full circle

last spring I took the kids to the state park nearby. we love to go there. We played and the wind blew. and an eagle flew overhead. it was all very neat. we loved being close to nature. and of course since the weather wasnt PERFECt no one else was there. we had the entire park to ourselves. I had a certain someone on my mind that day. in the previous days I had been trying my hardest to find someone to bring home a little girl who needed a family. A little blonde. And as I watched my own little blonde running up and down the beach and swinging and sliding and playing in the sand, I knew I couldnt leave that other little blonde to the fate that awaited her. I just coudln't stand the thought that she would never run and play and enjoy such a place as the state park. The bonus blonde came later when we couldnt leave him behind knowing the two were much like sibs and had similar challenges.

Today we went to the same park. Beautiful fall weather. Again no one around. Ben shooshed the leaves with his feet and walked along holding my hand. Sophie rode in the stroller and loved for us to toss leaves up and they would blow past her. they did the slide, the swings, the sand. and I put them in a pile of leaves and I dont think Ben stopped smiling the entire time. Scooter decided to scoot off down the hill leaving a trail behind her as the leaves parted around her and getting a wet behind in the process. but hey you are only young once and her pants were dark colored so I let them play. so from the first time I "knew" to now the first visit to the same park with the dreamed of kids.

more convinced than ever that Ben's hearing is not great

Sophie repeats words very clearly. and easily. she will say tank you if you prompt her to say it instead of spaseeba. Ben will say it too but it doesnt sound like tank you. it sounds more like fok oo. which sounds a lot like ohter words I dont generally use. I had to laugh thinking he is going to think he is being so smart and saying thank you to someone and they are going to hear fok oo. and think he said something completely different. Might have to get that thank you on tape for posterity.

another note to self: get scooter on tape. she wont always be scooter.I hope.

pizza anyone?

it is amazing how much you can learn from a language you dont speak. we are learning lots of words. Ben's pants are a little big and keep falling down. yesterday he was standing at the window and his pants AND unders fell to the floor. He and Sophie thought it histerical. We pulled them back up and went about our business. but not before I learned the word Piska. a few minutes later there is Ben with just his Piska sticking out. we didnt make a fuss, just told him to keep the mouse in the house. they moved on to other things. Last night he was petting the dog and discovered !!! the dog has a Piska! no Ben do not pet the dogs piska.

fast forward to tonight. What is for dinner. PIZZA. piska? NO! NOT PISKA! pizzzzzzaaaaaa. piska. no peeeeeeeettzzzzaaaaaaaaaaa. think about that next time you order pizza. make sure you eeeenunciate or you might end up with something much different than you planned!!

wow! incredible!

last time we tried the sling was in Ukraine. it didnt go well if you recall. she screamed bloody murder and the babushkas gave me what for since she was obviously hungry if she was crying! anyways part of why the trip home was so hard is I couldnt sling her and she would not let me put her down. TIRED ARMS! today we walked Maia to school. I put ben in the single stroller and Sophie in the sling on my back. she screamed. she cried. she carried on. and then I showed her us in the mirror and that was it. she was happy the rest of the time in the sling. we walked maia to school and walked back again all with her on my back and no complaints. not one. I am very proud of her for giving it a try. This morning everyone was cranky because they all wanted the SAME toy. but they love going for a walk so that cheered them. and then Sophie went to nap when we got home. Ben and Ethan have been playing outside every since we got back. ben cant get enough of outside.

sophie is really improving

she IS becoming a funny little doll, just like I knew she could be. oh yes she has her moments. and she still isnt thrilled with maia. but I think she is coming along nicely. MAMA is the only one allowed to feed her. MAMA is the only one allowed to put on the AFOs. MAMA is the only one she wants to take her to the bathroom but will occasionally allow someone else but wont like it. MAMA is the only one allowed to get her out of bed. now if she could just learn a little English! she CAN say lots of things, but chooses to say them in russian instead. and I dont always know what she wants and she gets mad at me. there is an old nursery rhyme I have been meaning to post. There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. and when she was good she was very very good and when she was bad she was horrid. yep thats my sophie! nastya sopha she calls herself. this is an improvement. She used to call herself "old last name" nastya. and always in that order. last name first first name last. I bet she doesnt even realize what her last name is. oh well she is only 3. and she doesnt care what you call her as long as you dont call her late to dinner!

Ben on the other hand goes by BEN! and if you call him Artem he says BEN! and little BEN sure does like when I sing songs to him. he loves wheels on the bus and tonight couldnt get enough of the itsy bitsy spider(which of course crawled up him and tickled all the way up as well as all the way down. he can be so sweet. but boy is he having a hard time sharing those birthday toys. I am torn between wanting to let him have them all to himself as he probably never had anything his own and wanting him to learn to share and be generous. and to be fair if its lying on the floor unattended it really isnt a crime for someone else to play with it.

Speaking of never had something of their own. Sophie absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVES the shoes I bought her. she wants to wear them all the time. she cries when I take them off. the first day she wore them I had to let her sleep with them. in all the time we were in Ptown she never had shoes. these are little clogs and they are SO CUTE. she can get them mostly on by herself. she adores them. funny that of all the things we have around here its the SHOES that mean so much to her.

birthday cake

Ben's face lit up when he saw the cake and candles. he knew just what to do when we finished the song. and I gave him cake with ice cream and he kept asking, "ben? ben?" as in is this for me? we kept saying YES YES! for BEN! he looooved his present. it was a flashlight and also a cell phone. he loved them both and couldnt keep his hands off of them. he kept turning out the lights so he could try the flashlight. Unfortunately Papa took it away after bedtime because he kept shining it in Ethan's eyes. he put it on the nightstand so he can play with it tomorrow. but boy howdy you should have heard him howl when papa took it from him!

Sophie cried when the birthday cake was all gone. Not sure what that was about. she had milk but didnt want that. she just put her head down and cried. Something is not right with her. She fell asleep on the floor this afternoon. she woke again crying this afternoon. I hope she isnt getting a flu bug. Daddy sees plenty of sick people at work every day. I hope he isnt bringing home germs! Waking up with a cry is not usual for her at all. she usually just calls MAMA! MAMA! MMAAAAAAMMMMMAAAAAAA! until I come and tell her to shhhhh or get her up. She seemed a little on the warm side when I put her to bed but she generally IS warmer than most of us. its hard work to scoot around all day like she does. I call her scooter. SO I guess we will wait and see what tomorrow brings. Any ideas on how to help her accept Maia? she wants me to dump Maia out of my lap because SHE wants my lap. she screams at her when Maia comes near her or tries to touch her. she just wants to hug and kiss her but she gets rebuffed again and again. Ben is fine with it. I keep telling her Sophie doesnt know what its like to get love she is still learning. and every time Sophie rejects Maia I hug and kiss Maia. sometimes it leads Sophie to kiss her. sometimes not.

phone call

I called Eric from the orthodontist office. he was home with the kids. Ben wanted to talk. it was the cutest funniest neatest conversation ever. simple but to me just super neat.
ben Privyet Mama!
mama Privyet Ben!
Kak dila?
ben xorosho
mama Abyet?
ben da. Sophie Spaht.
mama ohhhh Sophie spaht! xorosho!
Das vidanya. Papa.
Ben Das vidanya. byee byee.
mama Paka

then he gave the phone to papa. I am sure everyone in the office thought I was bonkers. but it was awesome.