Today is a difficult day.  Dan goes to the orphanage with me for the first time since last Thursday–he’s been sick that long!

When Liliana sees me, she lights up, but boy, is that joy wiped off her face when she sees Dan.  We knew this might happen, but it’s miserable when it does.  She is sullen and aloof and will only engage in certain tasks, like coloring or playing with small toys.  It’s disconcerting how quickly she can change moods and how easily that can play on our hearts.

She has more facial expressions than a cactus has thorns.  Where has she learned them all?  [We very recently realized that the caregivers watch TV with the kids, and when we’ve picked her up in the afternoons, it’s a channel much like MTV.  Who knows?  Maybe they’re watching soaps, too.  Isn’t that depressing?]

The afternoon visit is better.  She holds Dan’s hand as we walk up and down the orphanage’s long driveway.  She lets Dan hold her, and she watches his every move.  I would say that between Dan and me, she’s much more interested in Dan, because she hasn’t had contact with males in general.  All the caregivers are women.  There are a few older men around the property, but they do the outdoor tasks and fix things.  She copies everything Dan does.

That brings me to the iPod picture above (which is blurry, I know, but I’ll explain that in a bit).  We’ve noticed that whenever we pass the washroom where they have the radio playing, she stops and rocks back and forth and waves her hands (like the deaf sign for clapping).  She loves music.  So, we attempt to hook her up to the iPod and play my sister Amy’s Kids’ Mix for her.  Aside from the fact that she pulls the ear pieces out a couple of times and holds the main box up to her ear–where is the music coming from?)–she gets the gist of it finally, and now she’s in her own little world.  She rocks back and forth.  She even sets down a cracker we’ve given her, so she can twirl her hand.  She looks like a cross between Stevie Wonder and Elaine from Friends.  She cracks us up.

I’m so glad she loves music.  Believe me, I’ve been stockpiling all sorts for her.  We’ll have dancing parties, she and I.  Because that’s another thing I believe–that music is good for the soul.