Today was a good day. Lots of interesting little things happened. But the start of the day was less than pleasing. We got there early (10:15), because of our trip to the toy store, and our children were in a room watching some skits until 11:00. Then, they went to their group room and ate before coming out. I poked my head into each of those rooms, and one of our children saw me each time, but they didn't come. At first, that struck me as not so good, but then I thought a little harder and decided it was good, since it shows that they definitely understand obedience when they know what they should be doing and when. (Or it could mean that they like skits and food better than Mama and Papa, but it's too early to care about that, yet.)

This morning, Shelly and I took off early in order to pick up some toys for the kids. (A little boredom during this bonding period didn't sound like the best idea, and at least Adam had shown signs of some boredom.) Our faithful taxi driver took us to a toy store of her choosing, knowing that we at least wanted to get a ball. We picked up a ball that closely resembles a basketball for Adam, but the printing on it makes it something else. For the two girls we got simple rubber balls. We also picked up what looked like a clear backpack with a whole bunch of stuff in it -- paddle ball, some interesting lacrosse-type catching tools and some balls, along with a frizbee, a boomerang, and two other things that work like a frizbee or boomerang. The backpack and things in it were not given to them today, since we're trying to stretch out the timing. But, we gave them the balls, and then this afternoon, we gave them two little "guns" that allow you to twist on a helicopter blade, then shoot it into the air. When we pulled those out, Adam and Liana went nuts. The loved them, even though they couldn't get quite enough twist out of them to go as high as Papa could get it. (For a change, Liana actually asked me to help her with it, too. With almost everything, she pulls away from Mama or Papa when we offer to help her with something. At first, this scared me a little, but it seems to be a normal child's desire to do things fo themselves. We can certainly deal with that, and train her not to go overboard with it.)

Adam and I kicked the ball back and forth for a while today, which was great fun. Liana accidentally shot one of the helicopter blades onto the roof of the little guard house next to the gate we were playing near. So, Papa went around to the other side, climbed up onto the fence, then through a tree, and snatched the propeller from the edge of the roof. Liana enjoyed watching that! I tried to teach Adama how to kick a ball better, but the language thing was still in the way, and he didn't seem to really want to do it differently.

Oh. Before I forget. Adam's new shoes are definitely treasured by him, but they have bands that wrap around his ankles. His previous shoes were simple slip-on sandals, so they didn't have that band. Now, he is getting a serious blister on the foot that he wounded last night. We put a bandaid on it, and he tried to ask us something. Eventually, we discovered that he wanted socks. So, on the spur of the moment, I took off my socks and gave them to him. He put it on, and it was a little baggy, but not too bad to wear. He ran around that way for the rest of the time that we were there.

Aleksa seems to have had a rough night tonight. While not tremendously different from normal, she did cry a little. The cry seemed different from the previous ones, this was more of a genuine cry, so it touched me more. I tried to take her to her group bathroom once, but it was closed. Liana had come along for the ride (yes, it is always a ride), and she started pointing to the bathroom outside. But, every time I get close to that bathroom with Aleksa, she loudly desires to go to the group bathroom. Oh well, I guess she forgot that she had to go, since I put her down and we all started doing something else.

I enjoyed getting all three of them to ask several things in English today. It was mainly things like "Two crackers please, Papa" and "Run please, Papa" (Liana's favorite request). Also, Adam and Liana are both learning to ask me to "Spin please, Papa." I think that they are also learning the word "again", but they haven't tried to say it yet. (Papa ended up quite dizzy today, but not near to barfing. This time, they wanted to be spun by me holding their hands and flinging them in circles around me. Liana just didn't want to stop, and I had to tell her that Papa was tired.)

Adam has had a little electronic something-or-other about the same size as a watch head. When you push the button, it plays, "It's a Small World After All." Well, just before our evening visit ended, he was working on it pretty hard, and I looked and saw that one of the wires had pulled loose. Uh-oh. I watche him work on it, and he figured it out enough that he could touch the wire to just the right spot and it would almost play. Cool -- smart boy! Anyway, I ended up stripping a bit of the insulation off that end, so you could hold the wire directly to the contact location, and it would play a little then. He continued to monkey with it, and then before we went home, he offered it to me, hoping that I could fix it. Both of the main wires were now disconnected. Previously, I had communicated that tape would help. Hopefully, I can get it fixed tonight. (How good of a Papa am I really? I hope this doesn't affect my grade...)

Right about when we were going to leave, my Mom called. We couldn't really hear her very well, but she could hear us. I handed the phone to Liana and Adam and Aleksa in turn. Adam and Liana both tried (and did very well) to say, "Hello, Grandma." Liana chatted up a storm, and I heard her say something about Mama and Papa. They all wanted to chat for a while, but the connection was bad, and we were supposed to be leaving.

I think I'll remember this night for a long, long, long time. When I gave Adam his good-bye hug, he grabbed on tighter than usual. I told him, "I love you" in Russian. Then, he said something that ended in "tosha", which means "too" in English. I think he told me that he loved me too!!! (OK, calm down John, you don't understand Russian well enough to know that for sure.) Then, I carried Aleksa and Liana up to their group rooms and left them there. Adam then picked up all three balls as we got in the taxi and said good-bye.

It was a good day. *sighs contentedly* (Though it did take me 45 minutes to dry off again... ;o) )