September 9, 2008 - Good to Be Home!

We're all doing pretty well, considering we have a 2 yr old with a body that refuses to convert to the CMT time zone! The first night home, after touring the house & getting freaked out by our dogs, we went to bed (reluctantly) around 9:30pm. He slept until 5:30am, however, woke up once in between. We ended up getting up pretty early and he decided that the oatmeal that he ate with enthusiasm before, was to be pushed away. We played and stuck around the house all day Friday. We tried to walk with him to the park in our neighborhood (with the stroller as well), only he wanted me to carry him started to scream at the top of his lungs when we tried to get him into the stroller! I guess since we carried him pretty much everywhere in Peter & Moscow, he decided that that would be his favorite mode of transportation! As we neared the park, he settled a bit - insisted on holding my hand the whole time he was in the stroller - and we thought, perfect! Let's play! Wrong answer, parents! He snubbed the playground with gusto and cried if we tried to make him walk...so we gave up and went back to the house. We were able to entice him to our bath tub for a bath with tons of toys and his favorite, a fish that fills up with water, then squirts it out. Didn't go too badly...only cried when we took off his clothes.

Friday night, Nicky woke up around 2am & decided that sleeping was overrated. We went in to soothe him, to no avail, then decided to try the Ferber method (where you let them cry longer and longer in between times you go in to comfort them). He was to have none of that! He just cried louder & longer, only to stop immediately when we walked into the room! Oy...welcome to 2! We zombied our way thru Saturday; Kris worked at the office for a half day, while I was on mommy entertainment patrol...thank goodness my parents were here to help! Nicky met several of our neighbors and decided that he much liked the swing we got as a shower gift that my dad rigged in our tree in the front yard. He was full of love and hugs & kisses for me (up until then, he hadn't actually kissed either of us!), which made the sleep deprivation all worth it!
He actually slept thru the night on Saturday - awoke at 7am, so we all felt much more rested! Sunday was just another day around the house. Nicky watched some football with his Pop and Daddy...go Cowboys! He finally ate some and didn't fuss too much with the bath. My mom made traditional Russian Beef Stroganoff in honor of our little Russky! He actually enjoyed it, and finally ate a bunch. The bath went really well, however, bed time was not what he wanted to do, even thou he could barely keep his eyes open.

Nicky continues to amaze us with everything he does. He has really come out of his shell, for only being with us for 10 days! Who woulda thought that the child we saw a month ago that would barely look us in the eye would be talking non-stop and loving on us as much as he could at this point?! He is already repeating tons of words in English, and definitely understands a lot of what we say & tell him. He's definitely not as developmentally delayed as they told us; he just needed the one-on-one attention! We found out last night after reading our adoption paperwork & the court decree that the baby home he was living in was one for children that had severe cerebral issues and were "mentally challenged", to sum it up. All because he had had one minor seizure when he was 7 mos old, due to being malnourished and abandoned by his mother! We truly did rescue him from a life that would not have amounted to much. Thankfully, he is getting more used to being around the dogs...that would kill me...they're my babies too! :) And best of all, he's ours! His smile melts my heart and we are so thankful that he was brought to our lives!