On Thursday we went to the orphanage. We gave Nicholas a mandarin orange and he looked so confused - obviously he’s never had an orange before! I peeled it for him and gave him a segment to see if he liked it - he put it in his mouth and then an enormous smile appeared! It was so cute. I gave him the rest of the orange and he immediately gave a segment to Mike and then one to me. He is always so considerate and shares everything. The other day after court the Wise Director gave him a bar of chocolate. He sat down and divided the squares equally between Yelena, Mike, himself, and me. I motioned that I wanted him to eat my piece of chocolate - but he would have none of that. That piece was meant for me!
When we first arrived on Thursday and were giving hugs, Nicholas felt the stubble on Mike’s face. He is fascinated by it. He rubbed Mike’s chin and then his own. We looked up the Russian word for shave and Mike was telling Nicholas that he needed a shave. :o) I don’t think Nicholas has had many men in his life so something as simple as facial stubble is completely new for him.
We went over the alphabet again and then Nicholas volunteered his counting skills - he’s certainly got his numbers down. I think he likes math as well - the other day we were talking with the Wise Director and Nicholas pulled out a piece of paper and wrote math problems for himself!! It shocked me - but then he went back and wrote in the correct answers. He has a bit of a problem with subtraction. Then Mike wrote a multiplication problem and it was obvious Nicholas had not seen that concept before.
Thursday the orphanage was a buzz of activity. The Wise Director moved back into her office - since we’ve been there she has been working at a table in the library while her office was being painted. People were laying a carpet runner down the main hallway and kids were running around carrying bags of things. They have a Christmas play very soon and I’m guessing it was preparations for the play. Nicholas is to be one of the pigs in the Three Little Pigs story.
Our 10 day waiting period will be up on Dec. 21. We need to call Luba to translate for us as we cannot remember if the play is the 21 or 24.
Today we’re off to the market again!
Love to all…
7 comments:
I love you sharing the Nicholas stories with us. I can only imagine the facial expressions as he learns and explores.
Love, Pat
Nicholas sounds like such a great boy! What a blessing!
I'm loving your Nicholas stories as well! What a gem he is and what a delight to be a family together.
Hi to All:
We just love getting the stories about Nicholas. It is just wonderful how he is learning and wants to share everything with you and Mike.
That was cute about the stubble on Mike's face. This Christmas will be so special to our family as you now have a precious son.
Love to all, Dianne and Gammy
So precious and he sounds very smart! I love the story about the beard.
Nicholas sounds like a smart little guy and a very caring child. I can just picture his face when you gave him the orange.
It's so neat to hear his reaction to Mike's beard. How wonderful for him to have a loving male figure in his life!
Praying that all continues to go well for you.
Hi Guys,
Sounds like things are going really well.
You do not know how luck you are, a child who appreciates it when you give them an orange. Boy you're Christmas and Birthday shopping is going to be a breeze.
Richard, Sharon and boys
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