We have a word.....

Today was the day to take Davina to the doctor. Fortunately, she had a good night's sleep, and was in good spirits this morning. That was until the Dr tried to look at her arm for a TB vaccination, to which she took exception. She then proceeded to scream for probobly 20 minutes ( a repeat of the night before). The poor Dr., he was a very nice man, apparently Italian, no english, marginal french, trying to examine a screaming child. Fotunately, the exam consisted mostly of asking about her medical history, which we told him was fine (?) and him listening to her heart & lungs, both fine. Davina weighs in at 15 kilos (33lbs) and is 39" tall. When we got to the clinic, they asked for her immunization chart, which we of course did not have. Fortunately, it apparently exists, and we believe at this time is in Frances' possession, however her has been running around with the attorney and the biological parents for about 6 hours to get it, and is now walking home from some remote destination because all the drivers are gone, and the taxis are full. He is such a helpful friend, this would not all be possible without him. He is Davina's first Uncle (since she became ours), of many to come. We are hopeful the card indicates she is current on her immunizations, as taking her back to the clinic would not be good, and we would likely have to sedate her to give her an injection. Please pray that will be the case when we take the card in for them to check in the morning.

I spent most of the day just sitting with Davina. She is very snuggly, and can sit still on my lap for literally hours, which is something I have never considered possible for a 3 year old. We get the impression she has not had much in the way of affection, and is trying to catch up. She is warming up to Michael some, it is getting better every day. She and I were working on a puzzle today, and she actually spoke, just one word. I was so surprised, I have no idea what it was, other than in lingala. I think she almost did it by accident, and there were no more words after that. But it was progress.

She has not been eating much today, perhaps the stress of last night and this am have been a bit much. She seems to make progress towards joy, then slip back a bit, then forward, then back each day. She has a water bottle,which we have been mixing some juice in, which she likes to carry with her everywhere. She is basically toilet trained, I take her every little while. We will work on her initiating herself once we are home. I am sure she already knows how to do that, so it will not be too hard. She is in a pull up at night, she is a very sound sleeper, going 11-12 hours a night, which makes that part hard. Again, we will work on that sometime when we get home, that is the least of our concerns in this transition. Even without the words, she is truly a wonderful little girl, we are so excited to see the healing God is going to do in her little life, bringing her to the joy and peace that should be normal for a child her age.

All is well with us, we are being well taken care of, and as it stands, everything still appears on track for us to leave next Wed as planned. We anticipate taking care of the medical tomorrow (getting the ok) and getting her passport. We will then be able to get her visa on Monday.

Natey,we love you! We keep talking to Davina about you, and she knows your name, because she looks at us everytime we say it. She may not be ready to talk to you yet when we get home, but I know she will love you super much, and you will be a really great big brother! We look forward to seeing you at the airport next week!

Another day in Congo is finished....

Love, Joanna, Michael& Davina