All things Ethiopia.....

When the boys first came home, Charlie was very reluctant to talk about Ethiopia. Even the mention of the word, sent him running to another room. He didn't want to look at pictures or talk about anything that had to do with Ethiopia. It was like he had totally shut that part of his life out of his memory. It made me a little sad, but we never, ever pushed the issue and knew when and if he wanted to talk about it, we would.

Six months go by...

Now, anything that reminds him of something that happen while he lived in Ethiopia, he tells us about it. And today at lunch he basically spilled his guts. Well, as much guts as you can spill when your English language is only at say, 65%. He told me all about him and Sam having chicken pox (I knew he was talking about chicken pox because they had the scars to prove it when we picked them up) and staying home from school and taking pink medicine.

He told me about sleeping and bunk beds and how Sam fell off and then he had to sleep on the bottom. (Thank the Lord for no head injuries!)



He told me about eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, but having "yummy milk and tea" for a snack. Hopefully, it wasn't this stuff...



He told me each and every toy and item that Kenny and I ever sent over to him in their little care packages and that he knew they were from his Mommy and Daddy. Then he told me that someone took them all away and he didn't get to play with his new toys anymore...that someone just better be glad they live in Ethiopia, 'cause I'm 'liable to put a butt whoopin' on 'em for takin' my kids toys away! Sorry. I think Redneck Jana came out... (And yeah, that's Lesley and baby Eli, giving the boys their first gifts from us...)


He told me about going to school in the morning at the "other house" and taking a nap when he came home. Up until this point, he has told me he never went to school, but I guess he changed his mind.


He also said Sam cried a lot. This I can believe, which was probably a result of not getting his way. Did I ever tell you that when we picked the boys up at the orphanage the staff laughed at us when we told them we were Edaso's parents? They would say, "Oh, no!" and just laugh and say things in Amharic to each other that we didn't understand. We just decided he must be a handful and they were probably glad to have them off their hands. I can see where they might have thought that...but I just like to think of him as strong willed and now that we have control and consistency, it's usually not a problem!


He also talked about his friends, but can't remember any of their names, even after looking at pictures of them together.


Sam's friendships consisted of guarding the potty so you could have dibs next go round...


I'm not sure if his hesitancy was because he really didn't want to talk about it or because he didn't have the words to express what he wanted to say. I'm sure it was probably a little bit of both. Either way, I'm glad he's talking!

And just a little bonus material I've never made you privy to...you know, like the deleted scenes from a DVD...here is the link to ALL of the pictures I collected from the boys time at the orphanage. Enjoy. There's a lot!