Andrew loved celebrating the Fourth of July as an American. He enjoyed watching the Peachtree City Parade and as he scooped up the candy thrown by the various parade participants, he said: I love life in America!He loved having everyone at our house and then going to see the fireworks that night. As you can see, he was busy charming his cousins!
He has learned a lot of English both by conversing with people, being directly instructed in language and by watching Power Rangers. Mark and I work with him with English books, workbooks and flashcards and he can read a lot of words. I also got a book about Ukrainian heroes, written in Ukrainian, so he can keep up with his Cyrillic. We’ve also had him practice basic math facts (adding and subtracting) and he’s learned some English math vocabulary such as the basic shapes. He will be going to Cleveland Elementary School in August and will be in either 3rd or 4th grade, depending on how he performs on some upcoming tests.
Today he started a week of Backyard Sports Camp. Last week he attended a church camp at Saint Mary’s. Although the camp was in English, there were Ukrainian and Russian speakers there to help him. He loved it! He told me he can speak “Big Ukrainian, big Russian and little English”. He seemed to do fine though and is able to communicate his needs or what he wants to tell us without calling anyone or relying on Google translate. We knew he would love camp, but also thought it would help him with the transition to school. Plus, it gives mama a break which helps with her adjustment.
Andrew is very well adjusted emotionally and makes friends everywhere he goes. He is kind to other people and makes sure no one is ever left out in group situations. He loves having a family and often lists us by name, always including Mary Evelyn. He is especially excited about having a big brother. He was looking at old photos with us and was carefully identifying each person in his extended family. His family is very important to him and he loves each person. In his prayers, which are still often in Church Slavonic although he is learning to pray in English, he usually lists his American friends now in place of his group in Ukraine which shows he is transitioning in a healthy way.
Riding his bicycle is lots of fun (he’s already been to the BMX tack in Peachtree City) and he is improving as a swimmer, too. He scares me sometimes because he’s so fearless. He went to a Braves game and now is all about baseball. He loves to practice with his dad, and wants to be on a team this fall. Andrew moves like an athlete and it will be fun to watch him play sports as he grows up.
He is an altar boy at our church and tries to help out in every way possible. He is so happy to have church friends and the opportunity to help our priest. He just got a new robe and was very excited about that, too. He is confident and outgoing while being friendly and caring about others. So far, his leadership ability hasn’t veered into being bossypants.
A few weeks ago, we took him to the International Adoption Clinic at Children’s in Birmingham and they were amazed at how healthy and well adjusted he is. They saw that he is fine, but that I have been struggling. They were sympathetic about how hard this has been on me to deal with a new child and the grief I bear for Mary Evelyn. They said that adopting anyone else would probably not have worked because usually there is a long period of adjustment for the child which would have been too hard for us. Andrew adjusted right away, seamlessly, and that is a great gift for us. To deal with the usually difficulties on top of losing a child so recently would have been too hard. In the meantime, we are still planning to adopt Nadia and Ruslan, but are waiting until we are ready.
They assured me that bonding takes time, but with a sweet wonderful boy like Andrew it will come and I believe they are right. He does bring sunshine into our house each day and I’m sure that makes Mary Evelyn happy. As Andrew says, “I love you all the way up to Mary Evelyn in heaven” and that love will make this work out.
