Progress

The past week or so, we have had glimpses into the children's past. Polina has told us some things about her past and Dima, through his reactions to certain situations, has given us an idea about his past. All very sad and I am sure we will learn more in the future. We were told this would happen in time, but it still caught me a little off guard.

They are making amazing progress since we have been home. Dima honestly seems to have grown two inches! He is strong as an ox and is all boy. Each morning he is the first to get up out of bed and he first to greet us. He will come and give me a great big hug and say "dohbray ootra Papa" (good morning Papa). He has a habit of taking things that don't belong to him and hopefully we are slowly breaking him of that. He has gotten much better in that he will reluctantly tell me where something is if I know he has taken it. However, the whereabouts of my college ring are still in question. You should see him when he accomplishes a task! He smiles so big and we make a point to tell him how proud we are of him.

Nastya loves playing with her baby dolls and with Dima. She is very independent and can cut a look that is amazingly similar to my mom. Mom would have enjoyed Nastya because she is all girl and loves to hold and cuddle her baby dolls. Dad let each of the girls pick a necklace from mom's jewelry collection. I have tried to explain to them that mom died, but I am not quite sure they understand.

Polina is trusting us more and more and, as I said earlier, has told us a little of her past. I hope she will open up and share more as time goes on. She loves playing with Sarah and watching old Russian cartoons on You Tube. She can get moody and be a bit aggravating at times, but I guess we all are to an extent. The school she will attend a couple of days a week had open house Friday. She was not happy with all the talk about school! This is a great place started by some friends and it is specifically for Russian speaking children.

We went to the Zoo Saturday with my dad. The kids had a ball. I don't think Polina, Dima and Nastya had ever been to a zoo from all the squeals! My poor dad was about worn out at the end of the day and Nastya ran to him wanting him to carry her - he's 79. He ate it all up though and carried her a short ways until he could not do it any longer. It also made me very proud to watch Jeremy interacting with the younger three. He would pick them up and point to different animals that were hiding behind bushes and such. Teenage boys can be very "distant" at family activities, but he enjoyed the time together as well. Christina was sweet and helped take the girls to the rest room and helped point out animals. She enjoyed taking pictures of the animals.