30-4-2010

Big Franklin was playing with a foreign visitor, a bird with a sharp mouth.

The wonderful perfect Alonso with one of the most beautiful smiles in the world!

After therapy with Lemar't today, I took him back to his room. The kids were already playing the Lego set, so we joined in and tried to build things from bridges to shoes and trucks. It's so nice to see them play proper toys, and it proves once again that proper play skill is the solution to disruptive behaviors and chaos! It took some time to teach them share and wait, but it worths the efforts as they are improving with that.

While they were playing, it was time to bathe them, so one by one they went bathing. One funny thing was when Jose Luis took his clothes off, Jhonatan suddenly screamed in his cute squeaky voice, "Jose Luis ha hecho kaka!". I was like, "no he wasn't", but soon we found out that he really pooped a little in his underwear. It was hilarious! Lemar't went on last, because he couldn't let go of his new toy. Finally I managed to get him undress and be ready for bathing. While he was waiting, Yomi came to me and asked me to play with her, and so we played a game that I pretended to be a ghost and hid behind the curtain, and went to 'eat' (kiss and tickle) them. They laughed so hard, and soon Alonso wanted to join in too, and they had so much fun as they asked to do it over and over again! I want to start giving Alonso a bit more affection because he tends to be reluctant with it, and obviously he lacked it in his early years. It's so important for a child's development in confidence and self-image. At first he was not used to it, but soon I felt that he started to like it. Hopefully he'll change over time.

When it came to Lemar't's turn to bathe, Tia Sonia asked me to do it. I was a little reluctant as I've never done it before, but it's Lemar't and I should try so. Earlier today, John laughed at me because when Lemar't was drinking water, I looked at him with a big grin on my face, as if I was smitten with someone! Anyway, i helped him bathe, and it wasn't so hard, but it's just tough work as he likes (well, they all do) to play with water, but at the same time he was afraid of putting his head under the shower and soap dripping into his eyes. Fortunately it went quite well, and I think I managed quite well with it. After helping him change into his pajamas, I headed to the dining room for dinner.