Today was our first day on our own, as Irina our facilitator left yesterday afternoon to return paperwork to Kiev. I think we did pretty well...and it was actually a more relaxed day since we weren't trying to hurry to get things done while she was here.
It has been beautiful here, so for our visits today we got to spend them outside with Vladik (Slava). My little ones at home will not understand why we're calling him Vladik--to us he's been Slava but thats what they call him...it will eventually change to Sean Paul anyway.
We enjoyed our visits today walking around the grounds and playing on the outdoor equipment. Slava loved the swing and the slide. He liked to climb into these bars (shaped like an upside down funnel) and sit in there. WE have to watch him closely as he likes to play in the dirt--which is okay until he puts it all over himself. His caregiver fussed over him yesterday when we brought him back a bit dirty. Vladik loved juice and seemd to have not used a sippy cup before but he got the hang of it, and he loves his snacks. They're particular about what you bring here so we have to check with Irina first...so far its been things like Ukrainian "cheese" yogurt (thicker than regular yogurt), something like cheerios, certain brand of juice, crackers, puffs. I don't think we'll have any trouble with eating for him, though he does have some rash on his face so I wonder if he reacts to foods he eats at meals.
We got to interact more with the groupa while we visited outside today. They are so cute and it breaks our hearts that so many children do not have "mamas" and "papas" (as they call here). They look at us and smile. Naomi our daughter wants one day to have an orphanage or adopt lots of children. She was in heaven today as she played with the groupa and they followed her all around....until they got a little rough with each other and picked up pieces of tree bark, so they took them for a walk..they listen well to their caregivers and line up holding hands with a buddy. They all have the same red bonnets on like Slava. We were able to get a picture of the whole groupa. It is obvious that the caregivers care alot for Vladik and he will run to them and hug them too... which makes us so glad that he has grown up with love, despite lacking a family and home of his own.
It has been beautiful here, so for our visits today we got to spend them outside with Vladik (Slava). My little ones at home will not understand why we're calling him Vladik--to us he's been Slava but thats what they call him...it will eventually change to Sean Paul anyway.
We enjoyed our visits today walking around the grounds and playing on the outdoor equipment. Slava loved the swing and the slide. He liked to climb into these bars (shaped like an upside down funnel) and sit in there. WE have to watch him closely as he likes to play in the dirt--which is okay until he puts it all over himself. His caregiver fussed over him yesterday when we brought him back a bit dirty. Vladik loved juice and seemd to have not used a sippy cup before but he got the hang of it, and he loves his snacks. They're particular about what you bring here so we have to check with Irina first...so far its been things like Ukrainian "cheese" yogurt (thicker than regular yogurt), something like cheerios, certain brand of juice, crackers, puffs. I don't think we'll have any trouble with eating for him, though he does have some rash on his face so I wonder if he reacts to foods he eats at meals.
We got to interact more with the groupa while we visited outside today. They are so cute and it breaks our hearts that so many children do not have "mamas" and "papas" (as they call here). They look at us and smile. Naomi our daughter wants one day to have an orphanage or adopt lots of children. She was in heaven today as she played with the groupa and they followed her all around....until they got a little rough with each other and picked up pieces of tree bark, so they took them for a walk..they listen well to their caregivers and line up holding hands with a buddy. They all have the same red bonnets on like Slava. We were able to get a picture of the whole groupa. It is obvious that the caregivers care alot for Vladik and he will run to them and hug them too... which makes us so glad that he has grown up with love, despite lacking a family and home of his own.
We also saw other groupas outside...one group were in 2 big strollers (holding about 6 children) and one we thought looked about 2 years-old...all walking except for one in a stroller. She did not look like Ludmila but seemed to have some kind of disability. We haven't seen her yet but we hope to atleast see her.
I think we are making some progress with bonding with Vladik. It hasn't been as easy as we'd thought... and the different language is a challenge. We've been learning Russian words for "no touch","be careful","sit","good boy" and "I love you" It was neat to see him recognize and seem happy to see us today and he gave us sweet hugs goodbye today.
We had a bit of difficulty communicating with the orphanage lawyer regarding paperwork Irina needed us to take somewhere from her, but we were able to call our Ukrainian friends who rent us the apartment and they helped us when we couldn't get hold of Irina. We went to the potato house and ordered on our own today (John did pretty well--except he didn't know how to say burrito so he got pizza) and went to the store too. Our driver surprized us by driving by some sights on the way home for free, so we got to see the Danube River (across the river is Romania).
By the way, I appreciate your prayers for our safety here... we actually feel safe in this area, except when we are in the taxi! They drive very fast and do not leave much room for error...if there is room to pass, they do, and if there is not room to pass, they do anyway it seems to me. There also are no seatbelts, so I try not to look and pray alot on the trips.
I'm going to try to add more pictures in to this and older posts--we have lots of pictures but it takes a long time to upload them.
I think we are making some progress with bonding with Vladik. It hasn't been as easy as we'd thought... and the different language is a challenge. We've been learning Russian words for "no touch","be careful","sit","good boy" and "I love you" It was neat to see him recognize and seem happy to see us today and he gave us sweet hugs goodbye today.
We had a bit of difficulty communicating with the orphanage lawyer regarding paperwork Irina needed us to take somewhere from her, but we were able to call our Ukrainian friends who rent us the apartment and they helped us when we couldn't get hold of Irina. We went to the potato house and ordered on our own today (John did pretty well--except he didn't know how to say burrito so he got pizza) and went to the store too. Our driver surprized us by driving by some sights on the way home for free, so we got to see the Danube River (across the river is Romania).
By the way, I appreciate your prayers for our safety here... we actually feel safe in this area, except when we are in the taxi! They drive very fast and do not leave much room for error...if there is room to pass, they do, and if there is not room to pass, they do anyway it seems to me. There also are no seatbelts, so I try not to look and pray alot on the trips.
I'm going to try to add more pictures in to this and older posts--we have lots of pictures but it takes a long time to upload them.
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