The weather has been beautiful here, sunny and in the upper 80’s. Now we are seeing the weather change. Yesterday it sprinkled off and on and today we woke up to gray skies and lots of rain. We put on our raincoats and hit our well-worn path to see Samuel. Our last couple visits have been inside because of the weather. We are thankful now for our days outside. It’s stuffy inside and we have to be more creative to keep him entertained. Today we peeked around the corner into the bathroom right next to the playroom to see a couple little boys sitting to go potty on little green Tupperware bowls marked with a number. I guess they each have their own. What a funny site, I of course snapped a picture. Maybe we don’t need the fancy potty seats, bowls work fine here.
All the kids in Samuel’s group call us Mama and Papa when we arrive and when we leave they each want a separate “da sviDAniya” and a wave from us. Sounds like a little Russian boy at home that I know! Noah is very particular about goodbyes. It is so sweet and melts my heart every time. We heard there are three more families preparing to come to Rostov in the next coming months from our agency. Yay! Maybe one of these children will be chosen, but it is unlikely since most couples long for babies. We still have seen no adoptive families here. We have to trust they are all in God’s big hands. He loves them and it is not for us to question His ways.
Everyday we go to play with Samuel twice, once around 10am and then again at 5pm, each for about an hour and a half. Yesterday, Ryan went with our facilitator to purchase our plane tickets to Moscow, and so I went up to play with Samuel by myself. Should I go to the ticket office or play with Samuel…this was an easy choice! Oh, I’m so glad I did. They let me come into his room! This is usually not allowed and so it was truly a privilege to get a glimpse of the place he has “lived” for at least the past year... He was so proud to show me his bed and his pillow. Being the “experienced” mom that I am I checked it out thoroughly to see what size and softness he is used to. Always looking for things we can purchase to bring him comfort when he comes home with us. He sat quietly on the floor and waited for me to take initiative to play. I pulled down a baby doll off the shelf. I know, I know, it’s not a boy toy, but I wanted to see what he would do. He pretended along with me to feed the baby and pointed to eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. He is so gentle and has a sweet way of asking and patiently waiting. We have taught him to say “more” and “thank you” in sign language and he does it faithfully, but so far only when asking for the gummy bears stashed in daddy’s backpack! He loves to wrestle with Dad and charges at us to be tickled and his giggles are SO cute.
Did I mention he is now giving us kisses? The bonding is happening little by little and going far better than we imagined. The only stubbornness we’ve seen so far is when we have to say goodbye or when we try to take off his jacket and shoes. He has a real attachment to clothes. One day while looking through our toy bag he saw the shirt we had brought (in case we wanted to change out of the girlish looking jog suit they keep dressing him in) and he insisted we put it on him. Then came the pants, and socks and he wanted those on too. Finally after searching the bag he sat and pouted on my lap and we figured out he wanted his new shoes and we had not brought them with us that day. Interesting…I think he longs for things of his own. He doesn’t know yet that a whole closet full is waiting!
We have only 7 more days in Rostov and then on to Moscow. Right now we expect to leave Moscow, after visiting U.S Embassy to get his visa, on Friday the 26th and home to Clovis on Saturday the 27th.
“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
We are trusting the Lord, because He is trustworthy and He promises to go before us.
We love you all,
Allyson for both
My Life is Yours
15 years ago
4 comments:
We can't wait to meet him! Sounds like he is a real cutie pie! Miss you guys.
Thank you for taking the time to keep us updated. Your posts are precious...I'm so excited to meet him, and I'm anxious for you three to come home!
A great blog to come home to after a busy weeekend away. We got back to Fresno in time to most of Taylor's game, he's developing very well. lots of hussle and see's the other players that he can pass off to, an excellant team player. And they won. We followed Darls home for a short stay and Lauren road with us.
We had a great visit at Craig's house and met up with Ben and Sheli for breakfast this morning. Eight of us had a nice dinner and sharing mom's birthday, Steve, Ragena, Tom, Pat, Bob and Craig. Talbot was by briefly but didn't stay for dinner.
We're encouraged that you are finding things to do that will help pass the time more quickly. Sounds like you're bonding very well with Samuel and the news about possibly getting to have hime for the weekend before heading to Moscow. That would make your flight home easier to manage.
We love you anticipate each communication from you.
Papa and Grandma Howard
What a treat to be able to visit Samuel's room there - to be able to have some more insight into his life and place there. Made all the more sweet in knowing that his days there will soon be only a memory.
When you said, "I think he longs for things of his own. He doesn’t know yet that a whole closet full is waiting!" it reminded me of how we can so easily hold on to our "things" here, not realizing how much the Lord has in store for us in eternity - a whole "closet full waiting"!
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