These are the days of our lives.....

Yesterday and today were a bit challenging with Talia and we had to have Martha come over to help with translations which was the biggest help ever. After breakfast yesterday the girls argued over who was to take a shower first and since they couldn't decide, Evan decided to have them pick numbers and whoever got the closest number took a shower second. The number was 18 and Leidy said 20, Talia 1 so Leidy was "the winner". Talia refused to shower first for some reason and it became a bit of an ordeal so Evan said she couldn't use her iPod which surprisingly didn't seem to faze her much. Leidy went off into the shower and Talia went and laid in her bed. Apparently this went on for a large chunk of the day so Evan called Martha to try and get to the bottom of why such a minor thing was causing such angst. Unfortunately, Talia wouldn't talk to Martha or Dora (the english tutor who was at the condo). Martha called Talia's old house and was told that she would do this on occasion and their way of dealing with it was to either let her be and have her little fit or give into her. I have not been parenting long but I'm gonna go with those 2 not being the best ways to deal with things. In any case, Evan and Leidy went out and walked around by our apartment while Talia stayed back at the apartment with Milena (without any iPods in the house). She just stayed in bed the whole time and for awhile after they got back. I had asked if they wanted to Skype for a few minutes to see if Talia would come Skype with me so I talked to Leidy & Evan for a couple of minutes and then Talia came in and didn't say much but at least wanted to get up and interact with everyone. The Skype helped her mood a little bit and then as the evening progressed she was fine. This morning she woke up cranky and when the English tutor Dora came she was laying her head on the table and wouldn't really say much so Evan asked her to sit up & pay attention but it didn't seem to help. He ended up sitting next to her and making sure she was on point. Evan & Dora decided to try and get to the bottom of what was going on and they figured out she was just embarrassed to say the English words / phrases. Evan explained to her that it doesn't matter....she sees him out in public every day struggling to order food, buy things, talk to people and he could care less what they think about his broken Spanish. He explained that she has it easy because the only people hearing her are us! The talked turned everything around and she asked to make up the time she lost in the beginning of the lesson when she was being a little booger. Martha arrived and Evan called and put me on speaker phone (which was actually convenient due to the fact my database at work rebuilt for 9 hours today) so we could discuss Talia in respect to the shower incident from the day before and the fact that we still had no idea how something so small becomes so huge but also the way she closed up and doesn't listen sometimes. They called Talia into the room and Martha was asking her about the shower drama to which she explained that she always takes a shower first and it isn't fair that Leidy gets what she feels is favored over her. The girls are pretty competitive so I think it was partly the losing the number game too. In any case, we explained to her that not everything in life goes the way you want and in the end, no matter what, if your "papa" tells you to do something you do it. We discussed respect, communication, family dynamics, etc. Martha explained to her that her acting out makes it seem like she doesn't want to be with us and Talia swore that she loves us, we are the only ones that matter to her and that she wants to be in our family. The phone was breaking up so bad that I didn't hear most of the call but somehow she ended up sobbing for a long time and opening up to us about how when she was young and in the 1st house she lived in post being with her parents, her brother's daughter (her niece) was also in the house and she cared for this girl and Leidy up until Talia and Leidy moved. She explained through all the tears that she was really worried about her niece, she didn't know where she is and wanted to make sure she was OK and possibly be able to see her and say goodbye to her before she left Colombia (total tear jerker!!). These 2 daughters of ours are SO unbelievably caring amidst a world that has only been nothing short of awful to them. They have SO much compassion for people and animals that it should really teach everyone a lesson about not feeling sorry for yourself and not allowing your environment to control your life. They have so many reasons to be angry and bitter, to hate and be mean but they are the exact opposite and they are sweet and loving, caring and giving. They could put anyone to shame with their being untainted regardless of what they have been subjected to for 12 & 13 years....they are pretty amazing. So in the end it was a GREAT day. Talia obviously has trust in us because we asked and she said she had never mentioned her niece to anyone before. Martha is going to do her due diligence to try and find Talia's niece to give her the peace of mind she needs. Talia is very maternal and has been taking care of Leidy for 12 years so it is just in her nature to care and need to know that the little girl she took care of for a few years will be alright without her.


                                                                            Lunch

They did a giant puzzle today & last night  :)

Talia did the below on her iPod and sent them to me  ;)