We made eggs for breakfast and when the boys started to get bored we headed to the park. We bought a soccer ball and a frisbee and had fun playing soccer (doing soccer tricks) and getting good and dirty at the park. Vitaly seemed impressed when I told him that I was on a women's soccer team a couple years ago. Oleg just said "how did the team do?"
We ate lunch at Fashion Cafe. We couldn't get the boys to order any food only drinks. Tyler ordered a bigger pizza because he thought that they would change their mind and want some but they didn't. Vitaly asked for a Red Bull drink which we said "no" to and it started a discussion on Caffeine etc and even the waitress joined in and told him it was bad for him. I don't think it changed his mind, but I told him I wouldn't be paying for any Red Bull and that ended that idea.
When we got back to the apartment Vitaly immediately asked for Ramen noodles. We had a little tiny talk (me in English to him) so I am not sure if he got the whole message but basically it went something like "You need to eat when we are at the restaurant and not as soon as we get home" It has been really nice because the boys have been in so much better of a mood since they "moved in" we haven't had any tantrums and it seems so much more relaxed. We tease a lot and get a lot of the message across with humor instead of a ton of sternness. I am sure we will need that at some point but so far so good.
The boys have a little problem with just leaving the apartment and going outside whenever they want to. We had a little talk and an hour later they did it again. I think that they are so used to doing their own thing all the time that they don't think that a mom might want to know their whereabouts and make sure that they are not stepping on drug needles. I found a pile of them out about 10 steps from our apartment outside door. I will post a picture. It is scary and who do you call. I doubt there is a board of health here and if there is they surely have a holiday today.
I made some sweet pork and rice for dinner. They don't have brown sugar and so I just put white sugar, water and honey in a pan with the pork and cooked it on low for an hour. It was pretty good. Vitaly doesn't like rice and Oleg didn"t like the pork but they both ate enough popcorn tonight to make up for any lost calories. It is funny to me that when we hosted the kids they wouldn't touch popcorn but tonight they ate about 4 large bags of microwave popcorn. To wash it all down they drank a lot of fanta and sprite. Vitaly still drinks from the big 2 liter bottle. He just hoists the whole thing up in the air and chugs away. We keep getting on him and telling him to use a cup but maybe we are expecting too much too soon. Funny, silly, adorable boys.
They took a shower willingly and things are going really well. They keep doing funny things to get my attention. They reach in the room that I am in and turn off the light and run and laugh. Tonight they brought a big jug of water into my room (Did I mention that we have to buy all the water we drink and lug it up 3 stories to our apt?) They would then run out laughing. I couldn't figure out this game. Was I supposed to trip on the jug when I turned on the light or was it bad luck to have a water jug in your room? Was it going to explode or something? Finally Vitaly poked his head in the door and said "Mommy stole water" then they laughed and laughed. I guess it was the framing game and they were framing me for stealing water. I wonder what other games they play in the disky dome.
They are adjusting really well to our culture (much better than I to theirs.) They like to get hugged, tickled and kissed. They are not needy and whiny and have an independence that is great except when it comes to me carrying their stuff. Finally today I told Tyler to tell them that if Mom carries all of her 10 kids' stuff she soon will not be able to move. They laughed and carried their own snack. What a blessing we have in these boys.
Dave who has flipped roles and is now the family optimist said "Enjoy this time (note where he is speaking from :) This is your time to have the boys all to yourself and bond with them." We had the pregnancy (9 months of paperwork and coming here and court etc) and then the birth (adoption final) and now it is our little Mom and babies at the hospital time. How sweet.
I AM enjoying it...., no really ...... This is fun....huh huh huh......With as much as they eat, I am just glad they are not nursing..... and no diapers. This is awesome!
Great post!!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the needles. I don't remember seeing anything like that-we were there when it was colder so maybe all the drug paraphernalia was inside?
Oh, those talks. I remember them well. Wait, was is just today I had talk #375?? Yes, I think so. That leaving and doing what ever, when ever is orphanage mentality. It takes awhile to cure them of that. In fact today's talk was about going to friends house without telling me.
I'm so glad the pouting and whining is letting up. And so jealous you have an in home translator-we depended solely on pantomime and sound effects the first few months.
Hope you get out of the armpit soon!