We stand in awe of the faithfulness of our God when we look at how far Slava has come in the past 4 months! Could this be the same little boy who was more like an untamed, wild animal, and had us overwhelmed and wondering what we'd gotten ourselves into? Yup, it's Slava! He's still very busy and runs non-stop from about 6:30am until I finally tackle him for bedtime at 8pm! Thankfully he sleeps like a rock all through the night. I've tried keeping him up later and even hoped that more outside play would help him sleep until 7am....nope! My quiet time has been bumped to 6am if I want it to be just me and the Lord...and quiet. On Tuesday nights I go to Bible study, so Papa puts Slava to bed. Wednesday morning he found me in the living room with my coffee and my Bible. When he saw me he proclaimed, "I love loo, you're back!" And he jumped into my lap. I definitely don't mind an interruption like that! He's still not too thrilled with kisses and is tolerating hugs, so I've been telling him I love him. Now he's telling it to me several times a day. At bedtime he names off practically everyone in the family (including the dog): "I love Mama, I love Papa, I love Kerri......" Slava's language skills are amazing. He's speaking mostly English with only a few pet Ukrainian words mixed in. He is very smart and so funny and entertaining. His playing skills are improving daily and he often initiates play. Right now his most favorite activity is to go outside to play. We're having a hard time keeping him in the house especially since we have 3 doors which he can escape out of. It's most difficult when we're doing school and he wants to go out. Plus the weather isn't really all that inviting for the rest of us to want to spend all day outside. I find that little Ukrainian orphans, who most likely have some fetal-alcohol issues, can be obsessive about whatever idea pops into their head. It can be very exhausting trying to balance teaching them patience and navigating how their mind works.
All in all Slava is bonding, attaching, adjusting, etc. Wayne and I are feeling like we're getting back into the groove of life. Things are getting easier in some ways now that Slava is listening to us and mostly obeying us. But things are never easy really. It takes a team, the whole family, to successfully make it through the day. The Lord is very good to me. I am blessed with an awesome team from my husband, who is highly involved in all aspects of family life, to my big kids, who will (usually) drop what they're doing to play with the little kids so I can make dinner. It takes a team to accomplish school, to clean the house, to run errands, to do just about everything. My parents are such a blessing too. Since they're retired they go to town every day just for something to do, and every time they go they call first and ask if there's anything I need! "Ummmmm, yes, milk!" We always need milk. I think we go through about 6 gallons each week! We could never do what we do without the support of our entire family in addition to the amazing prayer support that we get from so many believers. We are so thankful and so blessed. The other night when I got home from Bible study the little boys were in bed. I asked Wayne how Slava had been. He answered, "Good." Wow..."good"! Just a few months ago we weren't sure we'd ever say that. Yes, God is faithful and we know He will continue the good work He's started in Slava. We can't wait to see what another 4 months will bring!
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