4-year-old from Haiti begins new chapter in Iowa

PEOSTA, Iowa (AP) - A whir of youthful energy, Richard Laurent Lance dashes around his living room "vrooming" tiny trucks through the air. Screeching to a stop, the bubbly 4-year-old shouts, "Mom, let's play ball," with a strong Creole accent.

Richard is adjusting rapidly to his new life in America. The youngster lived in a Haitian orphanage for the first years of his life, until Annette and Gardner Lance adopted him late last year. Richard arrived in Dubuque to start the next chapter in his life's journey two days before Christmas, knowing little about the world outside the walls of his orphanage.

Since that tumultuous day, Richard's life has been a series of firsts - he first saw and played in snow, sat in a bathtub, owned his own toys, went to school, spoke English, tasted pizza and popcorn, and ate, slept and played with brothers and sisters.

Most of the firsts went smoothly, others less so. Richard screamed when he was placed in a bathtub of water and has never lost his terror of baths (he gets showers instead). He screamed again when he met the family's large black lab, Max, since dogs in Haiti usually are vicious guard dogs or nasty strays. After weeks of cautious engagements, Richard and Max have become best buddies, fighting over rubber balls and tumbling together in a heap.

"He's such a bright little boy. It's fun to just sit and watch him," said his mother, helping Richard construct a marble-rolling contraption on a coffee table. "He's picking up words. At first, he would speak to us in Creole and just repeat the same thing over and over. Finally he understood, 'Show Mommy,' and he would point out to me what he wanted."

In his Head Start classes in Epworth, Richard does a lot of pointing and modeling of the other students.

"He's very observant and follows their leads," Annette Lance said.

Richard started his own mealtime ritual after living with the Lances for several weeks. When he, his parents, brother and two sisters are seated around their dinner table, Richard folds his hands, bows his head and starts babbling.

"He talks and talks for five minutes. We can understand a few words like 'outside,' 'play,' 'Richard's school,' 'night-night.' Then all of a sudden, he says 'Amen' and he's done," Annette said, laughing.

Another family ritual happens every time his father comes home after picking up his other children from their school bus stop. Richard screams in delight, races to the garage door and jumps into his father's arms. Each of the other kids repeat the leap.

"We keep thinking, 'God, you designed this child for our family' because he fits right in, one, two, three, four," said Gardner, pointing to his four children diving into the giant kettle of popcorn he just popped and brought into the room.

Richard's siblings grin widely at their new baby brother as he frolics between them, happily chanting a curious version of the ABCs.

"He's a lot of fun and he learns words from us without us teaching him," said Katelyn, 12, while Julia, 7, nods in agreement.

"He's awesome, the best brother because he is funny, loving, loves to wrestle and has a good personality," said Cliff, 10, who shares a bedroom with Richard. The boys have matching beds, which Richard proudly shows to visitors while yammering something about "night-night."

There are many firsts ahead in Richard's life with his new family - exploring the natural world around their rural home, tent camping in state parks, learning to play the piano when he's older.

"The orphanage had hardly any grounds," said Annette, "so we can't wait for warm weather so we can explore the outside world with Richard."