May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand... how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is. Ephesians 3:17-19
Tonight Gaelle was getting her cream on before bed and she scooped some out and with flair, placed a dot on her forehead, cheeks and chins. Again, with flair, she rubbed it in and said, "Just like Kaylin." She was imitating the way her older sister puts on her make up. Too cute!!!
Last night she looked at the computer and said, "Talk to Emily Churchill?" She wanted to skype with Emily but she called her by her first and LAST name. Not quite sure where that came from, but it made me smile.
We were at the library and Peter saw the water fountain so he asked for a drink. We haven't seen him use one before but he knew what it was. He went over and placed his entire mouth over the metal spout. Robin showed him how to use it and then said, "Just remember all the other 9 year old boys who have been here before you." Needless to say, it will be a while before I drink from a fountain again too.
Well, we've had quite a week. Peter had 2 teeth removed Monday night which he handled like a pro. However, when he got home, he seemed a bit shell shocked. Robin kept him home the next day so he could recover.
Gaelle has had quite a week. It's been all about control with her... and she wants it. Complete control. So she's been getting the message that she has a mommy and daddy who make those decisions... not her. Tonight at supper, Peter was instructing her to finish her milk and she told him, "You're not the daddy." So, I guess in a way, she's getting the message.
Somebody sent us some clothes for Gaelle including a Tinkerbell outfit. She was in heaven when she saw it and has been wearing it at least once every day. Very cute.
Kaylin had a friend over on Saturday and even though I told the kids that they weren't there to entertain them, it still ended up that way. They spent a bit of time playing foosball. Peter wasn't doing so well no matter who he was partnered with and so he started praying to Jesus. Apparently Jesus wanted him to learn how to lose because he just could not win.
We've been having wet snow on and off today. When Gaelle was going to bed, she said, "I love snow. I want to play in it." Meanwhile, the rest of us are groaning and hoping this turns to rain and stays rain.
Peter and Gaelle constatnly parrot what they hear. Sometimes they come up with the appropriate slang type saying and take us all by surprise. Tonight Gaelle asked where Kaylin was. She was told that Kaylin was at church. Gaelle LOVES to go to church and so she asked if she was going to eglise. No... just Kaylin. So Gaelle pipes up with,
What's up with that?
Then another day she was being given some choices for lunch. She often says, "Poco. Poco," and she holds up her hand which means "Wait. Wait." So Robin asked her what she wanted and she held up her hand and said,
Let me think about that.
To which Peter promptly said, "Her English is getting really good."
Tonight we had a friend drop by who is heading to Haiti tomorrow. This was his first time meeting the kids and he decided to practice his Creole on Gaelle. So he asked her, "Koman ou ye?" to which she said with disgust, "Meh!!!" and then she walked away.
Translation: How are you? Translation: apparently one of those phrases that we utter when we're disgusted or frustrated
Either Dean's Creole was really bad or she just didn't feel like speaking Creole.
Never too old to join in the fun. Kaylin hiding the candy for bunny day.
The kids dyed eggs at GLA in Haiti so it was a fun tradition to continue. Now we get to eat the eggs. So far we've found out the kids don't like egg salad sandwich. They pretty much just want to eat the egg yolk... by itself.
Gaelle needed a little help to actually find the candy and she never did get right into it. Peter took off like a shot to find the candy but Gaelle paced herself. However, when it comes to eating the candy, Gaelle is all about that. She frequently asks for "lollipops" which is her word for candy.
We had a fairly simple Easter meal this year. However, I asked Kaylin what dessert she would like and she chose grasshopper pie. Peter and Gaelle really believed we made it out of grasshoppers. They were pretty skeptical and hesitant to try it but they dug in and became fans after the first bite.
We dress fairly casually for church but got the kids all dressed up for Easter Sunday. Peter was super proud and once again said, "Joyce will be so happy to see me dressed up." He's such a people pleaser and one of his favorite people to please is Joyce. And I'm sure she would be very proud of how handsome he looked.
