What day is it?

We keep losing track of the days. I guess that is good since we are in limbo and must wait for the courts now. The days are filled with games, the park, indoor playgrounds, movies and walks to the store. Today it is rainy so we will probably just stay at the hotel.

We have made it through initial trials with all the boys. The agency prepared us and we just had to wait for it to happen. First, Johnnatan was put into timeout and was told he had to say he was sorry before he could get up. After an hour an a half he finally did but in the meantime he whimpered and cried and when he finally did say he was sorry my heart broke. We both cried and gave hugs and said I love you. It was a big moment of realization for both of us I think. Larry was downstairs ensuring the other two did not come up to interfere. Then, Jeison did not want to brush his teeth because he was pouting. We told him to brush his teeth or he would lose a toy, that it was his choice. He sat for about 10 minutes and then brushed his teeth. Lastly, Juan became upset during breakfast about something. He did not want to sit in his chair so Larry took him upstairs. I had to physically restrain him for two hours because he was mad and wanted to hit us. The choice was to calm down and he could go back down to eat or he had to sit with Mama. After the two hours he calmed down and said he was sorry so we took him downstairs to eat. He wanted Mama the rest of the day and stayed very close.

Another family here is having similar issues and said that these children are disciplined very harshly with hitting and such. This is why they lash out with hitting when they are angry, it is what they have been taught. Juan is really the only one who does this but it is not acceptable in our family and he is learning that truth. Johnnatan and Jeison lash out with hitting one another when angry and they are understanding that it is not acceptable.

We are also working on table manners. The children tend to grab for the food when it is placed on the table. I think in the orphanage they probably had to do this to get enough to eat. They also make a big deal of getting as much as each other. We explained that it is not necessary to grab and that there is plenty and they must ask for what they want. They also like to point and not ask. But we make them ask for what they want. It is going well and just a matter of breaking bad habits.

Jeison is very excited about learning English. He points to everything and asks how to say it in English and then we ask him to tell us in Spanish. Mutual learning. He has a notebook we purchased and he writes down the words. He is so excited about his English class today and was sad over the weekend that their was no class. The teacher said that Juan was more of a distraction so Larry and I will just spend special time with him. Johnnatan does not seem that interested but every now and then will blurt out something in English.

Here are some photos of face painting at McDonalds yesterday. I think they are supposed to be action heroes.