Hello everyone!
This weekend is the Ukrainian Memorial Day holiday. Ukrainians everywhere are flocking with their families to the cemeteries to celebrate the memory of their loved ones. I spoke with Helen about this and got some clarification on the local customs. Apparently Easter is for celebrating Christ, and the next weekend is specifically for loved ones. Extended families get together from all over, and have a family reunion in the cemetery. The adults bring elaborate meals, and children run and play games among their past ancestors. Cemeteries here are set up with built in picnic tables by each family gravesite for just this purpose! The families rejoice, remember, and then work together to renew each grave with a spring clean- up and flowers. It’s such an interesting custom, and so different from how we deal with death in our country.
The holiday unfortunately caused Max’s passport to get further delayed, so we may not have it on Sunday/Monday as hoped. Yuri has assured me that I will have no problem changing my airline reservation. I have to go to the Delta airlines office with Max tomorrow to sort things out. Initially they said that everything is booked until May 7th! But after discussing things for a while, and changing some routing, I think I can still make it out of here by at least Saturday, ay 2nd. So I’ve told myself to relax, and just enjoy the beautiful weekend with Max—it will all work out I’m sure.
Max and I are doing great. We have settled into a little routine everyday, and he seems to enjoy it. He wakes me up at 0630, and we play for a while. Then around 0730 I make him breakfast or we go out for breakfast. Then we go to the park down the street and enjoy the playground, chase pigeons, and I can let him run free. After the park, we pick a direction and go exploring. He takes my hand and we happily walk off for a daily adventure. Usually he will let me know when he is getting tired, by pointing at my shoulders, and I happily lift him up where he can get a better view of the city. I was worried initially that Kiev might be too much for him, with all the big city “hub-bub” and people, but he seems to like it. He is always smiling and pointing things out to me.
He also likes to wave at people—or should I say only at pretty girls. The kid is amazing. I will have to let some of my single guy friends (Doc or Ken if you’re reading this) take him on afternoon walks. He will spot a well-dressed lady, and wave at her and smile. You have to understand this is SO not normal in Kiev. The people do not seek out eye contact with you. The high-class women are often seen strutting by in the latest Paris fashions, and do not stop to chat. Meanwhile here comes Max, all smiley and cute just fixated in their direction and furiously waving. On multiple occasions I have seen girls “unfreeze” their attitude and just warm up to the little guy. They always end up waving, and coming over to smile back. My son—the ladies man J Hilarious.
After the walk, we have a small lunch somewhere and then walk home for nap. Nap starts at 12:30, and there is always some crying in protest. He quickly subdues himself though when I make the sign for “bed” (which he seems to get more than “sleep”) and lay down next to him. It takes him about 15 minutes and then he’s out for a good 1 ½ hrs. When he wakes up after that it’s really funny. There is no stretching or yawning awake—he just sits bolt upright like a light switch, and then asks me to go play. Then we have a snack and go back out for a another walk in the afternoon.
On Sunday, we walked down to Independence Square to meet our friend Natalie and her Mom. Independence square was beautiful. The weather was amazing and there were hundreds of people out enjoying the day. The main street was closed to vehicular traffic so everyone could enjoy some peace, and street performers were everywhere entertaining the masses. It was good to see Natalie escaped Zaporizchya as well. She was suffering with no hot water for showers, and the itch to get on with the next step. Dave, her husband had to go back to the states, but She is doing great with their son Maxime. Her mom is a huge help-- speaks fluent Ukrainian!! Natalie is going to the embassy medical center tomorrow and finishing up the paperwork for the visa. Unfortunately they are caught in the same airline back-up that Max and I are in. Their flight is not until Friday.
Max and Maxime recognized each other for the orphanage, and gave each other a big hug—it was so cute! They also insisted on holding each other’s hand when we walked around, just as they did when they walked around in groups with their caregivers at the orphanage. Maxime did a good job of keeping our Max in check from running off to far. We also had another vomit-filled learning experience---BLEH! We bought the kids ice cream for the first time, and they loved it! Max ate a little too much I think, but I didn’t notice at the time because he was fine. Later we had dinner, and he didn’t want to eat. I had forgotten about the ice cream, so I coaxed him to have a bite of sandwich so he wouldn’t be hungry—yeah not smart. He ate the bite, but then looked at me a little upset. I knew the look well from the car trip, and I was just in time with the napkins. Ice cream looks better than bananas any day, but it was still not pretty! I managed to catch most of it, and the rest was on a vinyl seat and easily wiped up. Moral of the story—be careful how much you let your newly-adopted children eat! Especially new foods. Just take things in little steps and portions. Max does better when he gets a series of snacks it seems. It’s a learning process, but he is teaching me little by little!
Our day always ends with bath time around 7:30 PM. This is his favorite part of the day I think, because he constantly asks to take a bath throughout the day. He loves to splash, so I have to wear just a pair of shorts if I don’t want to get drenched. After bath we have a little snack, and then brush teeth. Then it’s time for some “Baby Einstein” . He loves the one where they do everything in sign language! He is able to copy just about every sign they do for simple household items. He sits on my lap, all snuggled in his jimmies, and happily shows me the signs he knows. Finally, at about 8:30 PM he is ready for bed. He continues to be a joy to put to bed. He just climbs in, sometimes with a little protest of tears, but he still does it without a huge fuss. Then he smiles at me and starts to fade out. Usually he is out within 10 minutes, and I can leave the room.
So overall we are doing great. Max and I are getting some quality time to bond.The paperwork issues should be fixed by Monday we hope, but with the way things work, there won’t be time to get my stuff done in time to leave on Tuesday. I will keep everyone up to date when we have a solid passport in and a travel date. Hope all is well back in the states, we miss everyone! Max asks every day to Skype-chat with Rebecca and the girls--he goes over to the computer and makes the sign for "momma?" . When we get to chat with them he tries to "climb in" the computer! Sorry, kid--they haven't invented "human travel over IP (HTOIP)"--yet... More soon. Love,
Team Chaos.
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