Las Niñas

By far, my favorite time of day at the Hogar is baby time.  Twice a day, the volunteers get the chance to take the babies out of the nursery to play with them for an hour or two.  Most of the time we take out play mats and toys from the “baby cabinet” and play with them in the living room or patio, but occasionally the volunteers will get to spoil them and take them for a stroll around the local park.  The babies love to get out and see all the dogs around the area and stare at the trees and flowers around the park.
 The babies of the nursery are often at the home awaiting surgery or going to rehabilitation.  These are the most well fed babies I have ever seen and they are always well taken care of by the baby nurses.  The three babygirls staying at the Hogar now are Elonka, Tatiana, and Lisbet.  Clicking the links below will take you to the Villa La Paz foundation website where you can see the pictures of the babies prior to surgery. 

Elonka:

Lisbet: 

Tatiana:

 Elonka is a beautiful little girl who always has an adorable smirk on her face.  During baby time, it’s hard to contain her because of her love for rolling around and flipping all over the mats.  Her favorite activity would probably be bouncing around while I suspend her in the air.  Despite how tired I get holding her up for 20 minutes straight, I would do it for a lifetime just to see how happy it makes her.  Elonka is such a well-cared for child, inside and outside of the Hogar.  Her mother comes to visit her as often as she can, and you can definitely see the resemblance between the two of them.
 Both Elonka and Tatiana were born with cleft lips and cleft palates and both have had their cleft lip repaired.  They are currently at the home awaiting their soft palate surgeries which will occur when they are 9 months old.  The work that the plastic surgeon here in Lima has done for them is amazing. 

Now sweet Tatiana is the heftiest, most smiley girl I’ve ever seen.  She has a full head of curls that she hates taming with headbands despite the fact that her hair can barely stay out of her eyes.  When I first met Tatiana, she looked up at me with her sweet little grin that made me feel like the most important girl in the world.  That is, until someone told me that she smiles at everyone like that (and it would be hard to refute that statement).  Tatiana’s smile seems to uplift me anytime I feel tired or worn out from the day to day work.
 Little miss Lisbet is a tiny little bundle of joy who was diagnosed with 22q11.1 gene deletion resulting in cleft of the soft palate, to be repaired when she is 9 months old.  She is the smallest of the bunch, but always has the greatest look of wonderment on her face.  My favorite attributes of Lisbet would probably be her permanent Elvis hairdo and her chubby cheeks.  When she wakes up from her naps, she always has a look of confusion on her face and her big cheeks force her mouth into a little “O” shape that is very hard not to find adorable.
 
While the babies don’t talk much to me, what with them being 5-7 months old, I enjoy talking to them about my day.  I just love talking to these three little girls because anything I say, or that anyone says, can bring a smile to all their faces.  Occasionally they will try to talk to me in a way that probably only another baby will understand.  Enjoy more photos below!

- Nicole