Where has the time gone??? I cannot believe that Christmas is in just a few days and it's been almost 10 months since John has been with us. He arrived here from Ukraine at the beginning of March. We just celebrated Christmas with my parents who live in Chapel Hill and exchanged presents with each other. This is because we are driving (well, I'm driving and Paul is flying:) to Paul's mom's house and staying there until the 26th. Paul's dad passed away earlier this month at the age of 86 so we are going up to NJ to be with Paul's mom and only sibling, Tricia. We are sad that Paul (Paul's dad) is no longer with us, but we know that he in heaven with many old friends who had died before him. He was a wonderful Christian man. Christmas won't be the same without him. Thankfully Santa knows where we are going, so we are excited for his arrival. I CANNOT imagine all that has been going through John's head this month. Meeting Santa a few times (including seeing him on the computer talking directly to him by name, thanks to www.portablenorthpole.com, meeting an elf, and hearing all about flying reindeer and toys being made at the North Pole. I felt for him while he was watching elves put "his file" on portablenorthpole.com in a the machine to see if he was naughty or nice. You could tell he was hoping so badly that the green light on top of the machine would turn on and not the red one. I can't imagine the parent how would ask for the red light to come on!? He has also learned some fun and meaningful Christmas songs, played a sheep in a Christmas pageant and has gone to a birthday party for Jesus at our church. He goes to a wonderful Christian preschool where he hears all about Jesus, his life and the good news of his coming as a baby to live and die for our sins. It is absolutely amazing what he has learned and how well he speaks English now. I cannot get him to say words in Russian anymore. I did use the Google Translate a couple of weeks ago to ask him some "yes" or "no" questions in Russian. I think that he understood because he did answer "yes" or "no" correctly to the questions. It's sad that he is completely losing the language that he apparently spoke so well. He could go to Russian school here in town every Sat., but he refuses to speak when we run in to our friend from Ukraine who is a cashier at Target so I don't think he would enjoy that. Anyway, John is doing well in school and seems to get along well with his peers. He actually has two birthday parties to go to this afternoon:). We are so thankful to God that he is still very healthy and happy, enjoying school and his friends. The only thing that I worry about is that I haven't spent much time helping him learn the letters of the alphabet and or how to write the letters. He will start "Handwriting without Tears" with a tutor in the new year. Even though they have this program at his preschool, I think that he would benefit from the one on one time. I know that his gross motor skills are fine...I just worry that his fine motor skills need some work. He LOVES to play sports and is on a city basketball team. He can dribble pretty well...we just need to work on getting the ball to reach the hoop. Honestly, I am embarrassed to admit that Scott and I are still adjusting to having him around. Paul, Nicole, and Jimmy are also; however, they don't spend the same amount of time with him as Scott and I do. John is so obedient (probably still worried that he may have to go back to the orphanage, which is sad) and wants to please, which is very nice. I'm sure that the day will come when he will feel comfortable enough to let down his guard and be more defiant. It's just been harder than I thought it would be to bond to a child who is already dressing himself, eating, walking, and speaking (non-stop). I had not thought about how it would be different from birthing a child and having all that bonding time when they are an infant. Scott and John play a lot together and get along well for the most part. I just think that it's been hard for Scott to suddenly have another sibling to deal with all the time. As of just a few days ago, Nicole moved down to her "new" room on the 1st floor (I don't blame her for not wanting to sleep on the main level of our house when the rest of us are all upstairs) so Scott has been sleeping in Nicole's old room on the 2nd floor and not sharing the bunk bed with John. This has helped out a lot because John and Scott are not waking each other up early in the morning anymore. I am going to have to change that room from pink to blue for John in the new year so that he can finally be settled in to his own space (and not Scott's:). God is faithful and I am hoping and believing that Scott and I will embrace him fully and not see him as the newly adopted child in our family. I want us to love him unconditionally just like God loves us unconditionally. If you think of us, please pray that this would happen sooner than later!
