Reminders of Nicky's Former Home

I was going thru my camera and realized I had yet to download the few videos we took while in St Petersburg. The first was taken the day we visited him after receiving the official "ok" to adopt him from the court. As you will see, he is so not happy about us being there. The frown on his face is something I have almost forgotten. In such a short amount of time, Nicky's frown has been permanently turned upside down and has been replaced by a beautiful, full-lipped smile!

This video was just before we were leaving after visiting him at the orphanage. We had spent some time with him one-on-one, but he was more interested in being part of his "gruppa" than being with the 2 crazy Americans people kept calling "mama" & "papa"! If you turn up your volume, you can hear Nicky saying "paka" - "bye" - he said this all on his own...he really wanted us to leave!

This is Nicky & Kris 2 days after leaving the orphanage. We're in our friends P&C's living room in Peter. Since we had never heard Nicky laugh, we thought he was crying at first!

It's amazing the changes in him after only a few days with us. We loved being in our little "bubble" there in Peter - just the three of us hanging out all the time. Kris & I learning how to be parents; Nicky learning how to trust us. We showed Nicky the videos (there's actually a 3rd I couldn't get to upload) the other day. Our questions about whether or not he remembered the orphanage were answered. He said a few things (in Russian), but we weren't sure what he said; he definitely knew it was him - our son is so vain!

I can't wait to show these to him as he gets older - I wonder what he'll think then? I hope you enjoyed viewing them!