Sunday, May 2, 2010

Philippines Day 3

Yeah, I know. What happened to day 2? Well, I'll tell you. A bus ride happened to day 2. A bus ride at the beginning and a hotel with no wi-fi in the room at the end. But in the middle...Oh, the middle!

We met our Hanna yesterday. We spent the better part of 8 hours on a bus from Manila to Baguio City. When we arrived in Baguio, it began to pour rain. The directors of the home Hanna has lived in met us and our local social worker at the bus station and took us straight to SHIP, the home where Hanna has lived.


She was a little shy at first, but warmed up to Caleb pretty quickly. They were playing and running around together after just a little while, and he had her laughing not long after that.

Now they are thick as thieves...monkey-see-monkey-do totally describes how they behave as she follows him everywhere, and does everything he does and TRIES to say everything he says. He has been so helpful to us and to Hanna and made it so easy for her to trust us.

The first time she said "Mommy" was an accident - she was repeating him - and it seemed to shock her that she had said it. Now she says to me, "Mama? ... " and then tells me what she wants - "Up" "Ma" (more) "Snack" "Socks" "Shoes" (those last two were to take them OFF) and so on. She still isn't terribly verbal, but when she does talk, it is to the point or absolutely adorable! Her laugh is heart-melting.

So all in all we had a great day with our girl. And we found out in the morning just how much of a "Reutter" she really is...

2 comments:

GeGe's Attic said...

OH MY GOODNESS!!! How very precious! I can hardly wait to get my hands on your girl. Obviously she likes her sleep--just one more proof that the Father knew exactly where she belongs. And we all knew that Caleb would be a fab big brother! Loving you all and continuing to pray! Hanna's GeGe

beckaboo.gaut4 said...

LOVE IT! I WANT MORE, MORE, MORE!Give her a big kiss from us on those fabulous cheeks! Love, Becka, Stuart, Ella & Annabelle