Night Thirty-One

Tonight was an interesting night at the clinic. When we got there, the nurse and aide were meeting in the nurses room, so things were a bit crazy. Alex was in the non-mobile room in the dark in the jumperoo. Sammy, Ana, and Maiastra were in the dark in the mobile room (Maiastra was standing on an exercise ball at the door, Sammy was sitting on a pile of dress-up clothes, and Anna was looking in the mirrors). We brought the other kids that were awake into the rooms and started to play. When I went to get big Andreea her bed was soaked, and she was soaked. At first we thought it was just sweat, but when I picked her up I realized that it was actually pee, and that she had somehow wet her bed. I changed her sheet, then changed all the clothes she had on and wiped her down with baby wipes. She was very happy after being cleaned up, and then went to hang out with the non-mobiles. Our next scare was from little Andreea. She momentarily turned purple-ish, then threw up all over herself, the bouncy seat, and anything in a close vicinity. We sat her up, then went to get diapers to clean up, and new clothes. She threw up a bit more, but then seemed relatively happy again. We got her cleaned up, and got the bouncy seat cleaned up (just in time for Mihaela to pounce on it). Then I changed most of the non-mobiles diapers, and we put the kids to bed. They all had their temperatures taken and some were weighed, most had little fevers. The aide on duty was very happy to have our help, and after Jane gave her pictures of her from her last trip, she was even happier. I visited Marius at the end and he seemed to be doing well, but he has to wear a sock on his hand to keep him from pulling on his port. His fever was just over 103 degrees today, so he’s not feeling too good.

Day Thirty-One

This morning we were greeted by lots of happy, but hungry faces. When the bottles came, the kids ate fast. Alex wanted me to walk with her in the hallway, so I did for a while, then put her in a walker. I changed a couple poopy diapers, then changed some outfits that had gotten lots of food on them. Yogurt came early much to Marius’s delight. It was amazing, Maiastra came in while we were feeding the babies and came right over and sat down and opened her mouth for food. Usually it is an adventure to feed her, but this time she initiated it herself, and actually ate a bunch of yogurt (while not using it as finger paint). A couple of the babies took naps, so I brought Maria in for a visit. They actually let me just lay her down on the floor with the others today, which was nice. Pusa’s parents were back today. They came to take her home, and somehow now have all the right paperwork. They didn’t interact with her much, she mostly stayed in the playroom, but they were very persistent about getting her home.

When we got back after lunch her parents were still there, but all the aides were huddled around the changing table getting Pusa ready to go home. She looked like she was going out to play in the arctic or something, but seemed happy enough. Her parents seemed happy to get out of there, and we hope that things will go well for Pusa, but we are a bit skeptical. I brought Maria into the playroom for the afternoon, and she lay on the floor “reading” a book. The babies were a bit fussier, but were happy with their bottles. Marius got moved into the isolation room for a while because he is sick with a high fever. They put a port in his arm so that he can have an IV for the next 3-5 days. He will be getting antibiotics, and we aren’t sure what else. Sammy was impressive with his walking today, and seems to have taken Pusa’s spots in the pre-school schedule. We’ll miss you Pusa, good luck!

Day 31 Photos (Afternoon- Mostly Maria)

Day 31 Photos (Morning)

Day 31 Photos (Clothes Changes)

Day Thirty

This morning we found out that Mihaela had found a rocking chair for the clinic; it is in the non-mobile room, and is very nice. We were a bit worried, because we couldn’t find Maria (she wasn’t in the isolation room) but then we found her in the back crib room. She loves sitting in your lap on the rocking chair, and now that she is out of isolation, we can do this more often! She also got a soup bottle this morning with the other babies, not just milk anymore! The first thing I did this morning though, was take Maiastra outside. She was having a tantrum inside, and outside seems to calm her down, so they told me to take her out. She was fussy outside at first, but then calmed down, and led me all around the paths. We had thought they were fed before we got there, but at 9:45 an aide came running out to get me and Maiastra for bottle time. The babies were a bit tired this morning, and the aides told us that some of them had fevers, but they were happy to play. After lunch the babies were still napping, so I held Maria in the rocking chair some more. Pusa’s parents visited in the morning, and her mom visited again in the afternoon. They are hoping to take her home soon, but they need to finish up some paperwork and talk to the CPA before that will be possible. We found some dress ups that Jane had sent last year in the storage room and the children got very excited about dressing up. Tonight we will be going out to dinner in Barlad again.

Day Thirty Photos (Dress Up Time)

Day Thirty Photos (Babies)

Transylvania

We got back last night from a great trip to Transylvania. We left Friday at about 2:30 and headed to Brasov. We got there around 7, then walked down to the square for dinner. The next day we started with a walking tour of Brasov. We went to some different areas than last year, which was interesting. Then we went to the Black Church, and drover over to Bran. The royal family is currently re-doing/re-organizing the inside of the castle, so there was no furniture inside. We looked around the market stalls a bit, then headed to Vila Bran, our hotel. This place was like the ROmanian Club Med, and was actually called CLUB Vila Bran. We checked in, then headed over to the zip line with our "cruise director" Lucian and some of the other employees. After the zip line, we played some archery, then visited the deer in the petting zoo. We had been told about the itinerary for the night, but were not prepared for all the festivities of the night. First we ordered dinner at the restaurant, then Lucian told us it was time for the bonfire, so we left our stuff at the table, then headed outside. There was a big bonfire, and we could see Bran Castle lit up from the porch. Lucian played guitar and sang, and we were surprised to be joined by employees dancing dressed as a sheep and a bear. At the end of the bonfire we went inside for our dinner. After dinner there was a performance by a singer, who sang some songs in english, and we sang and danced along with her. After five encore performances by the singer, it was time for the discotec. We stayed until about 2:30 dancing with the Club Vila Bran entertainers and our new friends from the table next to us. Unfortunately, while we were there Romania lost to Serbia in soccer, and the clocks went forward an hour so we lost another hour of sleep. The next morning we started a bit late, then toured Peles Castle, had lunch, dropped part of our team off at the train to head to Bucharest, then drove for 6 hours back to Tutova. We are working with Radu, our guide, to plan a new adventure for next weekend!

Weekend Trip #2 Photos