A Better Day

This morning the pitter patter of Slava's little feet heading into my room didn't happen until 5:58am. Close enough to 6am for me. We actually had a very good morning. He didn't need a single spanking, just a couple of warnings. The battle didn't begun until Mama declared it nap time. We only had an hour until we had to leave for the dentist and most of it was wasted just trying to get him to settle down and be still. He is sooooo smart. He cried to go to the bathroom, so I brought him. He sat for 30 seconds only to declare that he didn't need to go. Then I carried him back to bed and practically sat on top of him to get him to lay still. Then he proclaimed he had to go to the bathroom again. Finally I announced to him "Paka, Mama's machine-a" which means basically bye-bye in Mama's car. This thrilled him and he joyfully got dressed to go. We were 5 minutes down the road when he declared he had to go potty. I did not want to risk a disaster, so I stopped at Dunkin Donuts and took him. He did not go. All the way to the dentist he was insisting he needed to poop. We told him oh well, no toilet. He did not poop at the dentist office either. After Jordan's check up the dentist had me put Slava on my lap in the chair so she could look into his mouth. He was very compliant. The good news is all those black spots I thought were cavities are actually stains. Slava sat still long enough for her to remove some of the stains from his front teeth. The bad news is he has one really bad cavity in one if his bottom back teeth. The dentist couldn't believe he hasn't been complaining of pain because he jumped when she touched that tooth. I find that children who have lived in orphanages tend to have a very high pain tolerance. However, at dinner time he started crying, holding his check on that side, and saying something which we new meant it hurt. I gave him some tylenol and will call the dentist in the morning to see what she wants to do about it.

Dinner time was crazy because he really wanted me (a good sign of bonding), but I didn't want him in the kitchen while I was cooking. He's way too fast and is an accident waiting to happen in the kitchen. Children in the orphanage have their food brought to them in their little room, they never see food prepared or even see the kitchen. He was pretty whiny and needed a spanking for saying the naughty word a few times. He also used the bad word in the car on the way to the dentist. I believe he knew I couldn't do anything about it while I was driving. Like I said, smart kid. Around 7:30 he was chilling out in the laundry basket (he loves to be pulled around in it) and looking pretty sleepy. I put him to bed and he did not put up much of a fuss.

These are the words he knows so far: bye-bye, outside, eat, yogurt, poop, good, and good boy. I sneezed today and he said, "God bless you" in Ukrainian. And with every morsel of food we give him he says "Spa-see-bah" which means thank you. I've been saying "your welcome" instead of "pla-jow-stah". He eats constantly, always asking for kasha & banana. So far he's liked everything I've fed him except pbj. This pleases Anna & Andrii because they do not like it either. He also asks several times a day for a "ko-pot-ee" bath. We try to save bath time for after dinner to pass the time until bed. But with all the rain yesterday he actually took 2 baths, one in the morning and one in the evening. We had to do something to occupy him. It seems like by 10am we've done everything there is to do for constructive play. Yesterday I even brought home some very large lego type blocks in a dump truck. He likes to dump out blocks and then put them in the laundry basket or some kind of container. I try to have the kids take him outside a couple times each day so I can get some things done inside (like Christmas shopping online!).

I'm hoping that Slava will have another good day tomorrow, or at least a good part of the day. He's so much fun and very cute...when he's being good! He's such a tiny peanut too. He's wearing a size 2T-3T. We had fun today pulling out some of Jordan's "baby" clothes. Now Slava has a closet full of clothes to wear!

Thank you for your continued prayers. I was really rejoicing today when we didn't have to chase him as much or correct him as much the first half of the day. It appears he's settling in and God is answering our prayers. We appreciate those of you who will continue to pray for us all as we continue through this process. It's almost 9pm, time for bed! Good Night & God Bless!