A Good Day

Things are going well in Kiev. Below are some of the e-mails from Tonya and Joe:

Monday:
Medical Appointments were fine this morning. All were tested for syphillis/HIV and because Lyda is over ten she had to get a couple of vaccinations. The actual medical check did not consist of much - a listen to the heart and lungs and a check of the lymph nodes. Planning on going to the circus on Friday night!

Tuesday:
It it 8:00 PM and so far the day has been pretty good. Boys had grits for breakfast, the instant ones I brought, and ate them like they were candy. They were actually pretty good and I wasn't expecting them to be because they were instant. Lyda on the other hand hated them and spit hers out and ran to rinse her mouth out. As an aside the boys have not had a thing put in front of them that they did not eat like it was their last meal. Probably they have some making up to do. We never saw a meal at the orphanage to know about portion control or how much they got. They have the refrigerator figured out and are constantly drinking water and juice. Since Sunday afternoon we have gone through 12 liters of water (not sure how that translates to gallons but it seems like a lot to us). Nowhere to be this morning so we slept in. That meant seven something before the little feet pitter-pattered. We actually got Lyda up at 9:30.To get out of the house we decided to go walking toward the main square. We ended up at a park near the Hyatt (Mom the one with the brass lion that you can sit on and the playthings that look like a dragon). Met a lady there from Fargo, North Dakota - also adopting, 6 1/2 year old boy. He seemed much more filled out than Matthew. (Might explain the bottomless pit.)Lunch we had at a sandwich shop on the way back to the apartment. Pretty good. When we got to the apartment it was nap time and Jason went to sleep for 1 1/2 hours. I . After nap we went to the park near the apartment and had some successful play time. The little store near us had pasta and sause (pretty good). Joe cooked the entire package of noodles and I thought he was crazy but we ate almost every bit, again, bottomless pits. Even Lyda had seconds. Jason has learned the phrase "Did Mama say no?" We practiced our bear hugs today with much success. We are thankful for many things a few follow - sippy cups, screw on caps, wipes. Lyda spent some time today talking with her friends and was in a more jovial mood this evening. She has also discovered Joe's tetris game (thanks to whoever gave that to us). The perfect ending to a good day was that Jason went to sleep tonight without so much as a wimper.

Tonya and Joe