"Ko-pot-ee" & "Vacuum"

Slava & his vacuum

Tub Time!

We are rejoicing over the progress Slava is making. Though it's in baby-steps, he does seem to be settling in and bonding with us. He is currently obsessed with taking baths and our vacuum cleaner! Since our first day home he asks to take a "ko-pot-ee" like 100x a day! Of course we limit it to 2x a day mainly because we're desperately trying to keep him busy. We figure that if it was summer-time, he'd be in the pool all day long. Today while I was out with him he asked to take a bath while we were at the doctor's office and at Walmart. Needless to say, he took one as soon as we got home. He is also relentless with our vacuum cleaner. He asks for it (yes, he now says "vacuum") first thing in the morning...at 6am! I just tell him that the vacuum is "spot" (sleep), and so are all the other kids. It wouldn't be so bad if he just vacuumed the floors, but he's really more interested in plugging it in and unplugging it 100x and turning it on and off 100x by pushing the button. I thought I had another brilliant idea by buying him a kid's Dirt Devil battery operated vacuum. He likes to play with that now too, but since it doesn't plug into the wall it's just not as exciting to him. Maybe for Christmas I'll get him a power strip and some lead cords...just kidding! But he'd really rather play with something like that than toys.

Today I took him to see the doctor for his first check up here. He did very well considering he had 3 shots! He only weighs 28 pounds, so the doc wants to see him again in a month to make sure he starts gaining weight. I'm sure he will because he asks to eat constantly. He does not have scoliosis, but of course we will need to see the eye specialist. After his shots he kept holding his arm and saying "boolah" which is his term for boo boo. I kept saying, "I know, I'm sorry." Eventually when he held his arm saying "boolah" he'd also say "Mama, sorry".

He loves riding in the car and behaves rather well when we're out. So today I took a leap and brought him to Walmart! There were some things I needed to get especially this time of year. And he was very good...so good that I added another store to the outing before we headed home. I am so thankful that he loves to go "paka" in Mama's machine-a!

We do still have some issues at home though. He just can't help himself to whacking the dog, or pulling the cat's tail whenever they're in his reach. The dog is about fed up and has started showing her teeth whenever he raises his hand. Slava acts scared for about a second, then laughs and reaches for the dog again. Our most effective discipline is time out on the kitchen stool in the middle of the kitchen floor. This is a spot where Slava can be found quite often during the day. We must also lock all the doors heading down our hallway (the girls rooms, the bathroom, and the laundry room. We have skewers tucked in the wood trim of each door so that we can easily pop the door open when one of us needs to access a room. Slava loves to flush the toilet, the laundry room contains many interesting things including the vacuum, and the girls' rooms are full of trouble that he can get into. We also gate off the end of the hall which leads to the rest of the house. Slava is more like a 2 year old (going through the terrible 2 phase) except he's pretty savvy for a 5yr old in a tiny little body. But I must say for all his naughtiness, our love for him grows each day. And he seems to be more comfortable and trusting with us too.

Yesterday I mailed out our Registration Form for Slava and the Annual Adoption Reports on the other 3 kids. Within 30 days of arriving home with your child you must register them with the Consulate General of Ukraine in NYC. This is just a form with his picture on it which I filled out and sent along with his Ukrainian passport and a copy of the Adoption Decree in the Ukrainian language. From this point on every year until he is 18yrs old, I will have to complete an annual report of his progress and send it to the Consulate as well. And since it will be 4 years ago in January that we brought Andrii, Anna, and Jordan home, I completed their annual reports and sent them as well. I'm thrilled all that paperwork is completed, but then again I just remembered that I still need to do my Quarterly Reports for homeschooling (1st & 2nd quarters)!!!!! So maybe I won't be sending out Christmas cards this year afterall.

Thank you for taking the time to read all this as I babble on about life with Slava. I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this blog, but at least it's theraputic for me to journal this special time in our lives. If you do read it, please leave me a comment because I'd love to hear from you. Good night for now, and may the Lord bless you and keep you.