Iunica's Journal

Hello.  My name is Iunica.   We found out that the volunteers read their journal about us at breakfast every day, so we decided to keep a journal of our own.  As the oldest of the children in our little community, I was nominated to write today's entry.

My name is Iunica

We had some ups and downs with the volunteers today, but mostly ups.   They seem to be getting the hang of this.  Our breakfast bottles arrived on time, and believe me, we were ready for them!  All the volunteers knew what to do.  Samy was happy that his milk wasn't too hot or too cold, so he didn't have to throw any bottles on the floor to make his point.  Gaby was poised and ready for any leftovers, and the volunteers knew to give them to her quickly.  The mid morning yogurt was strawberry again (really, can't they mix it up a bit?).  That new volunteer, Mary, made a complete mess of it with Luca.  I thought she had experience?  Well, at least she cleaned up her own mess.

That volunteer with the blond, curly hair (I think her name is Denise), was an angel with Luciana today.  Luciana hates that IV in her foot, but loves that pacifier in her mouth.  Denise played airplane games with the pacifier and Luciana loved it.  Luciana just needed some TLC today and she got plenty of it.

Luciana, running a fever today

Curly head Emma

That volunteer with the slight Texas twang, Lynn is her name, seemed to be everywhere.  I saw her playing with Samy, walking with Luca, reading to Emma, dancing with Alina ... How does she manage to spend time with everyone?  She's amazing!

The temperature has cooled a bit (thank goodness), and everyone was having a perfectly pleasant morning, when suddenly disaster struck.  That BIG guy brought out the hair clippers.  Most of us ran away quick, but Gaby, always curious, wanted to see what was INSIDE the hair clipper box and she became the first victim.  She got off easy though with only her bangs trimmed. 

Emma pretended to be absorbed in that new Peek-a-Boo book, but that didn't save her.  That BIG guy sat her in a chair while that new girl tried to hold her still.  Really? Two against one?  Was that necessary?  Poor Emma didn't have a chance.  As Emma's curls fell to the floor, her tears fell down her chubby little cheeks.  The rest of us were silent.  When it was all over, Coca gave her a nice, cool bath and a shampoo.  Emma was happy then, and more content than I've seen her in a long time.  We were all a little bit jealous.

Samy

Samy cracked us up today.  You know that trick he does where he sits with his foot in his armpit?  Well, he pulled that on the volunteers all day.  They fall for it every time.  They take out their cameras and click away, and talk about how their physical therapist friends and yoga teachers back home won't believe it. 

After her manicure today, Alina was insufferable.  What a show-off she can be with all that singing, dancing, climbing, spinning, flipping, and jumping.  And to make matters worse, Denise and Mary have taught her more tricks like standing on one foot.  She looks like a pelican, for Pete's sake!  Honestly, she just loves being the center of attention.

Well, time to wrap it up for tonight.  I heard the younger kids whispering before they fell asleep about what tricks they want to play on the volunteers tomorrow.  We all can't wait to see them.  It's going to be a GREAT day!

-Iunica