You mean we're going to give her a bath?

That was pretty much what K.B. asked her mom today about the "shower" they were throwing for Y and myself.  Funny how things get lost in translation.

Y made out pretty well with several new shirts, jeans, a radio and an electronics builder thingy that he can work on with Papa.  One of the shirts was so funny, I just loved it.  It said something like, "Teacher, please excuse my son's behavior - he get's it from his Dad - The Mom."  Even though they don't share DNA, they're so much alike it's uncanny.  Perfectionists, moody, intelligent, able to figure out how things work without any instructions, and messy.  Of course, this makes them butt heads way too often.  I'm getting tired of Bill harping on me about things he doesn't like that Y does.  Apparently it's all my fault, whatever it is.  Like one of Bill's shirts says, "I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was going to blame you!"

We were at our friends' house for over 5 hours.  There were five kids who'd been adopted from Ukraine in the past year, plus three biological kids, and four moms.  This is not a dad thing to do, apparently.  The kids kept coming inside and tattling on each other, so finally one of the moms told them to work it out between themselves, and that seemed to help.  We discussed lots of things, including the fact that one of the families would be going back to Ukraine for a second adoption, hopefully this summer.  We discussed what all of our plans would be for the summer.  Maybe a cruise in there somewhere if we can find the time and the money?  Short cruise, only 3-4 days, no longer.  Would be nice if I can get the time off from work.  We also discussed paperwork and social worker visits that will be upcoming for us.  Guess I'll have to clean house again soon.

And, I start back to work on Monday morning.  I have to tell them I can only come in for half a day on Tuesday, I have a dentist's appointment scheduled at 11am; plus, Y does not have to go to school on Tuesday or Wednesday because they will be doing state testing.  He does not have enough English to take the tests at all, so he would have to sit in the library all day doing nothing.  They said they would not likely have a teacher or aide available to help him with his English as all of them would be busy with testing the other kids.

Natalie

TX

JuiceBoxJungle - try it, it's neat!

The Language Barrier

We seem to be at the point in Y's language acquisition that he selectively pretends he doesn't understand things.  You know he understands, and he knows he understands, but he thinks he can get away with doing whatever if he pretends he does not understand.

We received a trampoline from our neighbors yesterday evening.  Because it was after dark, we just left it in the driveway; and we told Y that he could not jump on the trampoline in the driveway.  Our driveway is mostly gravel, with some grass mixed in for good measure.  Besides that, the power lines are only about three feet away from his head if he jumps on that side of the trampoline.  We did not have time to put the trampoline in the back yard this afternoon.

Y seemed okay with that for a while, since we had the Wii up and running yesterday.  He can't get enough of the boxing game we bought him.  Remember our promise to buy him a video game when he could ask for it in English.  Well, he did and we did.  Bill wanted a system that would play Blu-ray discs as well, but only the Playstation does that and it costs $400-500.  The Wii was only $250.  I won that battle.  Plus, as many of you know, the Wii makes you move around while playing some of the games, not just sitting on the couch exercising your thumbs.

Today after school, Y wanted to jump on the trampoline, but again he was told no.  Bill showed him the Wii was working, so he seemed happy to box for an hour or two.  I was sitting out on the back deck talking to my sister when I heard the door open by the driveway.  A few seconds later, all of the dogs were over that way watching something very interesting.  It seems Y thought he could get away with jumping on the trampoline if no one noticed (Bill was napping on the couch).  He was told to get off of it, and he did.  He went back to boxing.  A few minutes later I told him he needed to take the dogs for a quick walk before we went to open gym night at the cheer/tumbling place.  He was specifically told not to go outside by Bill (who had found out that he jumped on the trampoline again without permission - he did it once when only Bill was home and again when I saw him).  So, Y opened the door, ignored both of us and went outside to the driveway.  I followed him out, and lo and behold he jumped up on the trampoline.  I immediately made him get off of it and both of us told him to go to his room for a few minutes.  He said he understood he couldn't jump on the trampoline in the driveway.  When asked why he did it again, after being told no three times, he replied that he had to get his shoes.  His shoes were on the ground on the other side of the trampoline.  Sorry, kiddo, the shortest distance route doesn't work in this case.

Y figured out the problem was the trampoline in the driveway, so, okay - let's move it to the back yard.  NOW.  We told him no, he would not be rewarded for bad behavior.  Maybe we'll move it tomorrow.  Maybe not.  He argued a bit more, cried some crocodile tears and went to his room for a few minutes. I decided he needed to burn off some energy, so I told him we needed to walk the dogs before going to the cheer gym.  Bill thinks I should've made him stay home, but I thought it would be good for him to get away from Papa for a little while.  They were getting on each others' nerves.

So, walk the puppies we did and then we made the five minute trip to the cheer gym.  Y was a little annoyed that he was the only boy in the place at first, but less than five minutes later three older teenage boys showed up.  Lets just say they were good, awesome in fact.  Y started watching what they did and trying to imitate them.  They began talking to him and showing him how to do a couple of things, so that really broke the ice.  Y then loosened up mentally as well as physically and he spent the better part of the next 90 minutes running, jumping and twirling to his heart's delight.  Coach Jason took some of the better performing kids into another adjacent area and helped them practice routines and helped them with their form.  He had Y practicing proper form for back flips and also practicing jumping higher while starting in a standing position (instead of the bent over position Y was used to).

