Monday, February 19

Well, Sasha had been home for a month! He had made tremondous progress, we think. He speaks mostly english words now, which means he mostly repeats the same words over and over! I am suprised how quickly he just stopped speaking Russian, and am kindof sad to not hear him talking nonstop in it anymore. He knows his numbers 1-9 except he forgets 4 most of the time. We also were happy yesterday after Sunday School he kept saying "Jesus loves Sasha". It was sweet to hear him say "Jesus"!
We feel he is getting more attached to us, which is nice. He will let us hold him more, and wants to sit with us. One interesting thing was at first when we would say "I love you" in Russian and/or English he used to act really strange and start saying Russian curse words (I won't tell you what they are). He stopped doing that and now will say "Love you" back to us. He also has pretty much stopped saying the curse words now, and we don't plan on teaching him the English ones.
He is really a very happy child. He is eager to laugh and smile, and very fun to be with. We took him to the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga this weekend with our friends, and he loved that! It is so neat to share new things with him. He just says "oooohhhh" over and over as he is amazed by everything. It is so fun.
It will be fun to see what the next month brings!

Monday, February

We have been home 2 weeks now, and things are going really well. The first week or so I think Alex was very overwhelmed. He could not sit still for 2 seconds to watch tv, play with his toys, or sit with us. He would just put all his toys in bags and carry them around with him around the house. This last week was totally different, though. He really enjoys watching 'the Wiggles' and he will play with his toys, especially his cars, and will sit and color or let me read to him.
He is speaking more and more english all the time. It is really fun to hear the things he will pick up on and say. He really is a good eater, but I can tell he is already starting to get a little more picky. He loves bananas and yogurt and will ask for them all day long. He is also sleeping all through the night, which is great. He will not take a nap, but I think he is at the age where kids stop doing that, anyway. I wanted him to take a nap, also, just so I could have a little break in the day, but we'll figure something out.
We are so glad to be home with him, and are really enjoying him. There are, of course, a few things we'll have to work through- some attachment/adoption issues, and some just typical 4 year old! Overall, though, things are going great!