Hey! this kid isn't all perfect

I've noticed in the last few post I've raved about how Igor is adjusting so well etc. Well I can honestly say we are starting to hit the terrible twos. I think many of the tantrums stem from a lack of language skills as in many two year olds, however Igor lags far behind most home-grown kids his age so it's even more difficult. As a rule the tantrums are over normal things and end fairly quickly but occasionally a doozy will pop up and he'll rage for 20 min or more. I'll simply sit down with him and hold him till it passes but I'm sure anyone walking by (the sidewalk is very close to the house) might think I'm killing him. I've taken to the tactic of placing words in his mouth for him and he can now say " I'M MAD!!" quite clearly. I hope he starts screaming that instead of the general yelling he usally does.

Last week my mother visited, it was her birthday and Igor's was a couple of weeks ago so we held up Igor's so they could celebrate together. Mom doesn't get to see many of the milestones of the kids so it worked out pretty good. It didn't take long for Igor to figure out the present opening thing and he really liked getting new toys. Cake was not such a big hit though, I had read gobs about the famous Ukrainian sweet tooth but I guess he didn't inherit it.

Yes his glasses are usually that smeary all the time. We clean them constantly but little fingers tend to be greasy!

Sonny Boy was just as excited about all the new toys, you would have thought it was his birthday! Probably the biggest hit of the toy parade though was a ball popper, both kids have played with it tons and it is funny with the ping pong balls flying around all over.

The last couple of days have been spent purchasing toys and making an inventory list of the orphanage donation drive I instituted. I've had a generous response from many people that I never expected to. At this point I expect to send two large boxes of toys (many new) clothes (many of those new as well, thanks to one generous donation from a fellow FRUA-ite) and a nice supply of baby lotions, shampoo etc. There has even been enough donation to pay for much of the freight which I expected to pay for myself. I'm thankful for that, as I didn't expect so much stuff to ship! The boxes are quickly taking over a corner of my bedroom. I simply hope that once the stuff arrives at the baby house it's allocated to the kids and doesn't end up at the open market instead. I have heard from others that the director there is honest so I can only hope that the kids actually get the stuff.

For anyone who doesn't know me I'm a voracious reader and generally read a couple of books a week on average. I can't say I read anything of substance usually, as I read for pleasure and who really wants to read a history of the Roman empire ( unless you need to fall asleep) However I came across a book in the non-fiction section of the library no less, that is pretty remarkable. Until I fell into the world of eastern European adoption I never paid heed to any politics there, however now they certainly catch my attention. The book THE ANGEL OF GROZNY -Orphans of a Forgotten War by Asne Seierstad caught my attention. The book is very eye opening with regards to the atrocities that occured during the conflict in Chechnya that occured in the mid 90's and then again around 2000. The "Angel" in the book is a lady who quite by chance ended up taking in numerous orphans of the war though it doesn't focus solely on her. It really made me think about how Russia behaves and their current saber rattling in regards to Georgia and makes me fear for Ukraine more than before. I'm not a foreign policy expert by any means but when a presidential candidate ( John McCain) brings up the threat of Russia to Ukraine during a presidential debate you can bet it's very real. This book brought to life that while the Soviet Union we all grew up to loath may be dead, it's leaders still are not and their tactics of torture and kidknapping are very much alive and well. I'm not nieve, I know that Ukraine is not going to win a prize for government morality, however I WANT to believe that they are a young country that will eventually work out the kinks, whereas Russia tends to be backsliding to their Soviet Union days.

Well, it's getting late and it appears that I've rambled enough as I can't come up with a topic for a new paragraph. Aren't you proud of me for getting new pictures up though? Hopefully a new post to follow soon as Igor's six month anniversary home is on the 15th.