Another two days at the orphanage

Yesterday and today we visited the orphanage.  Yesterday, Avery's nanny was not there.  We notice that Avery's behavior is much more mischievious when she is absent.  We brought some balloons again, and took the suggestion of not tying them, so she can let go and watch them wizz around while the air is going out.  She did seem to like this for a while.  But then she let go of one and it gained such height as it let the air out, that it landed on a roof.  She REALLY wanted us to get it down and even brought it up again today.  We obviously couldn't get it.  Kacey was off playing with a few of the other kids and had tied one balloon off for them.  Avery instantly saw this, ran over, grabbed it, and had it popped in no time flat.  It seems to be a bit of a compulsion/obsession of hers.  Towards the end of our visit, when all the other kids go in for lunch, we tried to get her to sit with us and calm down a bit.  She is always moving and we want to try to see if she can sit calmly with us for a bit.....especially if she is going to have to sit through long train/plane rides to get home.  She did fairly well.  She did sit on our laps, but was moving from lap to lap and in constant fidgety motion.....baby steps!

When we arrived today, the first thing we did was have Edward ask the nanny if we could take Avery for a walk.  She said that it was fine as long as we stayed in the shade.  This was certainly okay with us as it was turning into quite a hot day.  I think today is supposed to hit 100.  Thankfully, most of the play areas are covered in plenty of shade.  So Steve and I left Kacey and Evan, who were already engaged in play with some of the other kids, and took Avery for a walk up the shaded, dirt road along the orphanage grounds.  She seemed to enjoy this!  She walked between us, holding our hands the whole way.  Upon returning, we did the usual pushing on the swing, the merry-go-round, and playing with the toys we bring.

When all the kids went in for lunch today, Avery decided she was finished with playing nicely.  She started chucking all the toys over the fence.  We assumed she did this just to watch us go fetch them.  When she got no reaction from this, she decided to start turning over play structures and playpens to presumably get us to stop her.  This was typical behavior that Aaron presented during our visits a little over a year ago.

Her nanny was inside....it was just us.  How can she push our buttons?  Kacey made her pick up the slide she tipped over.  She complied, but ran over to the playpen, to topple it.  Kacey stopped her and she laughed.  Kacey held out her hand for Avery to take it to come with her.  Since she was not eliciting an angry, rebuking response from us, she decided to smack Kacey's hand.  Kacey sternly took Avery's hands and told her "nyet!"  Now she had her.

This is where her fun begins.  Avery started trying to bite and pinch Kacey's hands to get her to let go.  When Kacey let go and started walking away, Avery ran up behind her and smacked her in the lower back.  Kacey turned around and held her hands again, this time not letting go as quickly.  Now Avery started crying and throwing a fit.  Kacey held firm and brought her to me.  I pulled her kicking and thrashing onto my lap and just tried to hold her still.  She was screaming, biting, and throwing her head hard against my chest.  I reacted the same way I did with Aaron.  I simply contained her lovingly until she calmed down, so she knew she was not going to win the battle, and praised her when she did calm down.  In a matter of a minute, the fit was over and she was decidedly going to be nice again.  Fun, fun!!!!