Meet the Kids Part 3

I'm sorry it's been so long since our last entry. Between writing sponsorship letters and working with the kids our blog entries have fallen behind but we're going to start writing in it more frequently now.

This entry will feature some of the babies...

This is Noemi at 16 months. Pete and I love to play with Noemi because she is always happy. She loves to laugh and loves for us to hold her. She especially likes to be thrown up in the air and caught. Since our arrival, Noemi has learned to walk. It has been such a privilege to watch her go from taking her first steps to now pattering all around. Noemi also loves to swim. I take her to the pool on Thursdays and we have so much fun splashing around together. In the pool, Noemi likes it when I place her on the edge and hold out my hands for her to fall into my arms. We say together (in English), “One, two, three!” and she jumps into my arms laughing the whole time. Noemi is also very cute during snack time. The other day I was feeding her a banana and before she took a bite she would always say, “Yummmm.” Every time! It made Pete and I laugh. We actually videotaped it and we hope to be able to show it soon.

Noemi’s story is very interesting. Noemi’s mother was actually hired as a surrogate for a Columbian family. Noemi’s mother already had three kids, no job, and was living with her mother so she was desperate to make some money. The Columbian family paid her $800 but then they were suddenly called back to Columbia and never came back or tried to contact Noemi’s mother. When Noemi was born, Noemi’s mother couldn’t afford to keep her so that’s how Noemi came to For His Children. She has been with us since she was about a week old. She is a very smart baby and is usually a favorite by all.

This is Andrea at 11 months sitting in Pete's lap. Andrea has the sweetest, little personality. She is very quiet and sometimes timid but she loves to be around people. Andrea especially likes to be with Pete. We recently took her to our house to play, but Andrea wanted to sit in Pete’s lap the whole time. She was so content to just be near him.

Since Andrea is more guarded then the other babies, you truly feel rewarded when she laughs or smiles at you. A few ways to get her to laugh or smile at you is to tickle her. She will laugh so hard when she is tickled that she will go into that “silent laugh” mode. Andrea is one of the more independent babies and seems content to play by herself when we are busy helping with the other babies. In the last month, she has started to walk cautiously but she still prefers to do a butt-scoot-like crawl. She never goes on her hands and knees, rather she scooches her way across the floor. When she gets excited about something she will scooch over to you with gusto so that she is practically using her butt as a trampoline.

Andrea’s story is something out of a movie. A family found a little baby only a few days old in a box on their doorstep on evening. They were afraid to touch her at first because they noticed right away that she had six fingers on her left hand and six toes on her right toe. Finally they called a neighbor (who told them to stop being superstitious) and the neighbor called the police. The police could never find out who left little Andrea there and she came For His Children shortly after. She has had her extra fingers and toes removed now (they were more like nubbins than actual limbs) but she is still very self-conscience bout them. She will not let you touch or see where her scar is on her hands or feet.

Finally, this is Emilia at seven months old. I’m pretty sure Emilia is the happiest, sweetest baby in the whole world. I have only seen her cry once in all my three months here and it was only for a second. I truly believe that Emilia has been blessed by God with one of the best-natured personalities. She is always happy and smiling whether you are holding her or whether she is playing by herself. Recently, I was playing with the babies in their room and Emilia was playing quietly by herself in her crib. The rest of the babies were playing on the floor with me, so I went to Emilia’s crib to have her join us but she looked so happy cooing softly to herself as she played with her stuffed bear that I decided to leave her there. She continued to play in her crib just as happy as could be. I also really like it when I get to play with Emilia in the pool. She gets so excited to be in the water. She loves to splash around, although occasionally she will give herself a good splash in the face which will startle her. As you can see, she is also our most photogenic baby.

Emilia is another baby who was found on a doorstep in a cardboard box only hours after her mother gave birth to her. The family who found her noticed a strange car near their house and they suspect now that it was Emilia’s mother who was making sure that someone found her. The family wanted to keep Emilia but when they called the police, the police told them they’d have to go through the proper adoption methods. So now Emilia is here at FHC and is a healthy, beautiful baby girl.

All three of these babies are very dear to my heart. Please pray for them to find loving, Christian families soon. We will write more soon!