Etc, Etc, Etc.

Prayers answered:

We've been sponsoring a little boy through Half the Sky for the past 18 months. He's La Nina's age and had surgery for a cleft palette. We recieved notice today that the little boy was placed into foster care. While we'll never know for sure what happened to him, we're hoping this means he's on his way to a forever family.

Because our sponsorship is annual, we've been assigned a new baby boy. This one is only 13 months and with big chubby cheeks and a twinkle in his eyes. Since the there was no obvious special need, I called Half the Sky for details. He's special needs over something medical. The report said it was bronchitis, but the suspicion is something much more serious. It was heartbreaking to think this little laughing baby could be HIV positive or could have tuberculosis or who knows what. This little guy will be in our thoughts from now on and we hope he's able to find a forever family too.

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Different kids:

It's funny how different kids are. Maggie's language skills are just fine, but so different from her sister's. As Carly's learned to talk, she rarely made a word error. Somehow La Nina just knows the right words. Always has. Maggie is much more adventurous with language and when she doesn't know a word, she just wings it. So, a few Maggie expressions: Tuxedos and wedding dresses are "Married clothes". The movie "The Parent Trap" is the "Grown-up Movie," (which she loved). She has more, but I can't think of them at the moment.

Anyway, remember I used to complain Maggie spoke in her own language: Mag-eng-ese? A little English, a little Chinese and a whole lot of Improv? Well, she's still doing it. It seems like Maggie just thinks it fun to hear the sound of her voice and when she runs out of words, she'll make them up. Tonight it was "jup". I have no idea what it means, but she wanted me to get her jup and she was quite offended when I didn't. Since she now has fine language skills, I didn't try to figure it out...but goodness at 3.5 we're still playing with sound.

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Just when I thought the questions couldn't get any tougher, here's what La Nina threw me tonight:

"Mom, when you die you go to Heaven, right?" asked from the back seat of the car as we drove.

"Yes." I answered, only sort of listening.

"And no one in heaven is alive, right?"

"Yes."

"So, then how did Jesus die, then walk three days later, then go to Heaven to live forever?"

"Mmmmmmm....."

The issue isn't how to answer the question. It's how to explain it to a five year old. Like everything else, I stammered through an answer. I just hope she doesn't ask how the Easter Bunny fits into the scene. Happy Easter.