The Real Journey Begins

We have been home since late Wednesday night (April 18th). Our friends, Toni and Wayne picked us up at the airport and delivered us to our door around 11:00PM. Ruslan got very excited when he recognized the front door (from the pictures we had left with him previously). He started doing a little jig. After he walked into the front door, he was very impressed to see the picture of the three of us on the desk in the hallway (the picture we took on our first visit, finally legal to post – see above). He quickly noticed all the pictures of him around the house, including the prominently displayed paintings he made for us. Most of all he loved his own room and the toys he found in the toy boxes in the dining room. He wanted to stay up playing all night, but fatigue got the better of all of us. In fact, the fatigue from jet lag has plagued us the last couple of days. (Mama and Ruslan have been getting up around 5:30AM and getting very tired mid-day)

We have slowly been introducing Ruslan to our home, the neighborhood and our friends. He seems to be adapting well and we are very proud of his positive nature. Every day he learns a little more English and we learn a little more Russian. It is a very interesting situation. Yesterday, we met our Russian neighbors (just two doors down). Ruslan was out in the back playing “football” (soccer) with our friend Alon, and they (the Russian neighbors) heard Ruslan yelling in Russian (at his normal volume), so they came out to see who it was. We talked to them again this morning and their 14 yr old son may be interested in doing some babysitting for Ruslan over the summer. That would give Mama a chance to go to the gym, and get a little downtime.

Ruslan continues to test his boundaries, which is very challenging for “Mamichka,” (as he affectionately calls me), and for “Papka,” (as he also calls Ken). We call him Ruslanchik, his Russian nickname.
My sister, Mary visited yesterday (as she was in town on business). She had a good laugh (since she is the proud mother of my teenage niece, Keilan and college age nephew, Ryan), as she witnessed a typical defiant moment during lunch. She was happy to see that our parenting challenges are in full swing and we are able to experience all the joys of parenting. “Ruslan Rachko” pronounced by him with heavy emphasis on the rolling r’s is growing in our hearts a little more every day. (The following pic was taken at the Moscow zoo, April 17, 2007)

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