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| Tuesday, July 25, 2006 |
| Quick Update |
The kids are finally all in bed. I'm about to fall over, but this is the only time I've had to answer some of your questions.
Age: The bwins turned 5 in June.
Name Tags: All of the people that met us at the airport had these around their necks. Each of them had their "title" in Russian. For example, the girls had Sistra H or Sistra E. I had tried to think of some kind of identification for them in case we were separated in the airport, but had not done it. This would have been a good idea. I think L just had one of his sister's tags on.
Sibling Bonding: The kids are all doing great! It's like they've always been siblings except not as much fighting between them yet. :-) The boys act like this is the only place they've ever lived. Today L was sitting on my lap and said something about the dietsky dom. I told him no more dietsky dom. He grinned and said, "Mama u Papa Dietsky Dom." I got a good laugh. H is such a big help and El. has really attached to her. Ed. and Z are little mothers, almost to the point of overkill. The boys have almost had enough of it. J is finding his role with them a little more each day. He loves them, but is very cautious with them. El. and L go to all of them, kiss them all goodnight, love on them all.
All in all, everything is going great! The transition has been fairly smooth. We are all sleeping through the night. In fact, I usually fall asleep putting the kids to bed and so does my dh. We sometimes could use a nap in the day, but that isn't going to happen around here.
D went back to work today, so I was all on my own with the six. I went to pick up our mail from the post office and blew a tire completely out on the way home. We sat on the side of the road for a while and then at the tire shop for a while. That was the way today started.
The boys never cried or even whined until about our 2nd or 3rd day in Moscow. Then we observed what they did when they were told "no", got in trouble, or got their feelings hurt. It is the most awful sight you have ever seen. It breaks my heart. They find a corner or get behind a door, duck their head and make soft whimpering noises. They never make any real noise, even if tears do come. If they are approached, they will not look at you. It was quite a scene around our house the first few days when this would happen. One of them would start. Soon after, E, who is very tender-hearted, would begin wailing because she couldn't bear to hear them cry. Then Z would start in too. One day, I even followed suit. It was quite a sight.
Five days after being home though, they have found their crying voices. L probably "cried"(threw a fit) 15 times today. I spent more time rocking him and calming him down than I did anything else today. He does not like having to share or being told "no". El. only had 3 of these "fits". One of them was at dinner when he didn't get to sit in the seat he wanted to sit in. He sat the entire meal with his head ducked to the side and refused to eat. He kept pushing himself away from the table. D would get up, push his chair back in, and go sit back down. After a few rounds of this, he stopped pushing his chair back. Every once in a while he would look up to see if we were watching him, then duck his head back down. Everyone finished eating, cleared their plates, except H and D. He ducked his head lower and a few minutes later I realized he was asleep. D woke him up and it was like he forgot he was being stubborn. He ate his food, cleared his plate, and went to play.
I know it sounds like a handful and I guess it was today, but the blessings so far outweigh these "adjustments". The bwins fit perfectly in our family. God knew what He was doing when He sent them to us. Every time they run to us and their little faces light up, my heart just melts. It is so hard to enforce the rules and require what is necessary, especially when their heads begin to droop and the whimpering starts. I know it is the right thing and we're saving ourselves and them a lot of heartache so we don't have to backtrack later. I never let the whining go on long before I hold them close and tell them how much Mama loves them. I'm kind of wondering if that's why L keeps doing it so much. He quits the minute I pick him up and hold him. He melts in my arms. He is also very jealous of the other kids being with me. He'll click his tongue and scold the others if they invade our snuggle time. He's going to be a handful, but he's so precious, as is his twin brother.
Well, that's a little insight into our last few days. Some day I will catch up on your blogs and maybe even throw in a post on them. Ha! Ha! Tomorrow we go to the pediatrician to get checked out. That should be a fun trip with all six! I need to head off to bed now and re-energize for another round tomorrow. Thanks for all of your support and prayers during this whole process. You are all wonderful!!! |
posted by 6blessings @ 8:05 PM  |
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| 5 Comments: |
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It sounds like things are going well. Your first four kids are really great to be so helpful and supportive during a tumultous time.
The parts about El and L not crying out loud and kind of hiding broke my heart. That's pretty much what Peanut used to do, too. When angry he would silently pout -- if I gave him time alone he would come back and be happy like nothing happened. By the end of his five weeks here, he had started to learn to come to me instead of hiding and pouting. It sounds like your boys are already learning that it's OK to show emotion, they won't get in trouble for it here.
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Thanks for a real day-in-the-life! Souns so wonderful. Enjoy! And good luck at the doc's. Still newbie, MMT
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It appears as if you all are adjusting quite nicely. I don't know how you do it with 6. You truly are wonder mom.
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That sounds so sweet that Levi is a little jealous, I'm sure it's a little hard to deal with though. Sounds like everyone is doing wonderful.
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That is interesting because Pineapple whimpered too. It is like she wanted to cry, but was afraid too or something.
All in all things sound like they are going great for you and the boys! I have a lot to catch up on.
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It sounds like things are going well. Your first four kids are really great to be so helpful and supportive during a tumultous time.
The parts about El and L not crying out loud and kind of hiding broke my heart. That's pretty much what Peanut used to do, too. When angry he would silently pout -- if I gave him time alone he would come back and be happy like nothing happened. By the end of his five weeks here, he had started to learn to come to me instead of hiding and pouting. It sounds like your boys are already learning that it's OK to show emotion, they won't get in trouble for it here.