Through Day 18

We're having a great time with Gertrude. She is much happier, content and comfortable than even last year.

One evening, as Gertrude was taking her jacuzzi (she loves those!) she wanted me to wash her hair. Another thing she did not let me do last year. I told her mom loves Gertrude, she says “I love Mom, and I love Pop.” I told her pop loves her, and she says “yes.” She said “I baby” and acted like a baby while I washed her. I think she missed that part of her life, being babyied. It was a sweet time.

Gertude is calling Tena “my seester” a lot. She’ll say “my seester and me hungry” and stuff like that.

Gertrude can get mad easily and she’ll storm off and slam the door then say some things in Latvian for a few seconds. I don’t know if she’s cussing me out or what! She gets over it pretty quick though and we don’t let her get away with it, although she does willingly apologize.

FLORIDA
June 20, 2007

We left for Orlando, spending a few days at Sea World then to Siesta Key. Gertrude with bad cold and fever but left anyway. She got over it pretty quickly once in Florida. Think that Florida sun healed her up. We only spent a couple hours at Sea World the first day, skipped the second, then went the 3rd. She loved Shamu and all the shows but she complained about it being too hot and looked miserable after about an hour each day. She doesn’t have this kind of heat in Latvia and I think it really took it’s toll in FL.

One night Gertrude was crying and we didn’t know why. I asked if she was sad and she said yes. She wouldn’t (or couldn’t) tell me why. It is hard not to be able to talk through some of these things with her and help her through them. Don’t know what is going on in her little head sometimes.

Gertrude's English is getting so good. When we were in Siesta Key, after dinner one night, Gertrude said one of her best sentences yet, correct grammar and all, “I’m not too full for ice cream.” Wow, does she fit in with our family or what??!! Her English is incredible, speaking many sentences and communication is pretty easy.

The girls passed many hours, literally, shelling on the beach. They collected a huge grocery bag full each of shells. They just walked together for hours, then would sit down and dig, then walk some more. They did great, stayed together, showed each other what they found.

On the way home, both girls got very angry with me because I wouldn’t let them get candy at the gas station. Now, of course, they had already gotten some earlier in the trip. Gertrude was relentless saying “please Mom, candy, then today no more candy.” Tena was just as relentless till they finally both got mad. Gertrude in her classic style, just tells me “I’m mad!!” She tells me no chocolate for me. (She says I like chocolate, she’ll say, “mom, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate." Anyway, after she sulked for a couple minutes, she apologized to me and to Scott then told Tena to say I’m sorry, which Tena would not. Finally Gertrude says “and Tena sorry.” She is a little peacemaker just like her dad (Scott) who was the peacemaker in his family.

Tonight, Hope spent the night, (one of Tena’s best friends and friends of Gertrude from last year). They did great and you’d never know Gertrude was pretty new here and didn’t speak the language like they do. They communicated, played, watched a movie. It’s amazing to see how Gertrude just fits right in this year, like she has been here forever. I ask her occasionally if she wants to go back to Latvia. I get an emphatic no. I ask if she wants to stay in America and get an emphatic yes. I told her we want her to stay and that we love her very much. We will probably try to have a little more serious talk with her later before she leaves about adopting her and try to see how she really is feeling. Hard to have any deep conversations though. Even though communication is good, it’s more on a surface level because of the language barrier.

Gertrude loves her "pop." She gets so excited when Scott is home. We pulled up today after being at a friend’s and she sees Scott’s car. She says, “Pop’s home, yeah!!!!!!” all excited. There is a special bond that Tena has with her dad that she doesn't have with me, and I think I see that same kind of thing happening with Gertrude. All in all, having a great time. I can't believe we only have a week and a half left.

Today is a hosting activity, a magic show, then we are taking Ineta the chaperone and the kids and Gertrude's sister to one of those Japanese Hibachi restaurants. Should be a good time.

Latest on Dad's rights

There was another court date scheduled for June 26. Gertrude's dad did not show. However, they did not terminate rights yet. They will put an ad in the paper there, then have another court date of Aug. 22. As I understand it, if he doesn't show again, that will be the end of his rights and our adoption process will move on. More waiting.

Going on a Week

Hard to believe but it's been almost a week since Gertrude got here. It has been super-busy, non-stop activity. It's amazing to hear Gertrude use short sentences and phrases so early on and being so comfortable here, like she never left.

On Friday night, our friend Jennifer had a birthday party for her daughter and we went to that. She is hosting Gertrude's sister Agnese, so the two girls spent a lot of time together in the pool, almost inseparable. It's hard to know what to make of them. We are told they are not recommended to be together, but here they get along great and every couple days Gertrude wants to give her a call and talk for a minute or two.

Gertrude is getting very attached to Scott, her "Pop," early on also. While he was working out in the basement Gertrude just hung out with him for about 20 minutes by herself. She would come upstairs for a minute to get water or something, and I asked her if she needed something, and she says, "no, pop" and goes back downstairs! The day after she got here she was playing ball in the pool with Pop. At one point I went after the ball and she yells, "Mom, no!! POP!!!" So, I was kicked out of participating in the game..this one was for just those two. She is disappointed when he is not home from work and so happy to see him when he gets here.

One night, Gertrude, Tena, and I did Mary Kay facials on ourselves, the cleanser, freshener, mask and moisturizer. The mask was purple and we left it on for about 10 minutes. She and Tena thought it was pretty funny how they could barely move their lips! Anyway, we finished and Gertrude kept taking my hand and putting it on her face to feel how soft it was. Then, a couple days later she was going to bed and says, "mom, maska!" like Oh, no we forgot to mask! I told her that masking was for one time a week and she gave me a disappointed "oh" and went to sleep.