All in all, I think he liked it.  I asked if he wanted to come back on Monday afternoon, but he wasn't sure.  I'm sure we'll at least be back every Friday night for open gym.

Earlier in the day, I got to have lunch with another adoptive mother.  She adopted her daughter almost two years to the day before we adopted Y.  We had a very long (2+ hours) lunch and discussed a lot of things.  Her daughter has ODD and we discussed the possibility that Y may have it, too.  She said it was good we were starting him in therapy right away.  She wishes she had started her daughter sooner than she did, but things seem to be going really well for them right now.  Y will have his first session alone with the therapist next week (along with a translator, we hope - we think we've got one lined up right now but it's not for sure).

We'll definitely keep in contact, if not make these lunches a regular thing.

A few bumps and bruises along the way, but not the worst day we've had yet.

Natalie

TX

What a surprise!

I saw this video on another blog.  I do have to say, it was wonderful.  Proves that you don't have to be beautiful on the outside to be beautiful on the inside.  I am not really a huge fan of broadway musicals, but this woman was fabulous.  Note the stunned look on Simon Cowell's face when she began singing!

Britains Got Talent 2009 Susan Boyle (Singer) (HD) - video powered by Metacafe

Natalie

TX

Therapy

We went to our therapist this afternoon.  We have had trouble finding a Russian speaking therapist in the area, even in the state.  So, we decided to go with option #2, go to our first choice therapist and try to find an interpreter.  She called us up today and asked if we could make it to a 4pm session today.  We said yes, but no interpreter.  That was okay for the first session.

We just gave her a basic rundown of what we were experiencing and she said we needed to find what motivated him.  It seems Yarek wants to learn how to play the guitar.  So, he made a deal with the therapist; he will go there every week and speak English to her and teach her Russian (she is of Russian descent); he will be able to talk about anything he wants to talk about (he is a little confused about that, but we're sure he'll get the idea quickly)

and

he will earn guitar lessons if he really concentrates on speaking English in public and at home.

We told him we do not want him to lose the ability to speak Russian; we also told him that was not likely because he has Nastia and her mother to speak Russian with him just a few blocks away, as well as the other kids from his internat that have been adopted here.  He just needs to be able to communicate in English more often.  He does not need to be perfect.  We explained that Mama's Russian was not perfect in Ukraine, but she spoke it anyway, didn't she?  "Yes."  Therefore his English did not have to be perfect before he could speak it outside of school and home.

We think this therapist will do well with Y.  She is used to dealing with traumatized kids and/or kids who have been in foster care.  She has a small therapy dog and several musical instruments that Yarek can play as an immediate reward for speaking his mind in English.

And, she's free the first 8 sessions.  The employee assistance program at work pays for it.  Then we need to either use our insurance or pay for it out of pocket.  Last time we used our insurance for a few extra sessions and only had to pay about $25/visit.  I'm sure it'll be more this time.  We have different insurance and there is a higher deductible.

Natalie

TX

Air Traffic Control Article in GQ

http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_8957

Above is a link to an article in GQ that pretty much says it all about what I do for a living.  If you have a half an hour, and are so inclined, click through and read it.

I'm such an idiot, I even called up work last week and told them I want to return two weeks early.  My paycheck is really the culprit.  It's so little on maternity leave!  Gotta get caught up on getting all of our bills paid.  Especially the taxes owed on our rent house.  Bill used the extra money during my trip (I told him to do it).  Besides, we contested our taxes last year (got them lowered, too) and the taxing authority did not send us a final bill until March.  Therefore, my taxes aren't really late yet, I just can't afford to pay the whole thing right now. 

Next Monday I report back to work at either 7am or 6am, I don't know which yet.  That means Bill has to drive Y to school all week!  I'll be home either right as Y gets home or an hour later, which means Bill may need to be at home when school lets out as well.

At least I'll get to spend evenings at home for my first week at work.  Then it'll be back to the grind of six days a week, possibly ten hour days at that.  Gonna have to work on a chore chart for everyone before I get back to that ridiculous stuff.

Gotta go burn a CD for Y now.  Our neighbors so kindly loaned him two CDs of Russian music.  They're also gonna give us a trampoline they no longer use.  No one tell my insurance company, please.

Natalie

TX 

Funny Movie

We actually got Y away from the dreaded "S. B," aka Sponge Bob, by watching a movie together.  Get Smart arrived today from Netflix.  Imagine that, something Bill actually wanted to watch!  So, we turned off S.B. and put on the movie.  Y seemed a little put out, until the movie actually started.  It had enough sight gags to keep him giggling most of the time.

The funniest part of the movie?  When they were speaking Russian with English subtitles.  Y couldn't stop guffawing.  The dialogue wasn't so funny, so we paused the picture while I asked him what was so funny.  His response - "Bad Russian!"  Not that they were using incorrect grammar, just that the actor was not a native speaker.  Here I was trying to concentrate on seeing if I could understand them without the subtitles and he's giggling because they sound like me!

Natalie

TX