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Dear Phil and Angie,
Thank you for the email. I really enjoyed hearing from you. I hope all is going well for you and your family there. It’s hard to believe that another six weeks have flow by since I last wrote. It’s been a great March! We’ve had a lot going on at the GLA toddler house, and I am excited to be able to share a little bit of it with you!
The third week of February was Kanaval week in Haiti. As in tradition with the Haitian custom we had a kids’ Kanaval party here, one morning, at the toddler house as well. The kids dressed up and made bright masks and head bands covered in glitter. We sang and danced, until everyone was exhausted and then we turned on national television to watch the festivities live in Port Au Prince. This is the first time the kids were able to watch it on TV. It was quieter than nap time in the room as they stared in amazement at the parade floats and artists performing. That night bath time was a little extra long as the nannies scrubbed to remove the last traces of face paint from each child.
Ronaldo is healthy and doing well. He has not been on any medications. He is growing at a steady rate. His current measurements follow:
Height: 112 cm (44 inches)
Weight: 51 lbs
We have started a new tradition here at the toddler house. Every Friday night Ronaldo and a group of his friends sit outside anxiously waiting for my arrival from dinner at the other house so I can start up movie night! I open up the door as a dozen kids pile in to find their seats and vote on which movie to watch. I let them choose and slip out to start up popcorn and juice for the movie. As I come back in with the bowls and cups in my hands I get a smile and a thank you but it seems that their eyes never leave the screen. They reach into the bowls packing popcorn into their mouths still with both eyes glued to the television. The movie room is underneath my room and I can hear their explosive laughter and cute comments all throughout the movie. I love hearing the excitement of movie night even if it does mean answering the questions of what movie we will watch and what we will eat and when and how long it will be every day until next Friday.
Earlier in the month Ronaldo was picked up by Ernst (a worker at GLA) with his Haitian mother in the car heading off to INS for some paperwork. Ronaldo was very excited for this outing. He picked out the clothes he was going to wear and waited at the gate for the car horn to sound telling him it was time. With his backpack full of goodies and a smile on his face he hopped into the car ready for his day out. Several hours later Ronaldo returned with a satisfied grin and a big plate full of rice and chicken and veggies that he had been saving since lunch. Noticing it was hours past lunch I curiously asked why he had not eaten earlier and he just opened his lunch with a grin on his face and started stuffing spoonfuls of rice and chicken in the mouths of several other children. That’s when I realized he sat with his food on his lap in the car the whole time waiting to get home to share his special meal with his friends.
Earlier this week the oldest child at our house celebrated her 17th birthday. Ronaldo was invited to the party and he had a great time. We ate small chocolate cakes, he carefully peeled off the paper wrapper, and then ate the crumbs from it, before calling me and asking me to throw it out for him. After it got dark we had a fun time with “glow sticks” they are plastic tubes that illuminate in the dark. We made a parade around the yard waving the sticks and singing. Ronaldo looked at them with so much excitement in his face just waiting for his turn to come up and get his glowstick. He picked up his blue and yellow glow sticks and immediately went crazy spinning them around in the air and jumping up and down. The night continued with lots of singing and dancing and laughter. :)
Just this morning Joyce was telling a story about his thoughtfulness:
"Yesterday I (Joyce) was watching the older boys attempting to make paper airplanes. The airplanes wouldn’t stay together and weren’t getting any distance. This morning I went down into the school room and started making airplanes by the dozen. I called Ronaldo down to help and he picked up the markers and named all the airplanes according to who he thought needed one. After writing the names of all the kids in his room he ran out of ideas and asked me who else so I started naming some other kids I thought would enjoy the airplanes. He continued to write thinking of some more names. Not only did our youngest girl here get one but so did Jesus and David. (He made it clear that he wasn’t going to make one for Goliath.) Ronaldo and I packed up the airplanes in a big zip lock bag and he ran upstairs to give out the new planes (which were pretty awesome). I stood from a few feet away watching him excitedly call out the kids' names. Finally all the airplanes were given out. Ronaldo stood there looking at empty bag while all the kids around him were playing with their new airplanes. He continued to stare at the bag and I knew what he was thinking. I walked up to him with a little grin on my face asking him what was wrong and he looked at me and said 'I forgot to make one for myself.' I let out a little laugh and we headed downstairs to make one last airplane which turned out to fly farther than any of the other planes."
I hope you enjoy the photos!
