Description of My Babies

My friends have left me and it was very hard to say goodbye. They were such awesome people and we got along so perfectly. I'm really going to miss them.

    This week went very quickly. On Thursday we went to Swan Lake at the National Opera and Ballet Theater. The tickets were $9 and in a great spot. It was very beautiful and the woman who played Odette did a great job changing her personality between the white and black swan.

    It has been very hot this week so we get to take the babies outside in strollers every day. However, the babies are still dressed in their winter clothes. They wear thick snow suits over their clothing and warm, woolly hats. It's 70 degrees! Whenever I take the winter stuff off  when we go back in, the babies are drenched in sweat. I really want to take all that clothing off of them but I've heard people comment on the kids being too cold. My room at the orphanage is a sauna and i sweat as I hold their warm bodies against me. Friday afternoon, I finally got to take a baby out without all 
the winter clothes and woolly hat. He just wore a cap. It was a relief.

     It's supposed to get even hotter this week and then get down into the 60s. I was expecting much cooler weather for this time of year and brought quite a few long sleeved shirts and cardigans. I'm thinking about hitting up a second hand market for some cheap t-shirts. 

       I thought I would tell you a little about the babies I am working with. I'm not going to post any pictures out of respect for their privacy, but I will tell you about them. I have 16 babies in my group. 

Julia-Blond hair, bright blue eyes, probably 9 months old. I call her Princess Julia because she is always crying to get her way. And not just little whimpers. Full blown wailing. One minute she'll be perfectly happy, and then the next, she'll realize you aren't bouncing her high enough and she'll start to cry. She has to be moving constantly. She loves the swing but you have to be pushing her all the time. She also likes the walker but you have to be pushing her around the room in it. At one point, I was feeding a baby, pushing Julia in her walker with my foot, and had another little girl playing with cups on my lap. 

Vasili-Brown hair, green eyes, 3 months old. He loves me to sing to him. He whimpers and cries when he's hungry or wants to be held. He loves being held. He spends most of his time in his stroller. He is very sweet and cute and I love feeding him. He stares into my eyes and I talk to him the whole time. He smiles when I give him kisses. He is the youngest of the group.

Nicu-Brown hair, brown eyes, chubby cheeks. He is really cute but he is also pretty demanding. He is probably about 1 1/2 and is throwing tantrums left and right. He knows I'll do whatever he says so he always looks straight at me. When he is in his playpen, he wants out (as do all the kids) and will follow me around the room crying. I'm teaching him sign language and to feed himself, and he is learning fairly quickly. He loves to come to me and have me throw him in the air. He also likes to be pushed on a little car. He could get away with murder with his smile.

Catilin-Short, dirty blond hair, brown eyes, probably almost 2, the oldest of the group. He is just learning to walk and seems to have something wrong with his feet. I've been making him walk with me to get him used to it and he has been doing better. He also cries and whines at me a lot. For the longest time, I thought he was a girl because it sounded like everyone was calling him Catilina. Then, at potty time, I realized he was not a girl. He hates potty time and cries the whole time. He also cries when I say bye bye. He is a little more advanced than the others. I gave them the toy where you put the different sized donuts on a pole. He was the only one who could do it. The rest just banged the donuts together. I'm teaching him to feed himself too and he is doing very well.

Elena-Brown hair, brown eyes, chubby cheeks, probably almost 2. She is also just learning to walk. Nicu is the best walker of the group and he seems the youngest of the older ones. Elena loves being thrown in the air. She likes being held and wants to be in my lap a lot, even when I have other babies there. She is the caretaker of the group. When a baby cries she goes to see them. She likes pull the swing when the babies are in it, or rock their little playpen. She also likes to push Vasili's stroller. She goes up to caretakers to be picked up. She hates being in the playpen and will rock side to side whining. She is very sweet.

Denis- Pronounced Denise, bald, brown eyes, around a year old. He is a bit nervous. He cries when the other ones hit him with a toy but instantly stops when he is picked up. He doesn't really like being held, and doesn't seem to trust people. I spent a lot of time with him outside on Friday and I think he started to trust me. At first, he didn't really want to touch me but then he was climbing on me and smiling. He is very sweet and rarely complains. He really hates the potty but can be distracted pretty easily. He rubs his head against the playpen bars when he is upset. He can't walk but I've been trying to make him. He is holding the spoon and cup pretty well to feed himself (with my guidance). He is often left in the playpen alone because he doesn't complain like the others.