Peter was the classroom "Idol of the week". He made a poster about himself and brought in a book to read and something for show and tell. Let me tell you, it was difficult to communicate the rules of show and tell. He wanted to bring in Snickers, but we convinced him to bring in something else. One of the first gifts the kids received was from some of the people in our work building. The folks in Community Policing gave Peter a "laughing" dog. It really cracks us all up. That's what he took in for show and tell.
The kids experienced their first Kinder Surprise. Carol and Rob stopped in for a visit and can I just say that Carol is as much of a kid as a kid. Her future grandkids are in for a wild ride.
Gaelle creating with paint. We really love all the wonderful craft gifts that we've been given. The kids do too!!!
Kaylin came home on Monday after 2 weeks in Thailand and brought Peter a dragon boat puzzle. He did so well putting it together. I stepped in a couple of times to point out a few things but he basically did it by himself. Great job!!!
We've had some great weather and the kids were outside most of yesterday. Here they are enjoying their bubbles. LOts of fun.
Robin has been taking the kids to one of the Halifax library branches that is in a neighborhood with a lot of recent immigrants to Canada. At this library, white faces are in the minority. Today Robin and the kids picked me up from work and we headed to this library. The kids were particularly excited to use the children's computers. Lo and behold, you can't sign on to the computer with an adult library card. You need a child's card. So we asked the librarian at the reference desk what to do and she told us we needed:
1- the child's ID - anything with the child's name and a # 2- the parent's ID
We didn't have anything for the children's ID so she told us we could have a temporary card and bring back the necessary documents later. So I headed to the check out desk where I faced a road block. Apparently they wouldn't give me a temporary card and there was a red flag when I said that I didn't carry any kind of ID for the kids and would have to come back.
The end result... no temporary card and the instructions to come back with proof that I was the legal guardian.
Robin was offended for us but I was more offended for the immigrant population. I really think this "proof" was only necessary because of the neighborhood, not because of our family situation.
So to see if I was correct, we went to the library in our local neighborhood. Same situation... no children's ID... guardians of these kids.
The end result...we came away with a temporary library card for both kids which we used immediately to access the children's computers, and instructions to come back with the ID cards for the kids for permanent cards. No questions asked.
The weather has been amazing this past week and we have just been spoiled. We all know it will cool off again and we'll probably get at least one more bout of snow, so it's been almost comical to see so many people outside enjoying the sun and warmth. Today Robin took the kids to Halifax to meet another family who brought their son home from Haiti over a year ago. These are just a few pictures of their fun afternoon.
It's great to see the bond growing between Robin and the kids. We don't know what kind of male role models they have had and we both felt it was important for Robin to be a strong presence in their lives and he certainly is proving to be their rock.
However, that same strong male presence has introduced them to just the last few sips of his coffee from Tim Horton's. Why do kids from Haiti love their coffee? Both Peter and Gaelle are thrilled with just a sip from Papa's coffee.
It's been so much fun to see the kids learn English. We have been so fortunate because Peter already speaks and understands so much. He's been a huge help with Gaelle and it's helped to ease our transition. However, it is interesting to see the types of words and language structures that he struggles with that just don't seem to be getting any better. In the above video he is talking a bit stilted but hopefully this will give and idea of how they are coming along with their English.
He refers to everybody as "he". Sometimes I'll stop him and ask if that's a girl or boy. He'll tell me it's a girl and I'll ask him "He or she?" He answers, "She". I'm starting to think it's just a habit that he needs to break... not a language difficulty.
Peter has difficulty not only pronouncing suffixes but also reading them.
Most ESL learners have problems with singular and plural words and Peter's no exception.
And there's the dreaded digraph "th". Why do so many English words contain "th"?
Gaelle on the other hand is doing just as well, but in a completely different way. She understands most of what we say and if we ask her something in English, she will respond appropriately with her actions. She repeats us constantly and it sounds like she's mocking us. It's quite funny.
The thing that amazes me is her ability to correctly use simple sentences and phrases. In my ESL class we were taught this idea and I'm certainly seeing it in action. I jotted down a few sentences that she came out with this morning. All used in perfect context.
