To My Beloved Brother

Happy Birthday, Sam!

We're back (and jet-lagged)

Inga's hair is now brown. More details to follow (when I get back on track after having been gone for two weeks!).

Happy Birthday, Mandy! (late)

Happy Birthday, Mandy! If you're wondering why I am late, it is due to my incompetence with computer-related activities. I actually DID try to post this on your birthday but had a problem with the photo.

I agree with everything Anne Marie says. There is only one thing I would add, and that is that the older you get, the more obvious your good qualities become to everyone. Since I only see you once in a while it's clear to me that you become more beautiful and thoughtful and pleasant with age. Can't wait to see you when you're 80! ('course, that would make me, like, dead.)

California Beware!

Inga is going to Hollywood! She is sooooo excited, and so am I. Since she is in a scene where there are lots of other amputees, I can imagine that we will be making lots of friends and comparing notes on how we all do certain activities with various missing limbs. We actually already "know" a bunch of the kids from a child amputee chatlist we're on.
Next week we will be in Hilton Head on vacation, and will fly out from HHI airport to LA on Tuesday. We will be staying in Valencia, and shooting on some sort of a plateau around there. But first they have to figure out hair and makeup and clothing and props (prosthetics), etc., and it is going to take 9 days in all. 9 days with only Inga, staying in a hotel room with a pool and eating at restaurants every day, all on Tom Hanks' bill--nice! Once Spring Break is over, Dan and the kids are driving back to Maryland and Dan's brother is coming to stay with the kids during the day while Dan works until I come home (supposed to be Thursday). What a great guy!
Well, I've got to pack. My living room is full of clothes because I am switching over from winter to summer apparel for everyone in the family and it looks like a tornado hit (sorry, Jaime!). I've also got to go buy lots of books because I will probably have a lot of time to read in CA. Any recommendations for books that will be good for escapist type entertainment?

Heard around our house

It has been one full year since we first took Alex off of wheat and milk products. Our idea was to try it for a year, and then see what happened. Well, he has done amazingly well and I was afraid to take him off of his new diet. However, the nutritionist said his intestines may have had a chance to heal and may work correctly now that we have given them a break. So we went ahead and allowed him to have something with wheat in it, a small amount to start. After about ten minutes he started shaking his head from side to side and banging his spoon into the table and screaming. Both Dan and I tried to calm him down, but we were trying so hard not to laugh we weren't much use. Finally Dan said, "Alex, if you want to eat normal food, you'd better start acting normal!". I gave up pretending not to laugh, and had to excuse myself from the table. I don't know if it really was the wheat (how could it have happened that fast?) or if he was just having a moment, but I am not in a hurry to try wheat again. I have become the Wheat Nazi.

The kids were finishing lunch and Sam was safely ensconced in his high chair when I looked at the clock and realized we were late for an appointment (to get Alex's staples out of his head, actually). I grabbed a washcloth and started washing Sam's face vigorously and exclaimed "Shoot!", all at the same time. Sam looked up at me with his freshly scrubbed face, thought a moment, and then said, "Bolshoi shoot!" (which roughly translated means, "big-time 'shoot'!")

The kids were all in the van, Elena, Alex, and Sam in the back seat and Inga and Andrei in the middle seats. Elena asked Andrei to pass her something that was lying on the floor in front of him just out of reach. Andrei carefully reached down with his feet and picked it up, attempting to retrieve it with his hands, but having difficulty. "Don't use your feet, Andrei," Elena exclaimed, "you're not a girl!"

Dancing, Cake, and Friends in the ER

Inga and Elena have dance fever. Their gymnastics instructor started teaching them tap dancing for a portion of the class, and I bought Inga the book Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfield, and now Inga wants to do nothing but dance. We visited a friend's dance class, and they let her try on a costume and dance with the class (you could see a better picture but I can't get any sideways shots to show up correctly on the blog!). She really does look like a dancer!

Alex took another trip to the ER last week. It's kind of scary when you walk into the Emergency Room doors and the people at the desks all look up at you and some of them wave and say things like, "Oh, you're back! How's Alex doing?". Maybe people who work in hospitals become blind to the sight of blood dripping all down someone's face and shirt, or they wouldn't have asked that. Kind of like becoming used to the smell of cow dung when you live on a farm. Anyway, this time they wanted to do a CT scan and little Alex in the middle of this spaceship-looking thing was so cute I couldn't resist taking a picture. Then later they put staples in his head. He has now had stitches, glue, and staples for each of his three head wounds. I wonder if they will come up with something new the next time we have to visit?

Alex had his adoption day celebration on March 28, 2 years to the day after we went to court and officially adopted him. He went around telling everyone, "I 'dopted today, I 'dopted!!" We watched his orphanage videos and the first few days--he was so sad, and sick, and helplessly cute! He was wearing the same sweater that we took to bring Sam home in. We gave him a little flute-pipe from Russia for his adoption day gift, and ate brownies and ice cream (no, I did not let him put all that into his mouth at the same time). I figured out we have 10 birthday and adoption day celebrations between November 26 and June 15. That's a lot of cake. I am going to have to get creative here, or we are all going to become sick of cake.

Inga's Exam

Inga passed her Tae Kwon Do belt test today! She is now officially an orange belt (double stripe). She had a few firsts during this exam. She got nervous for the first time. I tried to take pictures when we first got to the testing site, and she couldn't smile properly. In the past she has sort of taken it for granted that she would just go in and pass. This time she seemed to truly understand that a test of skill was before her, and she had to prove herself. She started to focus on the task at hand the moment she walked onto the Do Jang, and she didn't have any attention left over for the camera. The second "first" was that she did a great job. Usually I am smiling semi-indulgently along with the rest of the mothers of the younger children at the cute attempts at self-defense that these children display. But Inga was intense. When she did her Kicho the parents around us were exclaiming (quietly) at her focus and skill. And she was one of the few who broke her board the first time.
It's funny that Ben I mentioned that they are sending Moira to school next year, because we are sending Inga to school next year, too. There have been moments when I have questioned that decision, not sure if Inga is ready to strike out on her own and be responsible with her choices away from home. As this year has progressed I have seen her exhibit more and more maturity, but today's exam clinched it for me. She is ready to make her education her own, and to take responsibility for her time and her choices. Wow--my baby is growing up. And I pity the guy who tries to take advantage of her on a dark street.