My Gain

It has been one week since we have been home, and things have been going great! Elijah is adapting well to his new life here in Escondido. It is most definitely summer here, in the 90's the past couple of days, and I wasn't sure if his baby feet would follow his brothers barefoot into the backyard, but he wasn't about to be left out. He's game for almost anything.

Father's day came just a few days after arriving home, and we drove to a couple of our favorite spots in downtown San Diego to spend the afternoon. First stop was the playground next to the bay, watching boats and walking along the boardwalk. Elijah wasn't quite ready for the swings, but he was game for the slide. We couldn't keep him off, up and down and up and down. At one point I felt his chest as I was lifting him up, and his little heart was just pounding! Never had this much exercise and excitement in his life. What a rush for him, and what a thrill to be a part of all of his firsts!

Second stop found us playing tag and ball in the grass and throwing rocks into the bay. He rode the stroller through people face painting, people making balloon animals, and a classic car show. He came home exhausted and a little sunburned (let's not tell the social worker that one).

These past four days we have just focused on getting into a routine at home. Misha getting comfortable with his surroundings and used to the rhythm of life. And he is doing great! He is picking up English pretty quickly (he definitely knows what "no, don't touch that" means), and he is learning his brothers' names. They take turns pushing each other on the little Winnie-the-Pooh train grandma and grandpa bought for him (Isaac wiped him out around a corner today) and squirting each other with the hose.

He is truly a little goofball...a perfect match for this family. He loves to make you laugh and smile, and his laugh is contagious. When he rears his head back, closes his eyes, and lets out a huge laugh I get tears in my eyes and I can't help but join in. It makes me think about his mother, grandmother, and grandfather back in Russia, and how nobody came to visit him in the orphanage in 2 1/2 years. No one even inquired about him during that time. How no Russian families expressed any interest in adopting him. If only they had seen that smile. If only they had heard that laugh. They would have fallen in love with him immediately as I did.

But their loss is my gain. And I will thank God everyday for my gain...

JP