The Last Couple of Days

We finally got to see Dasha yesterday for the first time! We took her and John Paul outside. Dasha was very quite and hardly made a peep. She looked like John Paul did when she was first taken outside, a little scared, wide eyed, and taking everything in. You could tell that neither of them have seen the outdoors very often. The first few days that we took John Paul outside he kept looking up at the sky and looking up at the tree limbs. He wanted to touch everything that he could get his hands on. Dasha is very interested in her surroundings as well. She is not as physically able as John Paul, but she will lean towards things that she wants. John Paul didn't want to go back into his room when we had to take him back. I put him down and he went for the door and tried to open it. He fussed a little when the caretaker took him away.

Today when we arrived at the orphanage they brought John Paul out first and then a few minutes later they brought Dasha out. Rick and I took turns playing with each of them. John Paul kept trying to take Dasha's toys away. And then Dasha, little tiny Dasha, started grabbing and trying to steal his toys. We finally got them to share for the most part. I guess they were just excited to have real toys. I took Dasha a crib mirror, but I haven't put it in her crib yet. We're still playing with it for now. I'll tie it down for her before we leave. I'm going to triple knot it so if anyone decides to take it from her it will at least be very difficult for them to do so. The crib mirror was a big hit with both of them! This was one toy that they were playing tug of war with. If I had known I would have brought an extra one for John Paul. I have another one at home that he can have when he gets there. They both like music and enjoyed playing with the the little keyboard that I brought.

And Dasha laughs and smiles!!! The only sounds I had ever heard out of her were a few little sqeaks. But today she broke out in this robust little laugh and smiled from ear to ear. I bounced her lightly on my knee and she loved it! So I started picking her up in the air and bringing her back down close to me over and over. She LOVED it and she laughed and smiled. After that she was much more vocal in general and she smiled several times on her own. She heard John Paul laughing and started laughing too. Today was such a full day. Filled with joy!