Day Two: Gotcha Day (Part Two)

After Skyping with my family, we all made our way back to the orphanage. Len Len gave Camille a bath (tabo-tabo style, of course) while Reg sat beside her. Meanwhile, I was bombarded by all the other kids who, once again, tried everything they could do to get me to play with them. I tried my best to play with the children, each of whom desperately wanted my attention. I know these kids are all very very well taken care of at this wonderful orphanage, but I couldn't help but think how sad it is that these kids aren't yet adopted. They are all soooo adorable, and there are so many fantastic, loving families out there. I pray that God allows their adoption process to go quickly because they are all so precious and deserving of a family. The really cool part was that because these kids speak primarily Tagalog, I was able to use the little Tagalog I know. Reg was amazed because I never really speak Tagalog even though I understand some. But with these kids, I had no choice. They were only communicating in Tagalog, so I had to bust out and finally use my words. I must say, that one year of Tagalog in college did me some good. After all, I was able to communicate with these kids with very little problem. I guess you could say, that when it comes to speaking, I have the Tagalog fluency of a three year old. Galing ko naman!

After Camille's bath, Reg and I were allowed to put her to sleep in her crib. It was just the two of in a room with three cribs. The other cribs had two other ADORABLE 1 year old girls. Camille fell asleep first, but the other two wouldn't sleep. Reg carried one baby and I carried the other. She told that she wanted to take home all three kids. I think she was only half joking. We talked about the other families on the adoption blogs that we read, and we imagined how happy they would be if they had either of these absolutely adorable kids.

While she slept, we checked out the infant room where all the babies stay. It was room Camille slept in for the first year of her life. It was small with about 5 or 6 cribs. It was clean, and there were, I believe, three babies sleeping there. We signed some documents allowing us to take Camille home. Then, it was back to the playroom where I was, once again, bombarded by the kids. Fun, fun, fun.

After a few minutes, Reg's mom and aunts (who had spent the morning visiting the nearby Antipolo Church) arrived. Reg's mom tried her best to get Camille to warm up to her, but it wasn't happening. Camille reacted by going to me and allowing me to pick her up. From that point on, something clicked and Camille was totally comfortable with me. She still hadn't allowed Reg to carry her, but was definitely comfortable with me. (It must be the big strong comforting muscles in my arms).

The kids then had lunch, and Camille let me feed her. I think she'll fit right into our house because she was fed thus far, my kids love to eat -- tinola, saging, sabaw and rice.

After the kids' lunch, we all walked back to Deborah and Darren's house where we had a roasted chicken lunch inside the bahay kubo. Camille sat in my lap as Reg fed her. It was just like old times with all our other kids.

After lunch, we all walked over the birthing home next to the orphanage. We met the midwife that delivered Camille, and we saw the actual room where Camille was born. According to the midwife, Camille's birthmom was only in labor for twenty or twenty five minutes, and there were no complications whatsoever. We were given Camille's medical history and took lots of pictures. Again, fantastic experience. The couple that runs the birthing home have put together such a wonderful operation. The place was clean, well organized, and fully staffed with happy, qualified midwives.