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Hi friends and family,
I spent a solid 16 hours spending time with adorable babies in need of love and care. I started off each day taking what feels like a daily trek to the Chunhui Medical Care Home. The weather has improved since we first came as we can finally see a little bit of a blue sky and it is slightly cooler.
At the Care Home on day 4, I moved around to a room where I had not gone before with 5 adorable little toddlers. One cute chubby baby with cleft palette drooled so much but he had the most adorable smile! A baby boy with braces on his legs and slightly crossed eyes seemed the most interested in me and so I sat near him and after making him laugh a little bit he immediately patted my lap in an effort to say he wanted to sit there (I will refer to him as "Brace"). Due to his braces it was harder for him to maneuver and so he he put a lot of effort into moving with his arms, similar to the baby boy with casts on his legs from the previous day. Once in my lap, he became very protective of me. Whenever another one of the babies came over he would pull my arm away from them and pat me for attention, which was pretty hilarious. While with my little one, I noticed a boy in the corner who looked very hesitant and I remembered him for the pre-k group on the first day as being the one who held my hand and said hi with excitement to everyone (I will refer to him as "Friendly"). It was a sharp contrast seeing him day 4 and at lunch we learned that he and all of the other pre-k were divided into their respective rooms where their bed was in because the pre-k teachers did not come in on the weekend (it was Saturday). Eventually, Mia D. was able to coax him out of his shell and soon he was the energetic little boy that we had remembered. After lunch, I moved to the room I had previously been in on day 1 to see my boy with the cleft palette. While there I recognized another one of the pre-k students, the little boy with a heart defect that caused his fingertips and mouth to be slightly blue (I will refer to him as "Blue"). He seemed very downcast and quiet so I moved over to him and like the boy from earlier in the day, this one latched onto me very quickly. He again was also very possessive which did not bode well with the other babies, but I was glad I could make him smile. I was told later by Eliza that he was very sad since the morning and that my being there definitely helped him feel more comfortable. There was also a new baby girl in the room who had the most adorable smile and would laugh at almost everything (I will refer to her as "Smiley"). She was also very caring for the other smaller babies in the room.
On day 5, I went to the same two rooms as day 4. Blue absolutely won my heart and so did Brace. I went to go check on Blue and found him to be lying on the mat with a nanny next to him giving him a shot and he did not look well. I played with Smiley for a bit and then I walked into the one with Brace but found he was in a crib so instead I started playing with Friendly. He was amazing! We definitely clicked a lot and he was a little more tolerant of other babies coming to sit in my lap which helped balance out all of the babies' attention. The most adorable occurrence happened when one of the baby girls pushed Vivian down to lay on her which caused the leg brace boy to push Lia down as well which then caused my boy to pat the ground in between them so we wold all be lined up. The babies loved lying on top of us and playing with our hair or face. The room was filled with lots of laughter which was such a joyous experience. Once the babies started eating food, I checked back on Blue who was eating his food and looked pretty calm. After he finished eating, he came to my lap and was very interested in holding my hands and inspecting my nails which made him very happy. Unfortunately, I had to leave soon after for lunch. After lunch, I returned to Friendly's room first and played with him. Eventually, he got a hold of my bug repellent bracelet and was going around the room putting it on and taking it off of Vivian, Lia, and the nannies. While he was moving around, a sweet little girl, who had been crying a lot earlier in the morning, curiously came over and sat on me right away. She loved resting on my leg and having me hold her back protectively. Friendly finally made his way back to me and was slightly irritated with the girl taking his place so he managed to squeeze himself back into the center of my lap and continued to put my bracelet on and off of me. Eventually, I left the room to go check on Blue. He was lying sweetly next to Morgan and so I helped Eliza and Julia calm down my original cleft palette baby boy from day 1 (I will refer to him as "Strong"). I picked him up and did squats with him which calmed him down quite a bit, plus I got my workout for the day! After calming him, I played with Smiley some more and we eventually ended up lying on the ground tickling one another. Blue seemed to remember me from even more from the day before since I was on the ground again and so he walked over to me confidently and patted the ground for me to lay next to him. He really liked to play with my hair and was very insistent that I stay right next to him. He was in absolute heaven once Morgan lied on the other side of him and we both made funny faces at him. The day had to come to an end though and so we left and he sadly waved back at us to say "zaijian."
For dinner we went together to a pizza restaurant similar to the one I had gone with Vivian, Jenna, and Mia to on day 3. Afterwards, a few of us went to a karaoke room which had a full on mini stage with a mic, three booth like tables, and party lights galore! It was an absolute blast with everybody's combined energy, including Jenna, Mia F, Mia D, Eliza, Vivian, Lia, and Jamie. That's all for now!
Your friend,
Sadie