Catch Up

(Here is a re-cap of everything that happened)

So sorry I haven't posted yet! We've been in EE since Saturday, May 28th. 

W spent 3 days in our apartment and had our SDA on the 30th. It took all of 10 minutes and we got to see baby/toddler pictures of the boys :) Later, we met up with other RR families for dinner!

We got our referral the next day (saying they're both at the same orphanage) and that night we left on the train to Gabe and Levi's region... As bad as everyone said it would be, it was actually pretty nice! Yes, we slept 2 hours out of the 10 it took to get there but there was air-conditioning!! Not much but it was enough! Nico (our driver) rode the train with us and since he knew some people he got us 2 first class coaches. My dad and him rose in one and my mom and I were in the other. They served hot tea and some snacks... We weren't even expecting THAT. 

We arrived in Zap at 6:00am and from there, went to the Church we we've been staying at. Everyone's very nice here. We get 3 meals a day and the Father even speaks English!

 We ate breakfast than drove to the orphanage to meet the boys. When we got to Levi's room, they brought him out m first thought was "He's so tiny!" He was smaller than we thought he'd be and looked totally different than the pictures we had. 

                                                                       Meeting Levi

He is a very active little guy. Full of happiness and love! He greets us with a hug every visit and loves to go outside. He doesn't talk but he understands (Russian of course). He is a perfect little monkey!!


Now Gabe's turn. The nannies walked into the room holding a crying/screaming little boy. Gabe. We were expecting a rather delayed child, the size of a 2 year old. That's exactly what he's like. But we weren't expecting him to cry and be terrified wherever he goes. At first, we thought it was seeing new people that freaked him out.... But we realized how happy he is in his room and crib. So we figured out it was just that room, he's been used to for 6 years and hasn't left it. We worked slowly with him and now, we take him outside without him crying at all. We are certain he has "Sensory Processing Disorder". Which means he is very sensitive and that's why he'll cry or push our hand away when we touch him (he rarely does that anymore)  and has nervous behaviors he'll do all the time. (such as: holding his hands together, chewing on his fingers, making click sounds with his tongue etc.). But he's progressing and doing better and better each day.

                            Meeting Gabe

 




We had Court yesterday. The Judge was very laid-back and nice... We were probably in there for half an hour and when we came out, we were the parents and sister of Levi Vitalik and Gabe Artem. (we kept their first real names as their middle names). Afterwords, we got the boys' passports, birth certificates and did some running around.



 This Sunday we will be getting the boys and walking out of those orphanage gates FOREVER. And right after we're heading to the train station for our trip back to the capitol. 





Now, you can see how well the boys are doing. How much they've changed in just a few days :)