Many Blessings,
Molly
Thank you for the email. I really enjoyed hearing from you. I hope all is going well for you and your family there. It’s hard to believe that another six weeks have flow by since I last wrote. It’s been a great March! We’ve had a lot going on at the GLA toddler house, and I am excited to be able to share a little bit of it with you!
The third week of February was Kanaval week in Haiti. As in tradition with the Haitian custom we had a kids’ Kanaval party here, one morning, at the toddler house as well. The kids dressed up and made bright masks and head bands covered in glitter. We sang and danced, until everyone was exhausted and then we turned on national television to watch the festivities live in Port Au Prince. This is the first time the kids were able to watch it on TV. It was quieter than nap time in the room as they stared in amazement at the parade floats and artists performing. That night bath time was a little extra long as the nannies scrubbed to remove the last traces of face paint from each child.
Ronaldo is healthy and doing well. He has not been on any medications. He is growing at a steady rate. His current measurements follow:
Height: 112 cm (44 inches)
Weight: 51 lbs
We have started a new tradition here at the toddler house. Every Friday night Ronaldo and a group of his friends sit outside anxiously waiting for my arrival from dinner at the other house so I can start up movie night! I open up the door as a dozen kids pile in to find their seats and vote on which movie to watch. I let them choose and slip out to start up popcorn and juice for the movie. As I come back in with the bowls and cups in my hands I get a smile and a thank you but it seems that their eyes never leave the screen. They reach into the bowls packing popcorn into their mouths still with both eyes glued to the television. The movie room is underneath my room and I can hear their explosive laughter and cute comments all throughout the movie. I love hearing the excitement of movie night even if it does mean answering the questions of what movie we will watch and what we will eat and when and how long it will be every day until next Friday.
Earlier in the month Ronaldo was picked up by Ernst (a worker at GLA) with his Haitian mother in the car heading off to INS for some paperwork. Ronaldo was very excited for this outing. He picked out the clothes he was going to wear and waited at the gate for the car horn to sound telling him it was time. With his backpack full of goodies and a smile on his face he hopped into the car ready for his day out. Several hours later Ronaldo returned with a satisfied grin and a big plate full of rice and chicken and veggies that he had been saving since lunch. Noticing it was hours past lunch I curiously asked why he had not eaten earlier and he just opened his lunch with a grin on his face and started stuffing spoonfuls of rice and chicken in the mouths of several other children. That’s when I realized he sat with his food on his lap in the car the whole time waiting to get home to share his special meal with his friends.
Earlier this week the oldest child at our house celebrated her 17th birthday. Ronaldo was invited to the party and he had a great time. We ate small chocolate cakes, he carefully peeled off the paper wrapper, and then ate the crumbs from it, before calling me and asking me to throw it out for him. After it got dark we had a fun time with “glow sticks” they are plastic tubes that illuminate in the dark. We made a parade around the yard waving the sticks and singing. Ronaldo looked at them with so much excitement in his face just waiting for his turn to come up and get his glowstick. He picked up his blue and yellow glow sticks and immediately went crazy spinning them around in the air and jumping up and down. The night continued with lots of singing and dancing and laughter. :)
Just this morning Joyce was telling a story about his thoughtfulness:
"Yesterday I (Joyce) was watching the older boys attempting to make paper airplanes. The airplanes wouldn’t stay together and weren’t getting any distance. This morning I went down into the school room and started making airplanes by the dozen. I called Ronaldo down to help and he picked up the markers and named all the airplanes according to who he thought needed one. After writing the names of all the kids in his room he ran out of ideas and asked me who else so I started naming some other kids I thought would enjoy the airplanes. He continued to write thinking of some more names. Not only did our youngest girl here get one but so did Jesus and David. (He made it clear that he wasn’t going to make one for Goliath.) Ronaldo and I packed up the airplanes in a big zip lock bag and he ran upstairs to give out the new planes (which were pretty awesome). I stood from a few feet away watching him excitedly call out the kids' names. Finally all the airplanes were given out. Ronaldo stood there looking at empty bag while all the kids around him were playing with their new airplanes. He continued to stare at the bag and I knew what he was thinking. I walked up to him with a little grin on my face asking him what was wrong and he looked at me and said 'I forgot to make one for myself.' I let out a little laugh and we headed downstairs to make one last airplane which turned out to fly farther than any of the other planes."
I hope you enjoy the photos!
Many Blessings,
Molly
