Holidays

Guess we are all celebrating holidays today – Memorial Day at home and Trinity/Pentecost here. A lot of shops were still open (not all), but people seemed to be moving at a more relaxed pace.

We watched the table tennis championship last night: something that needed no translation, although what they found to comment on point after point for 7 games in the match is beyond me. The finalists (we think it was the finals) were both from China, the guy in blue seemed to be dominating, but the guy in red came from behind and won finally.

Up at 7:00 – showered and did some reading and knitting. Left for Metro around 9:30. We stopped at the Billa to pick up a smallish bottle of “sok” (juice) to share with Nick and Dennis.

It took them a few minutes to get Dennis ready (the caretaker answered the buzzer carrying Dennis naked from the waist down). Nick’s room was quiet and locked: they were already outside. Perhaps they did not have music class due to the holiday. His friends spotted us first and directed him our way. Nick was happy, came right up to me and holding onto his re t-shirt asked me if it /he was “kraiSEEwee” (handsome). I was glad that was a phrase/word included in the adoption phrase book so I could assure him he certainly was! We were also glad the phrase book (with a modification from Sasha) allowed us to tell them we missed them very much. It is noticeably cooler today – clouds and a good breeze. Both boys sported shorts, shorts and shoes today, although we saw some groups in just the skivvies.

We let Nick pick the spot today, but just as we were sitting down a large group of toddlers invaded ahead of a caretaker, so we chose another spot. Nick did is usual testing. Some times he does stuff we don’t think is really a problem, but we get enough looks from nearby caretakers that we set the boundary. (Bull and Susan have experienced the same.) At one point he was kicking the dirt, kicking the sand in the sand box and yelling “papika, papika”! He didn’t seem to be trying to be naughty, scared or mad at us. I caught up with him in the weeds, held him close and told him “fSYO KHArasho” (it’s okay). He settled down. Later we asked Susan if she knew what “papika” meant. She didn’t, and neither did the caretaker when she asked her (they didn’t know why Losha was saying “meeka”, either.

Dennis was cuddly, content to be on my lap for most of the morning. I offered him a half-cracker, and he took at least 30 minutes to eat it. I think deliberately draws it out, grinning every time I tell him “KUshai” (eat). Eventually he went to the sandbox and played with the truck and shovel.

We all went for a little walk and found some little play areas that are now unused. Nick found four painted stumps for us to sit on, and disappeared around the end of the wall saying “paKA”, but then returning with something (pretend) to drink.

The juice was a big hit, but the plastic disposable cups didn’t hold up to either little boy very well! When Nick kept putting the bubble blowing wand in the dirt, we used the water from his water bottle to clean it off (we bring one for each every time, refilling as needed). I don’t think it really made any difference to him, though, since we never let him drink a whole bottle of water in one session anyway.

Lunch was bread (getting dry), cheese and sausage. Sasha got us both hooked on the multivitamin fruit juice – it’s pretty sweet, so we usually just have ½ cup at a time. We both napped, and then John read one of my medical articles to me while I wove the shoulder seams and knit the neck ribbing on a sweater. I wasn’t all that interested in the article earlier, he helped a lot!

This afternoon we didn’t get a response quickly at Dennis’ room, so John went off to find Nick. Eventually Dennis came, happy and reaching to be picked up. Nick often makes the same request of whichever of us isn’t carrying Dennis at the time. We understand that he is already three and expected to walk, but it is doubtful he got much holding before or since coming to the orphanage, so even if it is a response to jealousy we have decided to savor the physical contact, especially when he initiates it.

We stayed at benches near the entrance, no other children within immediate view. Nick is obsessed with sticks, especially bigger and sturdier ones. We let him play with them, cautioning when he gets close to us, or stopping him when he thwacks at the benches too hard. Once he hits any one of us the stick is confiscated and he must apologize. Today he also had to apologize for marking on my back with a red crayon. Kids! 

Dennis dissolved his cookie again. I finally fed the rest to him so he could get down off my lap and move around a bit. Copying Nick, he loves sticks. Sometimes he just picks them up and hands them to one of us. Sometimes he objects when I substitute smaller, more flexible ones for the bigger ones. He ventured off this afternoon, still within eyesight, but further than he has before. I trailed after, and when I said “paKA” (bye-bye) and also “eedee syuDA” (come here) in a questioning voice, he paused, smiled and came back. I of course swept him up with in big joyous hug.

The juice comes out when only thirty minutes are left. Dennis was messier this time – guess I better start packing the bib again. Nick would always like more (and John can’t resist his polite request in English), so we will continue to bring only smaller bottles.

When 6:30 came we were very close to Nick’s room but we gave him the option of his room or Dennis’ first, he chose Dennis’, of course.

We stopped at Billa for a few supplies, including a 6-liter bottle of water. Supper was stir fry with frozen vegetables out of a bag and a chicken breast. Sasha is due back from Kyiv after 11:00 PM. Court is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. We are contemplating missing our afternoon session with the boys – either because court takes that long, or we won’t have time to change out of our suits before heading over. As dirty as we regularly get, a change of clothes would be necessary.