Three Years Later

We have been working on the postplacement report for year 3, and it certainly sends us into reflection and reminiscences. The time we spent in that orphanage is just worlds away now. The boys don't really remember it (Sergey truly remembers nothing, and Lonya is hazy about it). Lonya does proudly tell people he was born in Kazakhstan. But I remember more Russian than he does now!

Both boys have had a good couple weeks at school. Sergey has amazed us with a run of green bears (the pre-school's behavior system, which sports good green cards, medium yellow cards, and naughty red cards all shaped like teddy bears). Lonya has been enjoying school as well. We will soon have teacher appointments, but so far we hear good things about him. We do see homework now, which we didn't have much of in kindergarten. It seems early to me, but we dutifully make sure he does it. Thanks to his leapster toy and the hard work of his teacher, Lonya seems to be doing better than ever at learning to read. And Sergey is not far behind him. Ser has the benefit of having the older brother around, and that definitely makes Sergey's academics easier. We are blessed that our sons are so intelligent. And we see it every day. Lonya has tremendous creativity and abstract reasoning. Sergey has a superb memory.

Recess is the clear favorite of both boys. They are rugged little guys, spending all kinds of time getting dirty and running around a lot. They are competitive with each other and their friends, and they play pretty rough. We keep talking about getting the boys into something like karate to channel their physical energies.

But there is also a softer side, as both boys settle in for bed and want stories read, stories told, and (if they can talk us into it) lullabies sung while their backs are rubbed. Just yesterday Sergey was pretending to be a doctor and diagnosed Mama Sue with a cold. She asked him what to do for a cure, and he said, "You need to cuddle with me. A lot." Then later Lonya burst into tears when Candace sang him a sad Russian song about a boy leaving his Mama and going off to be a soldier. He insisted we never sing that again, because a boy leaving Mamas is too awful to think about. Candace cuddled him and reassured him that he wouldn't be leaving us until he was grown up to go to college. That seemed to help. We love them to the ends of the earth, and they love us back. It is a rare evening meal when one boy or the other doesn't want to get up on one of our laps.

Three years and worlds away.

Halloween fun

Halloween has fast become the favorite holiday, besides Christmas. With much anticipation and some changing of minds throughout the year, the boys finally settled on their costumes for the year. Sergey wanted to be a blue power ranger. Lonya wanted to be a wizard. Sergey didn't end up liking the mask and wouldn't wear it, so he opted for face painting instead. Lonya is sporting a wand that took Sue some hours to carve.

Actual trick or treating began about 4 p.m. at the Courthouse, then downtown. Then to the Boo Central at the university, to dinner, and finally to the best decorated neighborhood for trick or treating. We have been driving around after school to the various neighborhoods to see who has the Halloween spirit. The boys had another very successful haul and had to be dragged away from "just one more house, mamas..." so they could get in bed before 10 p.m.! And once again, we'll be eating Halloween candy till Christmas.

Fall 2008

Sergey demonstrated his basketball dribbling for the Preschool talent show. We also have our obligatory first day of school picture, as Lonya prepares to head out for first grade. Sergey moved up in his preschool class and is officially preparing for kindergarten next year. Finally, we were visited for the very first time by the tooth fairy, when Lonya lost his very first baby tooth. These boys just get bigger and bigger.