The people that got us through

So we aren’t going to talk about sleep issues. We really do more than battle about sleep. We feel fortunate that we have not had any major meltdowns like some families have had. For the most part we have a very happy boy. We also have a very smart boy. Pickle is quickly learning how to manipulate his environment. This manipulation mainly happens at meal time. He learned that he can play with his food and it won’t get taken away. He also learned that if he doesn’t feed himself one of us will do it for him. We are trying to be firm on what he eats though. We try to stick to something that slightly resembles what he was fed in the orphanage. But we modified it so it would be the same thing we are eating. We tried chicken, but it is very tough here so he was having no part in that. He is not so hot on green beans, but love peas. He loves sweet thing so we are like little bandits at nap time or at night and eating our treats while he sleeps. We have yet to give him any candy or junk food. This is mainly so he doesn’t get an upset stomach from too much new food.

His latest activity is pushing his bowl away and smiling. He is pretending he is finished in an attempt for us to feed him. This worked at 2 meals until I was having no more of it. I whipped out the Russian phrase for “eat please” and it worked. He ate the rest of his lunch. If I only knew that yesterday.

He loves to bring us his books and sit in our lap and read. His favorite is a picture book of first words. A car is a Beep-Beep. He can also say “boy,” and “ball.” An airplane is “ooooooooooo.” A teddy bear is “ooo” and he says Oot-ka, which is duck. He also likes our family photo book we had left at the orphanage. He easily recognizes me and says “MaMa.” Daddy is oddly also mama. Grammie is Baba, and he is fascinated with his Grandpa Mike. That comes out DuDa. Babushka sounds a lot like Blah Blah Blah.
We had planned on going to Lenin Square today, but we had a rain storm in the middle of the night and woke up to gale force winds. To use an Elle phrase, it is Butt-Ass cold here. Good thing we brought lots of clothes pins to hold down the laundry.

I thought I would pass along my little observations and helpful hints of living in Russia.

Bring 2 lbs of coffee not just one. We are going to run out before we leave.
You cannot buy peanut butter here. Bring it too.
Bring a full bottle of Woolite, not 1/2. I am going to run out of that too. (and I am not having as much of the dingy whites problem that Suzanne is. Or at least I don’t care)
Butter is not salted here. In fact not much is.
Russians don’t put preservatives in anything. Good for your health, but makes everything taste off.
Chicken is chewy and hard to come by.

I miss my modern conveniences of home. What I wouldn’t give for my washing machine, dishwasher or my dryer. Mostly the dryer. The clothes that have hung out on the line have a funky odor. I also wish Pickle had more toys to play with. Although he seems to be content with what is here. We scored a few extra toys from Miss Suzanne and the previous occupant of our apartment.