There's a logical explanation for this...

And I’ll get to it later on in this post.

We woke up to about a half-inch of snow on the ground this morning – the area’s first accumulation. It continued to snow til mid-afternoon, leaving about 2 inches to the white fluffy stuff. Since today we were heading to the BH to pick Harry up for the first day visit at the apartment, the snow meant we needed to find some boots for both him and Skip before we arrived at the BH. I managed to get Skip a pair of slighty big ones for only $13,.00, but they didn’t have anything smaller, at all. So we just went to the BH without any for Harry, bringing the work-type boots we thought would be all we needed for our stay here. We figured we’d ask to bring home the pair he would normally wear, and return them tomorrow. This way we could sneak out and get a pair while they napped, leaving Levi to watch them.

For the first time, Harry came out smiling without a single Ne-hochay. We played in the sleeping room for about 15 minutes before Irina showed up. She said since it was our first trip home with him, she decided to retain a taxi for an hour and we could ride home in it. We wouldn’t need the boots after all! BUT, Harry wasn’t hearing anything about getting dressed in “real” clothes and leaving the building. He kept telling Irina we could just play right where we were…That lasted til she called Natasha, one of Harry’s favorite caregivers. One “Pash-le” and he stood up and followed her to the other room, and returned two minutes later, fully dressed. She winked at us and then explained that all she did was tell him he was going to ride in a taxi and he was undressing, and dressing very quickly. A few tears as we put his coat and hat on him – you could tell he was scared, not sure what to expect! I felt so bad for him but I new the fear was short term. He reluctantly took Irina’s hand and we we all went outside to the waiting taxi. He sat on her lap all the way home (No car seats here – despite a recent law requiring them! )

He just stared out the window all the way home, but no t crying. He just was in awe.

As soon as we got in the apt. and we got his coat off, he was FINE! He saw the toys in the living room and made a beeline for them. Irina explained that he’d spend the day and return to his groupa later on in the aft. He nodded happily, saying “DA” (yes), He touched every electronic device he could. The DVD player, TV, computer, battery charger, and even the battery operated alarm clock. The he played happily with Skip. It was PERFECT. Wanting to keep him on schedule, I served lunch promptly at 11:45. Mac ; Cheese & steamed broccoli. He took one look at the table and “Ne-hochayed”… We decided not to push today – knowing he won’t starve himself. After everyone else ate and the dishes were cleaned, I told Skip he could take a bath for a half-hour before naps. He jumpted at the chance. I figured I’d see how Harry reacted to seeing Skip in the bubble filled tub. Levi, who does really well with Russian, asked Harry if he wanted to join him. “Ne hochay”… That’s when Harry spotted the “Bankas” behind the sofa. For some reason that is what he calls water bottles…Banka.

And now the explanation I eluded to in the beginning of this post! Last trip here, Harry loved these “bankaa”. We use only bottled water here for drinking and food prep, and when we first arrived back here a month ago, I decided to keep a few empty bottles to see if Harry still liked them. And the idea just snowballed. I kept saving them, and saving them, finally deciding it would be fun to see how many 5-liter bottles we used this trip. We have about 40 of them! When Harry saw them behind the couch, he shouted “Noga Banka” meaning “Many Bottles!” He started to take them out, one by one, and then I figured that MAYBE if he went into the bathroom and gave a few to Skip to play with, he might decide to take a bath too. Nope. But, he started to bring ALL the bottles in, one by one, much to his AND Skip’s delight. And thus the picture!

While Skip took a bath, I tried again to ask Harry if he wanted to join him. My Russian is bad. Instead of bath, I asked him if he wanted a banana. He did. So I gave him one – I figured it was at least nutritous! After Skip’s bath we attempted naps. Notice I said attempted. While at the BH the kids lie down at 12:30 and do not get up til 3:30. I figured Harry doesn’t sleep THAT long, but, you know, I thought he’d sleep at least an hour. He didn’t . He was on one end of the L-shaped couch, Skip on the other. Skip tried to sleep, but Harry just talked, sang, got up 20 times to pick up the pillow he kept “accidentally” dropping, sat up and looked out at the cars, tried to get Skip up, etc. etc. This went on for an hour and a half. He wasn’t bad, just clearly not tired. We gave up at 2:45, satisfied they at least rested. I took off to the store for boots for Harry and Mike stayed behind with the boys. When I got back, Skip &; Levi were making puzzles and Harry was sitting with Mike at the computer, looking at family pictures, and pictures from this trip. Each time Harry would see someone he knew- he’d point them out. They did this for a long time – actually until it was 4:00 and time to head back. Skip wanted to stay with Levi, so we tried to dress Harry in his boots & snowpants first. He wasn’t having either of them – insisting he wear the suede boots he came in…I wan’t into arguing, and let him get his way. I figured day one we’d cut hin some slack. He got all dressed and we told him we were going on the trolley. He told us no, he wanted to ride in a car! Oh well, some things he just can’t get his way on J He gave Skip & Levi hugs and took my hand for our walk out to the trolley. When we got to the tracks I stopped – and he apparently thought we were going in a car, because when I stopped, he looked down to see the trolley coming and again said “No trolley – car” in Russian. At that point the door to the trolley opened, and I was expecting a fit. He didn’t say anything, just climbed up and grabbed the first seat. When the ticket lady came and collected our rubles, she handed Mike the tickets. Tiny little one-in things. He gave one to Harry, who beamed proudly. He put it in his little coat pocket, and zippered it up for safe keeping. When we got off at our stop, he was a bit put out, wanting to stay on it, but he didn’ t fuss, and we walked the half-mile to the Baby Home. He walked into his groupa, announced his arrival, immediately told everyone he had ridden in car today, and then undressed as he normally does, putting his coat and stuff in his locker. Only after he was back in his BH clothes and wearing his usual soft-soled indoor shoes did he come to us and give us hugs good-bye. We told him we’d return for him tomorrow, and he was happy. As were we as we left the grounds and made our way back to the trolley stop.

All things considered, the day went perfectly. Once again, it’s not where we thought we’d be at this point, but, “it was all good”….