Tena is being a great big sister. She is very loving, understanding and generous with Gertrude. She gave her her Game Boy and a bunch of Barbies for her to keep. Gertrude lines her Barbies up at night on the floor next to her bed (on a pillow) and covers them up to go to sleep. She sleeps with her polar bear we gave her last year.

On Saturday we went to US Play for bowling with all the hosting families. Some other families that adopted last year were there and there was more interesting stories to be heard. The kids had a great time. Our friends, Lori and her daughter Hope came and enjoyed meeting all the families. US Play gave us free bowling, pizza and drinks, and $15.00 on a card for all the kids to play the games. Very generous and there were about 50 people! Gertrude wouldn't bowl at first but then she did after a while. She hung out with a lot of her Latvian friends and her sister, but then it was nice to see her spending some time with Tena and Hope too, not with any of her Latvian friends. After bowling, we took Ineta, the chaperone, and Gertrude's sister home with us to spend some time. Ineta speaks VERY LITTLE English but Agnese helped us with some translation and we tried to keep busy playing Uno Attack and jumping on the trampoline...less need to talk that way! She was very nice and we had a nice time. Tena and the two girls had a lot of fun jumping together and Tena and Agnese got along very well.

Father's Day was nice but Scott was a little under the weather so we didn't do much. Now Gertrude is not feeling well and has a temperature of 101. During the day today, we had her and Tena's friend Christina over. The girls had a blast together, sometimes all three playing sometimes Christina and Gertrude playing and talking in Latvian. But, Christina was so sweet and sensitive to Tena and asked if it was ok if they spoke Latvian because we don't want Tena to think we "forget her." She asked once if it is ok if she and Gertrude play for a few minutes then they all play together...(she and Gertrude needed some time to talk since they haven't seen each other since Christina has been adopted). Tena was fine with it and I was so proud of her. When Christina asked if it was ok if she and Gertrude played for a few minutes, then the 3 of them play, I told Christina how sweet she was to always think of other people. Tena agreed and said to me, "I think Christina is the best friend I've ever had." She said no one ever thinks about her like that (meaning being that thoughtful of her feelings). I thought that was great. Christina is such a great kid and I'm glad they are good friends. We ate dinner at our friend Emilia's house in the neighborhood then brought Christina back. It was a nice day for all the girls but now Gertrude is completely run down and running this fever. We are leaving in two days for Sea World. Hope we don't have a sick child for the trip. I told her tomorrow no swimming, no trampoline, just rest.

She's Back!

Yesterday we picked Gertrude up at the airport. Plane on time (unlike last year!) It was a great homecoming. A few of the families that hosted last summer and have since adopted those kids were there, along with the current host families, so we all had a nice time together sharing stories about our hostings/adoptions while waiting. Also, Gertrude got to see lots of familiar faces when she got here. As soon as I saw Gertrude, I ran to her and hugged her. She hugged me back and I picked her up. She kept holding on to me and just squeezing me over and over. What a wonderful greeting! Then, I hear Tena say, "uh, Mom, some OTHER people would like to say hi." meaning of course herself and Dad. So, they got some good hugs then Gertrude visited with some of her friends that were there. Next, we greeted Gertrude's sister, Agnese, and told her we would see her soon and how happy we are that she is here. After a while of everyone visiting, Gertrude grabbed my hand and started pulling me away. She wanted to go home. So, off we went. On the way home she asked, "you like my sister?" and of course we answered with an emphatic "yes!" So, since then she has been non-stop. She picked up right where she left off last summer, happy and confident, using lots of English and calling us Mom and Pop. Gertrude started unpacking (right after she gave us our wonderful gift of chocolate, a beautiful journal, and decorative towel). Then she jumped on the trampoline with Tena (and me, a little) and then she wanted to swim. She did the same last year, tons of energy, not acting tired at all. She went to bed about 9:00 and she was up at 7:30 a.m. Just like last year, she is immediately on Eastern Standard Time. Amazing...she is a natural for adapting!! She and Tena are best buds again. Also, I was talking with my mom and asked Gertrude if she could say "hi grandma" which she did, then hid behind me. Last year, it wasn't till near the end of her visit when she would finally say a little hello to my mom. She also got to talk to her friend on the phone, Veronika, who is here being hosted from Gertrude's Children's Home.

So day 2 she is going strong still, playing and laughing all the time, getting bored and frustrated running errands, like any typical kid. We did our English lesson and Bible study today which she gladly did, just like she did last summer.

Off to a great start!

Gertrude will be here soon!

Only three more days and Gertrude will be here! It is finally hitting home that we will see our girl in just a matter of days. Tena made a beautiful poster yesterday to welcome her back and she is giving her one of her new purses filled with candy and a couple cute things from the Target $1.00 section. We had a hosting meeting tonight and it made things so much more real and exciting! Everyone is excited and a little nervous. Most had never hosted before so I felt like a real "seasoned" host!

Tena is beside herself with excitement. Every couple days she'll let a little scream out, just randomly at any given time, and exclaim, "____ days till we get Gertrude!" and say the number of days left. She cannot wait and I have to say we are just as excited. Tena thinks she will want to jump on the trampoline first thing when she gets here. We just got it recently so it wasn't here last time Gertrude visited.

I am so glad we are hosting Gertrude, especially in light of all the delays with the adoption. Still no word on when they will hold the hearing regarding the father's rights.