11 November 2009

When we first met our children, one whole week ago, our highs were very high and our lows were very low and there wasn't much space between the peaks and valleys.  James observed today that the low moments aren't as low as they once were, and the curve is more gentle, leaving more space between each struggle and the beautiful smiles that always follow.  Even so, all of our children behave a bit like light switches, you never know when a peaceful mood will flip to frustration or anger in an instant (and vice versa).  Sometimes it's clear why the dramatic mood-changed occurs (like someone is hungry or tired or got dunked under the water in the pool by a sibling) but sometimes it comes out of nowhere and we can't even figure out what's wrong.  But those moments are all worth it when you come back to the hotel room after lunch to find a note from your 10 year old (who desperately wanted to leave lunch a little early to tidy things up) saying (in Portuguese):

Mamae and Papai,

I am very happy, I liked and I still like that we are staying together.  

Kisses from your beloved daughter Maynara

and another saying:

Mae, you and Pai changed our lives and we are learning a lot from you!  And you from us.

Today we walked to the park with another new family who just met their children Monday.  It's great to be able to share with them and the kids are getting along well.  We've enjoyed the pool so much that Mae and Pai look like lobsters.  There's no amount of SPF that will keep this South American summer sun off our poor white skin.  We're just not made for this kind of sun.  We've also been enjoying people piles on our bed with DVD's playing on the laptop.