Another short morning visit with Harry, and then a long visit in the afternoon/early evening. Harry is always happy when we arrive now, and runs to us when he sees us at the door. The others often beat him to it, yelling Momma, Poppa in unison.
We played indoors during the morning visit, enjoyed a new sticker book, the train set, another DVD, and some just plain silly “boy” stuff. Since we’ve learned to take the trolleys without getting lost, we now have something of a routine. Irina drops us off for the morning visit and we get home on our own, and then for the second visit we take the trolley and Irina brings us back home. Each trolley ride involves a short walk to the stop, and today we stopped at the “Victory Day” museum’s outdoor display of old airplanes & tanks. Skip like that a lot, especially the tank.
During our second visit we played outdoors for several hours. It was very warm here in the afternoon (75ish) and the kids were all outside when we arrived. We played with bubbles & the big slide, and did a lot of running around. Harry is picking up more English, adding “Pleach” (please) and “Cheese” to his growing vocabulary. He now likes to pose for the camera, and will start telling me to take his picture until I remind him to say please, which he does. Then I remind him to say “Cheese” which he does, but it makes him giggle as I shoot the picture. We, in turn, are learning much more Russian. We do pretty well - understanding a lot of what he is trying to tell us. We pick up words and phrases, then piece it together and generally figure it all out. It’s been at least a week since I confused “here it goes” with “I need to poop”!
He and Skip continue to bond, learning to communicate without many words. They spent at least an hour chasing each other up and down the slide, then around the house that it’s attached to. Harry takes no guff, and surprisingly, Skip has been VERY gentle and patient with him. Harry is learning “gentle” and “be careful” – two things he is NOT always good about. It’s survival of the fittest in the Baby Home at this age – each child accustomed to pushing, shoving, and hitting until they get what they’re after. Deep down however, Harry is a sweet little boy. A mixture of wonder & innocence. He is learning to trust us, and now enjoys hugs and kisses. Something he has seen little of in his four years. At seven we said good-bye and got our hugs. He ran happily back to his group, boasting of the fun he had. As much as I’ve enjoyed learning so much about what his life in the Baby Home has been like, and getting to know his caregivers, I long for the day when we take him home and begin our life as a family…Hmmm, home…I’ll enjoy that thought for awhile!
We played indoors during the morning visit, enjoyed a new sticker book, the train set, another DVD, and some just plain silly “boy” stuff. Since we’ve learned to take the trolleys without getting lost, we now have something of a routine. Irina drops us off for the morning visit and we get home on our own, and then for the second visit we take the trolley and Irina brings us back home. Each trolley ride involves a short walk to the stop, and today we stopped at the “Victory Day” museum’s outdoor display of old airplanes & tanks. Skip like that a lot, especially the tank.
During our second visit we played outdoors for several hours. It was very warm here in the afternoon (75ish) and the kids were all outside when we arrived. We played with bubbles & the big slide, and did a lot of running around. Harry is picking up more English, adding “Pleach” (please) and “Cheese” to his growing vocabulary. He now likes to pose for the camera, and will start telling me to take his picture until I remind him to say please, which he does. Then I remind him to say “Cheese” which he does, but it makes him giggle as I shoot the picture. We, in turn, are learning much more Russian. We do pretty well - understanding a lot of what he is trying to tell us. We pick up words and phrases, then piece it together and generally figure it all out. It’s been at least a week since I confused “here it goes” with “I need to poop”!
He and Skip continue to bond, learning to communicate without many words. They spent at least an hour chasing each other up and down the slide, then around the house that it’s attached to. Harry takes no guff, and surprisingly, Skip has been VERY gentle and patient with him. Harry is learning “gentle” and “be careful” – two things he is NOT always good about. It’s survival of the fittest in the Baby Home at this age – each child accustomed to pushing, shoving, and hitting until they get what they’re after. Deep down however, Harry is a sweet little boy. A mixture of wonder & innocence. He is learning to trust us, and now enjoys hugs and kisses. Something he has seen little of in his four years. At seven we said good-bye and got our hugs. He ran happily back to his group, boasting of the fun he had. As much as I’ve enjoyed learning so much about what his life in the Baby Home has been like, and getting to know his caregivers, I long for the day when we take him home and begin our life as a family…Hmmm, home…I’ll enjoy that thought for awhile!
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