The Wa Boys

Since we live in a Wa community there are several Wa boys who live near by. This is a picture of Ai Song. He is four and a half years old and about the same height and size as Henna. Henna loves him and always wants to hold hands as they walk around the property we live on. In this picture Henna is pushing him around on her little car. I was quite surprised at how strong she was and that she could go so fast with her Cinderella shoes on!
Henna and Ai Sang are taking care of their babies. Henna has her shirt up so she can give her baby milk. Ai Sang has a 4 month old baby brother called Ni Ni. Last Sunday during church I was holding Ni Ni to give his mom a little break. Henna saw me holding him and came over and before I realized what she had done she pulled up my shirt quite far and said "Mommy feed baby milk." I quickly pulled my shirt down and looked around hoping no one else noticed but unfortunately I saw lots of laughter as the 15-25 year old Wa guys got a good look at my pregnant belly and above! We took care of the baby for a bit and Henna was so helpful and held him quite well and was so sweet to snuggle. I know she will do great as a big sister once our baby boy arrives.

This is Henna and Ai Sidang. They were measuring one another up. Ai Sidang is 3 and a half (the same as Manon). He and his family live next door to us. Their front door is just a few feet away from ours so we get to know what goes on in their house as they do ours. Ai Sidang is a hitter so we have to stay on top of him when he plays outside with the girls. As soon as he does not get his way he bops Henna in the head. I then proceed to spank him with his parents watching and make him apologize to Henna. So far they have not said anything and he has slowed down on hitting (at least when I am close enough to spank). If I am not there and he hits Henna then Ai Sang usually hits Ai Sidang back.

Manon and Ai Sidang enjoy riding bikes together in the evening. Manon would not ride her bicycle for the longest time (a year and a half). She was so nervous because the bicycle rocks on the training wheels a bit but not enough for her to fall. I tried everything from lots of praise and encouragement to gummy bears for peddling and nothing worked. Last month we were in Bangkok and there is a "ToysRUS" there. I took the girls there one evening to look around and Manon found a Pegasus that she loved. She looked at it for the longest time and began asking how much it cost and how much money she has and how long it would take her to earn enough to buy the Pegasus. I told her if she learned to ride her bicycle I would give her half of the money (about $5) and she could work for the rest. It was unbelievable how quickly she learned to ride. Now she goes fast and has no fear when on her bicycle as long as she is on the concrete. Monty has now offered her $2 to learn to ride on the grass and gravel roads. I think she will do it as the time gets closer to visit "ToysRUS" again.