Thurs' Day: Loose Legs

Last night we called The Learning Garden, the day care center we use, and spoke to the director. We had previously told her we were adopting a special-needs child. She had assured us he would be welcome. We let her know when Nick and Dennis will be back and gave her more information on Daniel’s abilities/limitations so she can plan staffing accordingly. We are grateful that they are so willing to try to accommodate our needs.

Lutheran Hour Ministry’s (LHM’s) devo talked about God answering prayer. Tends to boil down to ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘later‘. Thought about it throughout the day. Seems to me like sometimes God says “no” to a request only because he has a much better “yes” planned, one we didn’t even ask for. We asked that the director would be able to allow me to leave early (today) as we had planned. That received a ‘no’ answer. But now it looks like we might all three be able to go home together next Saturday. It would be faster than we imagined for John and Daniel, and a much better trip with two adults and a child who can’t stand. A huge and unexpected ‘yes’. Perhaps.

Intervarsity Press tackled Genesis 3:5: just what does it mean when Satan said, “you will be like God, knowing good and evil”? The idea of this pursuit of autonomy resulting instead in alienation led me to do a search on “alien” in the Bible. God gives many directives on the treatment of “aliens”. Remembering that the Israelites had been aliens in Egypt, they were to be good to the aliens in their midst. Prior to our faith in Jesus Christ we were aliens to God. We have been ‘aliens’ in a strange land for the past few weeks, and we have been well-treated, indeed.

No message from Christine - found out later their Internet service was out. Bad news for Ben who has high school via Internet classes and needed to take a chemistry test. Level 2 on the exercise video. A new twist on breakfast. Inspired by my garlic bread last night John decided to make toast this morning: over an open flame on the stove! The blue flame actually reaches up to the draining spatula John is holding in the picture - and no, we didn’t cause the singe mark on the adjacent refrigerator, but it is easy to see how it could happen.

Daniel came to us with his hood up and his braces off. Since they always put his hood up when his hair is wet, it is possible he had his water therapy before we arrived. He never got upset when he saw the therapist throughout the rest of the day. He was also wearing the wool socks I finished knitting at yesterday evening’s visit. I left them on his feet when we “returned” him for the night along with the loose footies he had been wearing. We had a nice visit down in the green corridor. He ate half of a banana, a cookie and choked down a little water (I hate listening to that, but I know it is how they always let him drink). Riding the motorcycle, and John lifting him high in the air or dipping him low to the ground as Daniel requested either “up” or “down” in English were the primary forms of entertainment. Without the weight of the braces Daniel has a much easier time moving his legs and agreed to quite a bit of walking while John supported most of his body weight. Wish it weren’t so hard to upload video clips from here, because we got some excellent “foot”age. Also due to the absence of the braces, I was wishing I had his shoes along so we could see if they fit.

On our way back upstairs one of his caregivers and the physical/water therapist stopped and asked about the socks. To me they looked ridiculous because I made them specifically to fit over his braces, but they called them beautiful. They asked if I made the sweater I was wearing, too - a smiling ‘nyet’ was my answer.

We had a few more pictures we wanted to have printed so after dropping off the carryall we headed for the Metro and went to the Historical Museum stop by Alec and Nadya’s church to use our usual place. They don’t admit to any English, but don’t seem to mind working with us. We headed down the hill to the open market we remember from the last adoption in search of a bib for the trip home (for soup). That didn’t take long and we explored further. We wandered into a building where they had counter after counter of fresh (I hope) meat on display - on counters and hung in the air - in every imaginable form. No purchases there but on the way back we picked up some leggings (these are common for both boys and girls for warmth) with fire trucks, small flat foam Russian alphabet squares, and finally a fleece outfit. Even the long-sleeved shirt is made of fleece. It will feel soooo good. The proprietor spoke no English but does communicate well. She found out we were looking for clothes for a small two-year-old boy. She thought the outfit we picked out was too small and pointed to a larger sweat suit. John and I agreed the one we had should fit, and with a look that said “you try to help some people and they just don’t want to listen” she bagged it up. We misunderstood about the price but she waited patiently while we parsed out the Russian numerals, and then gave us a 10 grivna discount. (Parsed here doesn’t, of course, refer to grammar, but John said it works based on computer usage.)

We ate at a cafeteria we had seen on our way down. First we made sure it was a cafeteria because “sit-down” restaurants can be very difficult without an interpreter. We each grabbed a tomato and cucumber salad (John’s had some kind of white sour cream sauce in it). John had a rice pilaf and picked something off the top shelf - a spherical, breaded and fried food. I went with roasted potato slices and chicken shish kabob. After dishing up the warm foods they put them in a microwave to further heat them (universal). John also got a bowl of borsch. I had my rice in the form of a slice of rice pudding. We each had a Coke. They didn’t give our hot food back to us right away, and the cashier rang up the rest of our food. Didn’t seem like the bill was large enough ($4 US) for all of our food. I took what we had to a table and John went back to ask for our hot stuff - yep, another $4.

