Allow me to introduce you to.....

Heather and Jasmine.

Heather is the 10 month old with the big meningocele and Jasmine is the four month old with the little one.
(Heather)
The fact is they are both 'flower' names. How cute is that!! Those are the names that the Brittons decided on before they even got here and after they met the babies they needed to decide which one was which. They did not purposefully choose flower names, Elise said it just happened. They had a list of 12 and those are the two that all six of them agreed on.

It was a good day for both of Heather and Jasmine. We bathed them again just to make sure they were super clean. Neither of the two of them are used to being held when they have a bottle. This is a common thing with babies that come out of the orphanages. It is hard to see when you so much want to hold them, but they do not do very well. So we compromise and often lie down beside them and help them drink. Last night, Jeannie was not the only one who fell asleep. I did too, lying right beside her. I am sure it quite a sight to see. She has a really interesting way of having the bottle almost placed above her head on a pillow. Sean has a flat head because he only likes the bottle in one position and then he sleeps like that.
(Jasmine)
We have tried a few things with Heather to see how she likes being fed. You have to place her on her side when she is feeding and have something to prop her face up so that the milk does not flow right out of her mouth, because of her position. After she is finished I lay her with her arms spread out so she can sleep. They seem to have very little milk during the day and then they have these monster bottles at night. It took Olivia a while to get used to having milk on demand. I was so worried in the beginning. She would often refuse bottles. Jasmine has gone for really long periods of time without milk today but then she had a 5 and a half oz bottle tonight.

A new day and a different challenge. I tell the nannies all the time that this house is one where you have to be used to change. You have to learn what the babies are trying to tell you and then learn what they need. They looked at me me really strange in the beginning and over time I think they are beginning to understand how to look for the signs. Signs of being tired, hungry and the like.

Heather has been having 6 or 7 oz bottles every two hours since she woke up today. She drank a whopping 58 oz. She weighs 6.7kg (15 pounds) which is really good. I have noticed that they both are not crying very much but they are not happy either. Right now they are just not reacting to much at all. I hope that this will change. I would prefer to have happy/sad babies who do cry because I think that is healthier emotionally. I wonder if Jasmine is actually four months old, because she can stand with just a little bit of help and shows no sign of being floppy at all. She is also trying to hold her bottle. Really amazing because is is only 5.55kg which is a little bit more than 12 pounds.

I had a really interesting conversation with Elise. We talked about how much the nannies love the babies here and we talked about the fact that they are all from the country and three of them have three children, three have two and one has one child. They love the babies with such an intensity. I am surprised that they are willing to do so much more than I would expect. They cry with me when the babies leave to be adopted and when they have died. Mrs Liu has been so tender with Heather in spite of her fear of her sack. Elise's rely: Maybe it is because they are learning from me how to love the babies and me, I am trying to emulate the love Jesus Christ had for the children. I have thought about this and what a privilege it is for me to have that feeling of love and compassion in my house. I am so grateful that we get to have these hopeful and positive experiences that show there is a better way.

I thought the picture of Heather showed so well what a production is was to bathe her. We did not want the sack to get wet, so someone had to hold her and another person had to wash and some one had to feed her because she stopped crying when you did that. Well the picture of Jasmine.....what can I say?

Love and laughter,
Amanda
With an expanded nursery of 15