Village Bible Church || Aurora | Indian Creek | Sugar Grove | IL

Hi, everyone! We're on day 4 at the orphanage, and it's so wonderful! Each one of us has formed a bond with a baby, and the nannies hand us that baby when we get there. The nanny in my room has started calling me "Mama" when she hands me Pom Pom. It's so cute! She let us bathe them yesterday and everything. I found out today that Pom Pom means "fat" in Chinese! The nanny kept saying it and squeezing her little legs and arms and laughing. Now I know why! She thinks she's fat! She does have very chubby cheeks, which remind me of Charlotte's when she was a baby. The attached picture is me trying to give Pom Pom some tummy time on my lap to practice holding her head up. When we arrived Monday, she couldn't hold her head up at all - it just flopped back. Look at her now! The toddlers can't hold themselves up on their legs, so we're trying to exercise them. They're used to sitting in walkers, so the seat of the walker holds all of their weight. Their legs and arms are weak.
 
Pom Pom is a very serious baby, and rarely smiles. She always wants to eat, and it always sucking on her hand, arm, or clothes. Today, I finally made her laugh for the first time! It was the most beautiful little sound.
 
We're preparing for our good-bye party at the orphanage tomorrow. We have gifts for everyone and are buying things for the orphanage with our donation money. One thing we're getting is a refrigerator for their medicines because they don't have one. We're also getting electric fans for the nannies and for the foster homes. The children go to foster homes when they learn to walk, and those homes don't usually have a/c or fans or anything. We're also getting those foam puzzle mats for the floors of the babies' rooms so they can get out of their beds some after we're gone. We hope the nannies will let them out to play if the mats are there.
 
Please pray that we will honor them with our gifts and provide them with things that will be a help to them.

Love,

Stephanie