Kemerovo- Day 14

This morning we got up early and left for the orphanage at 7am. I had not slept well last night because I had a toothache. Ugh, I wish I would have taken care of it before I left! We made good time and made it to the orphanage a little before ten. We had decided to go without the translator today as it decreased our amount to go to $100 rather than $125. On our first visit this trip, she didn’t do much translating anyway. Once when I asked her what Ruslan had said to me (I had heard a tone) she refused to translate as she said she would not use such words. Hmmm, guess Ruslan has learned to curse. Anyway, with my experience working with translators for work, that doesn’t compute. They are supposed to translate EVERYTHING and not enter in their own opinion. We didn’t miss her today anyway. We did really like our translator from our first trip Alyona.
As we were waiting for the boys to come into the room, I sat and prayed that we would have a better visit with the boys. We had two colorful board books out when they came into the room, so they sat down and began to look through them. Sure enough, they LOVED the book with the cars, trucks, and tractors. We gave each of them a car to play with as well and this kept them occupied for a while as well. It wasn’t too long into the visit that Ruslan spied the snacks up on the shelf. Would you believe he ate the ENTIRE time we were there (two hours)? The kid is so thin we wondered where he put it all. I’m sure he never gets that much snacks in one sitting but we made a fun game out of saying “please” in Russian and then required for him to allow us to feed him. He even fed both Chad and I once which was fun. Both boys were more calm today and I really felt like we were seeing them in their typical state. Pasha definitely is more active than Ruslan, as Ruslan and I sat and looked at books for quite a while and then he colored with Chad for quite a while as well. Ruslan also laid down while he played with his car. I wonder if he wasn’t feeling very well as he seemed not to have much energy.
Today the boys listened to both Chad and I much better. Pasha felt so comfortable with us he threw a temper tantrum. He didn’t want to share his book so Chad took it away from him. He walked about five feet from us, sat and cried. Ruslan sat with me looking at the other book and I could tell he was upset that his brother was crying. After Pasha calmed down some and was crying quietly, I went over to him and rubbed his back while saying “don’t cry” and “its okay” in Russian. He allowed me to pick him up for a bit and he wrapped his little arms around me while I consoled him. He moved to ask to get down and told me in Russian that “Papa hurt his feelings”. Then, he walked over to Chad and told him the same thing. Chad tried to communicate how we needed to share (we use this Russian phrase a lot with them) and gave him the book back. It was nice to know we could handle a tantrum even when the communication isn’t the easiest. We’ll see if the next one is as easy!
Chad worked really hard at not getting the boys all wound up. It really kept the visit from getting out of hand, and the boys were able to play more appropriately with the toys. I brought bubbles and they enjoyed popping them. Ruslan worked hard at trying to blow gently so that he could produce some bubbles. Towards the end of the visit Pasha said “peesit” and grabbed himself. Chad took him to the bathroom and Pasha went all by himself. Chad said he had to help Pasha pull his underwear down fast enough and move his clothing so that he didn’t pee on himself. Pasha hit his head on the toilet lid as he was trying to pull down his pants. They are pretty small for all of their independence. It will be hard for them to learn to allow us to do things for them so that they can understand we love them and will take care of them. That is why it is so important for us to feed them. They would really prefer to stuff their own mouths with the treats but at least they are willing to let us help them. It will be interesting to see how a meal goes with them.
I posted some pictures from our visit; it is really hard to get them to pose like the girls do; they just aren’t used to getting their picture taken. I will keep trying! We are so happy that the day went so well; it was an affirmation of why we are here. Tomorrow we hope to go to some second hand stores here and then Friday Anna the coordinator will come by with papers for us to sign. We still haven’t heard for sure if we pick up the boys on Monday, but are assuming this is still the case. More tomorrow….