Valeru-Curly blond hair, blue eyes, dimples, almost 2. When I first got here, he never cried. I watched as Catilin hit him over the head with a toy and he didn't react at all. Then, this Friday, he got hit and started crying. I picked him up and he stopped. He is a pleaser and is almost always happy. He was sick and went to the infirmary for a while. I think he must have been abused at home. He is very cautious of everyone. While the other older ones play with me, he doesn't really come near. He does like being thrown in the air, but he won't come to me like the others will. He doesn't cry at potty time and can also be left in the playpen for long periods of time because he doesn't complain. He is very talkative though, always making lots of sounds.
Stanislav-Blond hair, brown eyes, big cheeks, probably 9 months. I call him Baby John because he looks like my brother when he was a baby. He loves being held and curls up in a tight ball against my chest. He is a bit fussy. The masseuse comes every day to massage him, and he is a bit jerky in his movements. I also call him tongue baby because his tongue is always sticking out of his mouth, even when he smiles.
Euraslav-Brown hair (only on very top of his head), brown eyes, probably 6 months. The masseuse comes for him everyday too. He smiles whenever I say his name or look at him. He likes being held a lot.

Maria-Black hair, black eyes, 6 months. She also gets massaged daily. She is pretty calm, doesn't cry very often and is usually just laying in her crib sucking her thumb. At first, she didn't smile when I cooed to her. I'd tickle her and she didn't really like it. Now, she smiles whenever she sees me. She loves to hear her name and loves being touched. She definitely shows signs of attachment disorder. I think it is good she is attaching to me. She is a very cuddly baby.

Madelyn-Brown hair, brown eyes, probably 7 or 8 months. She is pulling herself up and starting to sit. She cries sometimes to be held. She likes to explore and coos a lot to herself. She smiles pretty easily.

Adolph- Blond hair, bright blue eyes, cleft chin, 7 or 8 months. He loves to explore. He is pulling himself up and crawling a little. He can sit up on his own. He can be pretty demanding at times but once he is a place where he can explore, like his walker, he's happy. He smiles pretty easily and likes being tickled. He is a very pretty baby. He moves around a lot and is almost always on top of another baby. We'll hear some crying and look over to see Adolph climbing on another baby.

Andrei-Brown hair, brown eyes, 5 months. He has a tooth coming in on the bottom which shows when he smiles. He has a pretty congested chest but laughs really easily. His laugh is a smoker's laugh. He loves being tickled and cuddled. I wasn't sure if he was a boy or girl until recently and didn't know his name. To find out what his name was, because I was too embarrassed to ask after being around him for so long, I looked at the names on the cribs. I thought I could figure it out by default, knowing all the other babies' names. I noticed a crib with Basile on it and I thought that must be him (although it still didn't really tell me if he was a boy or girl, however it sounded more like a boy's name to me). Then, later, I realized that that wasn't his name. That crib was for the 3 month old who never sleeps in it. I looked around for another crib and saw Andrei. I had been cooing to him that he was a pretty girl for a couple of months by that point because he was almost always dressed in pink. They don't really pay attention to clothing colors at the orphanage, I think whether or not it fits is more important.

Cristiana  and Crisitan- Twins, girl and boy, brown hair, brown eyes, 6 months. Cristian has been sick the past couple weeks and has been in the infirmary. Cristiana is very sweet and playful. She loves being in the walker and will push herself over to you. She talks a lot. She likes being held and cuddled. She is just learning to sit up on her own.

Artur- Brown hair, brown eyes, sticking out ears, 6 months. I think he is the most attached to me. He is always looking at me and smiles whenever I say his name. He cries for me to hold him. He loves to hear me talk to him and look into his eyes. He smiles very easily and laughs. He likes to touch my hand as I feed him his bottle. I wasn't sure if  he were a girl or boy when I first saw him because he was wearing pink. However, when I asked what his name was I figured it out.