to go play with a toy. She was quite content after that. He is such a little person, and he really is obedient when he can express himself. He says “please” in sign language all the time now…it’s nice to see some of my hard work with him pay off, but I’m still trying to teach him to say “finished,” “sorry,” “thank you” and “more.” I’m going to have to work fast, because after this week I only have three more weeks. Today is my last day at the orphanage for this week because we are leaving for a four day trip to the Black Sea tonight.

Today we found out Vali’s story. He is the new little boy we just received at the orphanage who bites and hits himself. Apparently he has six brothers and sisters and his mom is pregnant with another. When he first came to the orphanage they said he didn’t like wearing clothes because his parents let him run around naked all day. The poor thing is really disturbed. As I said yesterday he cringes every time you come near him. His parents must have been extremely abusive to him. Then today while he was playing with a toy telephone and other hard plastic objects he started throwing them across the room all of a sudden. While I watched him I just kept wondering what was running through his head right then. Every one responds certain ways for a reason. I wonder what experiences he has had that have helped mold his behavior. You can tell he has had a hard life. It makes me sad, because it seems like there is little we can do to change what has been engrained into his head. He’s already five years old…maybe something can be done, but he has learned bad behavior for several years now. It’s so important for little children to have good parents to love and teach them what is right. It’s so sad that so many lack the essential teachings they need in order to grow up and become a well rounded adult.

Iulia was loving her life today. We were listening to music in the room, and I started tapping both my hands on her leg to the beat and she laughed harder than I’ve ever seen her. She thought that was the best thing ever for some reason. I’m trying to get her to hear the beat in music. She loves music. If we’re listening to music and someone suddenly turns it off she will usually start crying. It’s so interesting that all the kids are disabled, but you can still see their personality shine through. Some days the girls and I will go around and guess what profession each child would be in if they didn’t have any disabilities. They each have the most adorable and unique personality and characteristics. I love it!

At the hospital there weren’t too many kids today. Annie and I ended up splitting up and we each spent time with one baby. The little baby I held was new in the hospital. It was a little boy named Mihai who was about 5 months old…he had the most beautiful dark eyelashes I’ve ever seen. The poor thing must have felt really bad, because immediately after I picked him up he just clung to me and then he fell asleep as I rocked him. He was completely drenched in sweat because it was so hot in the room. Then when I got up to leave he screamed as most of them do. While I was in the room about four to five moms came in and they all attempted to speak to me while I was holding him. I held a conversation for a little bit, but they talk so fast and I don’t understand all the words they say…grrr….

The rest of the night we all packed and got ready for our train that left for the Black Sea around 10:00 p.m.…