John had better success with his food adventure today. Last time we went to the Naukova cafeteria he accepted some dark meat smothered in onions. Funny, I didn’t recall he was much of a liver-and-onions guy. He isn’t. I split my chicken cutlet with him and discovered I really liked his liver. Strange! It is similar to how I finally began to like oatmeal (again) during a mission trip in Ukraine several years ago. He had more of my chicken, I ate more of his liver and onions. This time we each liked all of our food, and I was too full to eat all of my rice. Most of the Coke came with me.

Sergei called as we were finishing up. He had found another errand we needed to take care of. We first arranged for him to come pick us up at our then-current location, but when we returned to the photo shop our pictures were ready and we let Sergei know we would meet him back at our Metro stop. The errand to the court house was completed and we arrived at our apartment just in time to call Nick and Dennis. They were both pretty excited about bracelets Katie had made for them, each with their name spelled out. Nick counted out the days with us until I (and hopefully Dad and Daniel) return. He is very determined we should play Christine’s choir button game when I get back, and repeated and augmented the rules (to cover cheaters) he had given us yesterday. We should be experts. We learned Nick had been invited to a birthday bowling party that we will miss by a matter of hours on March 18th. We were able to call via Skype and leave our regrets later.

Sergei came to take us back to the orphanage. He had been able to pick up some original hospital records we will need, but the traffic was just horrible and it took him twice as long to get back to us as he expected.

Our favorite landing was already taken again, so we settled on the slightly larger of the three couches in the corridor. Daniel was sans braces - a whole day of loose legs! I had brought along the wool socks I knit for Dennis his first winter to wear inside boots when playing in the snow. They fit Daniel much better than the over-the-braces socks. We also tried on the shoe/boots we had purchased. They slip on easily with just the leggings he always wears, but although I did get them on with the thick socks, I got the impression they weren’t too comfortable. We also tried on the pants we had purchased today (about an inch longer than his usual pants, definitely not too small, thank you very much!) and others we had brought along. All are on the large side, but not by too much.

The favorite games for the evening were Papafetchtheballs, Dumpthetrainoutofthebag and Putthetrainbackintothebag. He did some more walking, too. I put the finishing touches on the socks for the braces (weaving in loose ends, etc.).

After his half banana he begged for water, and we discovered we had the cup, but no bottle of water. John headed for the kitchen where they graciously dipped out a cup for him. Makes us think they might boil and cool the water, since they didn’t just run it out of the tap. I’m still guessing he will have Giardia when we get home. He teased about wanting my knitting and was naughty throwing things we’ve told him not to, so I think he was feeling pretty good. We took away offended items and made him apologize to us, but no major showdowns. The time seemed to go more quickly tonight. When Daniel agreed he wanted to go back to ‘group’ we insisted he put the wooden train pieces back in bag one more time. With persuasion he did. I sent both pairs of socks with him.

On the way home we agreed to use up the foods we have on hand - then just eat out. We will still need water, Coke and chocolate, and John will also have his Multivitamin Juice. John grilled ham and cheese for supper. We have enough bread and butter for one more round of those. I’m not sure the pasta will get used up. It has an unfamiliar texture that John is finding difficult to enjoy. Our pants got splattered with mud today so I am washing perhaps the last load of ‘darks’.

Monday is Woman’s Day, the biggest national holiday in Ukraine. Anyone who can get off work does, and it is customary to give flowers, candies or some other acknowledgement to female family members and co-workers. For Alec and Nadya’s candy bouquet business this is bigger than even Valentine’s Day. The very long row of flower shops across the street from the other side of our apartment building was very busy and we saw many women already with a single flower or bouquet, and it seemed everyone was hurrying home from work to set off on a three-day weekend to be with moms or sisters. We are planning to take flowers to the orphanage on Monday to pass out to those who must work. Hope there are nice flowers left by then.

In anticipation of leaving Kharkov next Wednesday or Thursday we (John) have formulated our list of information to obtain: Daniel‘s schedule of food, sleep and toileting; his Beethoven and Mozart preferences; vaccination record; if he is taking any medications; if the leg braces for night or for day, or both will come with us. All of the legal stuff seems to be done. It remains only to see whether we receive the court decree on Tuesday, or if, due to Monday being a holiday, we will have to wait for Wednesday. By law, if a holiday occurs, a decree can be delayed until the second business day after the holiday.