I'll get it. Mommy, cut it please. You like yellow? Peterson did it. I don't know. Let's go.
Probably the most entertaining thing about Gaelle is her made up language. She frequently babbles complete nonsense and she's not trying to be funny. It's as though she wants to speak English but can't quite get the correct words out. But it doesn't stop her from trying.
Peter and Gaelle still speak to each other in Creole quite a bit. And Robin talks to Gaelle in French which has been a huge lifesaver. We're looking forward to the next little while to see how long it takes for Gaelle to catch up to Peter and maybe even surpass him beause she's learning from scratch in a completely natural environment. But maybe not. Peter had such an excellent beginning and constantly amazes me with his ability.
It's a party. I know this is supposed to be about Peter's big day but first a Gaelle story. We had noise makers which Gaelle blew loud and long but then she started in with the "Be Quiet!!!" at the top of her lungs. Just out of nowhere. We don't think we've told her that phrase but clearly we have because she knew it. Made us chuckle.
Ok... on to the birthday boy. He had a great day. We kept it low key but still managed to make it special. Somehow he let us save his presents until just before supper. He was thrilled with everything.
We only invited a boy from our street who is in his class, Eric, and his older brother Travis. They walk the dog past our house most days and so we asked them. Robin took the boys swimming at the local pool where they had a blast. They played for 2 hours straight and Robin didn't even have to get in the pool. It's March break so the pool was crowded but it didn't stop the fun.
They came back here for pizza and cake. The menu was quite the source of conversation for the past week. Peter asked for fish and spaghetti. I was more than willing to accomodate him but Robin convinced him to go with his second choice... pizza. He wasn't sure what kind of cake to ask for so we went with chocolate. It was a hit altho neither of the kids wanted ice cream with their cake. Oh well... more for us.
The kids have been here for almost 2 months and we haven't introduced video games yet. So we got Peter a "Cars" video game. It's too funny to watch him play. The 3 boys had fun and Eric and Travis humored him by slowing down and crashing into walls because Peter just couldn't keep his car on the track. "Did I win?" "Um... no... not even close." But he sure looks like he's on track. And you can tell from Gaelle's face that she doesn't have a clue what's going on. But wait... it has buttons... unlimited button pushing. Too much fun.
I feel like I should be sentimental and wax philosophical about the importance of this day. His first birthday with us. But it's just not in me right now. Robin took care of most of the details for today and I'm so thankful for his attention. It all went great. So I'm just going to enjoy it for the nice day that it was and not delve deeper.
Robin and Gaelle were hanging out one day last week and Robin somehome managed to fall asleep. When he woke up Gaelle had done her hair by herself. She managed to get the little rubber bands in at least 5 spots and she braided those as well as braiding loose hair. Robin didn't have the heart to take it out, so he just take pictures.
Another angle of the new hairdo.
Robin has been working on the basement and got brave one day. He put a paint shirt on Gaelle and let her go. She loved it and amused herself for a good chunk of time.
Another father daughter moment. Robin washed the car and allowed Gaelle to "help". She actually did great and somehow managed to listen to Robin and obey his instructions.
Gaelle really does have a strong work ethic. She loves to help and thinks it's fun to pitch in with the dirty jobs.
Gaelle has some very strong food preferences. We still aren't having much luck with veggies with her and so last week when we had a completely vegetarian dish, we knew there would be some resistance... and there was. But I gave her just a taste of the veggies along with some rice. She mixed it all up and ate it. After a few bites she kept saying, "Mama... umpty." After several guesses, we came up with the correct translation... "Mama... yummy."
The kids have quite a bit of fun praying. And we have lots of fun listening to them. This week Gaelle was praying her long list and she said, "Thank you Jesus for Mama travay... Kaylin travay... Papa travay...MEH... Papa pa travay." And she proceeded to laugh. As did we. Because she just knows Robin as Mr. Mom. So her prayer of "Thank you Jesus for Mama work... Kaylin work... Papa work... NO... Papa doesn't work." She hasn't seen Robin go off to work, so her little mistake just cracked her up.
