27 Months Home (Ok, 27 1/2...)

For the last few days I've been trying to mull over what I'd say for this month's update on the kids. Today, however, is the perfect "snippet" of what the kids are like this month. Mostly the same old stuff, but there are some new leaves turning over here and there.

Today was a huge baking day. I tend to have these, but you can imagine what it's like over here the week of Thanksgiving! ;O) It's a sugar-stuck-to-the-bottom-of-your-feet-as-you-walk-across-the-kitchen kind of a day today. It wouldn't sound like this would have anything to do with the kids, but actually, I think it is directly related to some of Adam's "turned leaves." The more he sees me in the kitchen, the more he "likes" me. Or so it seems. (Remember, food means the most to this guy.) At the last two fellowship meals at church, Adam has sat next to people and told them all about "how mama made that" and that they "really need to borrow some of Mama's recipes." Now, I'm *really* not the greatest cook, but it means a LOT to my Adam to see me in the kitchen. The ladies at church are about ready to hurl hearing Adam go on and on. But it just seems that the "food" topic is always right on the tip of his tongue. When he prays at night, he always starts, "Thank you that we have good food to eat..." It's just always *right* there. We went out to eat yesterday, though, and he didn't finish his bread bowl that his salad was in. (He loves salads! He'd rather have a salad than a burger any day! Ukies tend to really love veggies from what I've heard of other peoples' kids. Mine are sure that way at least!)

Once upon a time, Adam was the one of my kids who would "tell it like it was" when he spoke of Ukraine. Liana was the one to embellish her memories and make Ukraine into the Fairy Land, and her birth mother the nicest woman on Earth. Adam used to remind her how things *really* were. But now Liana doesn't talk so much about Ukraine, and now Adam has found that he can tell us any manner of story and if he says "In Ukraine" before it, that we can't tell him he's lying. After a ham dinner, he told the lady next to him that he was a pig farmer in Ukraine. Today, while the girls were having a tea party, he told me he worked in a tea factory in Ukraine. A few weeks ago we finished up reading the book "Old Yeller" after which he announced that in Ukraine HE had a yellow dog that got hydrophobia too. After Grandma Fisher passed away, he said that in Ukraine, he had 25 grandmas... I could seriously go on and on with his "In Ukraine, I..." stories.

What are we gonna say, right? He was there and we weren't! He *loves* telling stories, so now after SOOOO many "In Ukraine" stories, I have absolutely no idea which things are true, and which ones are a big ole fish tale. Frankly, Papa is getting a bit tired of these stories and has been reminding him of the definition of the word "Lie" quite often.

Liana is sure turning into a young lady. That's her *deepest* desire anyway. She tries to use as big of words as her mouth can hold, and though they sometimes aren't used "exactly" right, today she sounded like a regular Princess.

She was hoping for a tea party today, what with so many cookies around here. So, she said, "Aleksa, perhaps we could have a tea party!" And then, "Mama, would you prepare some tea for us, please?" (How could I refuse such a properly-phrased question?!) Another thing she said was, "What a proposition!" after I carefully handed her the full teapot and told her if she dropped it her life would be drastically shortened. (I didn't say that, did I?) *tee-hee*

She's still speaking her mind as always though. Tonight at the Thanksgiving pie social at church, an older gentleman told us that Liana had smitten his conscience the other day when she informed him that he needed a shave, so he went home and shaved off his two-week beard. Groan! I confessed to him that of the three, Liana usually causes us the most mortification. He laughed and *completly* understood! lol!

Seriously though, she and I have had the most "grown up" talks this month ever. She and I have talked frankly and seriously about her life in Ukraine, and she spoke so eloquently and with such maturity that it really blew me away. While Mama Zhana hasn't fallen off her high pedestal at all, she spoke a lot more fairly than she ever has before, and extremely matter-of-factly about Papa Misha. The way she has been carrying herself in serious conversation has been like a peek into what kind of a young woman she will some day be. And I must say, I'm impressed. While I battle that strong will of hers every day, I'm beginning to see that her fearlessness will (if carefully lassoed), bring her much success in life.

I took her shopping with me the other night, and all through the store, I kept thinking how much she had changed since we brought her home... she went from being a little, little girl who I had to watch *every* minute, to someone who I actually consulted for an opinion on purchases, tastes, etc. (And well, you can imagine how she eats that up!) Didn't have to worry about her *at* all. It seems like she has aged about 5 years in the 2 short years she's been home. Don't get me wrong, she still has definite rambunctious tendencies, especially when teamed with her siblings and maybe a rowdy friend, but, well, they're NORMAL rambunctious tendencies. Know what I mean? (Though I did have to remind her to get off the floor a few times in the store, come to think of it.)

Aleksa's behavior today was pretty typical of the month in general as well. Still trying awful hard to fly under the radar while sneaking in some bossiness with her brother, and also trying to shirk as many responsibilities as possible without detection. Like today she was supposed to read a story in her reader, and because she'd already HEARD the story, she decided that she knew it well enough so that if I quizzed her on it (which I always do), she'd be able to parrot enough of it back at me that I'd be convinced of her comprehension, etc. Well, I had peeked at the story before handing it to her, and I also counted the pages. Then I went off and did something or other and when I came back into the room, she was doing something else. There was no way she had time to read it. So, sure enough, when I quizzed her on it, she got the story "right." Until I pressed her on it, and she finally confessed that she lied about having read it, and that she was trying to trick me into thinking she'd done it. That lazy bug in her sure causes her to get into some kind of hot water!

Like her sister, Aleksa's vocabulary has brought an amused smirk to my face more than once. One of the last times was when my brother was asking her why she needed Mama to help her with the zipper to her coat, and she explained that this was "an unusual" coat and that the zipper gets stuck quite easily, etc.

I've been noticing her mimic people's body language quite a bit lately. She'll be watching someone talk, and she'll do their hand motions herself, or she'll mimic their facial expressions. She's gonna be a humdinger of an actress some day. I'm thinking she'd absolutely love it if I found her an American Sign Language video series for kids. She'd just soak it up.

Leksa and I were talking the other day about moms and babies, and she mentioned "when she was in (my) tummy." Well, I had to remind her that I found her at the dyetski dom and that she didn't grow in my tummy. She's been drawing pictures of me with her in my tummy for the past year now at least. It almost startled her that I told her she didn't ever grow in my tummy. Kinda rocked her world momentarily. Of course I reminded her that some children find their mommies when they come and get them from an orphanage, and she kind of shook herself awake with an "oh yeah, I knew that" kind of an expression. Though she wasn't an infant when we adopted her, she has very little memory of the orphanage/life without us. She "remembers" the orphanage when she sees pictures of it, but John and I get the feeling that her memories are kind of second hand... that she remembers what we've TOLD her about the pictures. I suppose being so young at the time of her adoption is a blessing and a curse. A blessing that she was spared so much more. A curse that she'll deal with more baggage of not really KNOWING what she was pulled out of, and having to really sort out a lot more as an adult. Could be wrong though. Who knows.

She's grown like a weed, and she too seems to have aged five years in these two short years. Makes. Me. Sick. She's promised to always be my la-la (baby) though, so I'm ok for now... But John and I just tonight were talking about which country/ies we might consider adopting from the next time around...