Mama and Papa

Today was a day we remember for the rest of our lives. It was the day that our son called us “Mama and Papa.”

Ruslan is such a special boy. We can hardly believe that we are so blessed to call him “son.” He was so excited to see us and didn’t want us to go. We were able to spend 2.5 hours with him today. We took him out to the town (Rybinsk) to a park to play and for cake and ice cream. We brought him a remote control car to play with. He loved it. He could barely leave it alone, but was gracious enough to stop his play to take pictures with Mama and Papa. He loved playing with the camera too. We brought him some disposable cameras so he could take pictures at the Detskey Dom (orphanage), and he shot at least half a camera of pictures of Mama & Papa. We told him that we have been looking for him for a long time. He said he was waiting for us for a long time, too. He hopes we will come back soon to get him. It was so hard leaving him there. But, we are also feeling blessed that he is in such good hands. He is in a small orphanage on a military base, just outside of Rybinsk, the town he was born in. The orphanage director, Olga, obviously cares a lot for Ruslan. They are very bonded. She is a very special woman who is striving to do the best for the children in her care. She has special preschool classes for the children that a lot of orphanages don’t have. She told me that she believes each child has special gifts inside and that it is our job as parents to encourage our children to find their special gifts I agree with her whole-heartedly. She is very happy that Ruslan found his parents and is trying to help him in his transition. Rybinsk is a small town about a 2 hour drive from Yaroslavl. Ruslan has never been outside of Rybinsk, but he is anxious to get on a plane and come to America. He is a boy with a lot of spirit and taste for adventure, even though we realize that he probably doesn’t have a clue about how far away America really is, or what he is getting himself into. He agreed to try and help Mama and Papa learn more Russian and he will take classes in English until we are able to come back and get him. Olga, was able to set up some private lessons for him with a local tutor for 2 times a week. I hope he is more successful than we have been. Somehow I am pretty sure he will be. He presented us with a very beautiful picture that he drew for us “all my himself” he said. It was a picture of him on the doorstep of a beautiful house (with a cat on the window sill). There is plenty of sunshine in the picture and a colorful birch tree. He obviously put a lot of effort into the picture.