Today was just another normal day. Our new normal for now, anyway. We spent most of the day here at the apartment playing. We did take quite a long walk around the city this afternoon and did a little grocery shopping, but that is it! It is kinda strange, almost like we are on a forced vacation. One that we really can't afford... so we are trying to keep it low-key. It is weird having all this downtime as well. Usually when Jon travels overseas (and when the boys and I have gone with him) the schedule is crazy busy. You don't expect to go sightseeing and shopping... for example, we spent a month in Turkey and I didn't get to see Ephesus even though we stayed relatively nearby for a week (just means I have to go back again someday!), we were also in Rome for a week and didn't see the Vatican or Spanish Steps. I am not complaining, just trying to get across that we are not used to travel for pleasure! This is a new thing! Ha!
The girls have been great. They know how to entertain themselves while we are here in the apartment, having each other to play with, and of course we're involved in their games and activities as well. Maybe tomorrow we will walk a different way around the city to see what else is in the area, since we've usually just gone to one of the parks here (which they've been completely happy to keep going back to).
I've been thinking about ways the girls have changed in the last 6 months since we hosted them. They do seem more mature. Mila is much more willing to engage in speaking with us. She is much more willing to try out English. She isn't picking it up as fast as her sister, but she is trying, which is great! When we hosted her, she had no interest in trying. We've been asking the girls to use the English words they know, so when they ask us for something in Latvian we often respond by saying, "English..." Mila is so funny - when she wants something, she comes up to us and whispers, "English!" It is usually when she wants something to drink, so I think that is what she thinks she is asking. I have to hold myself back from laughing. I don't want her to think that I am laughing at her attempt, but it is so cute!
Vika is powering along with English as well. She amazes me. She is so bright and has a fantastic memory. Jon asked her to throw something away today. I was standing at the sink doing some dishes (the garbage can is under the sink) and she came up to me and said, "Excuse me, Mommy!" I can't wait for the day when I can have real conversations with these girls!
Another area I notice a difference is with eating. They were both pretty picky eaters when we hosted them - not wanting to try anything, and most dinners ended in tears (sometimes them, sometimes me, sometimes both... ha!). This week, they have eaten everything I have put in front of them. We have only eaten out twice, so I have been preparing all our meals and they are eating. Tonight I even made snow peas, and they ate them. At our house Mila wouldn't eat anything green, and she sat tonight and ate snow peas! She only gagged once! Ha! I was so proud of her! Since the day they left our house I have been praying about these food issues and now they seem to be gone. Amazing, awesome God!
While at our house the girls slept pretty well, but most nights started out with tears. They didn't like getting their hair washed, they hated being laid back in the tub, and going to bed was not fun. Mila would cry or moan herself to sleep. By the end of the hosting trip this was better, but there were still issues. You could tell, though, that they were starting to trust us and things were getting better. I thought we would be dealing with some of these issues again, but these ones seem to be pretty much gone right now. Both girls have let me wash their hair with no crying, they let me lay them in the tub, and they are sleeping GREAT! They are ready for bed by 8:30 pm and usually asleep within minutes. I only had an issue that first night, which I think is understandable. Change can be scary for any of us!
I see all this as answers to our prayers for these precious little girls. God has been working in them while they were away from us. They don't seem to deal with the fear in the same ways that they so obviously did when we first met them. Of course there are still a number of areas where there are struggles and challenges that are more personal and I won't go into, but God is good. These girls are His and, even if they don't know it yet, He has been changing them from the inside out. I will forever be grateful that He is the one in control!
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