Food and Drink and Fun

I had another great morning with Shamrock. He came running toward me so fast that he fell when I first came through the door. But he got right back up and gave me huge hugs and big smiles! We did a bit more coloring, and then he had fun putting stickers I had brought onto his page. They had animals on them, so I made various animal noises and got him to "roar" at the lion one. 

I brought yogurt to give to his group today (and bananas yesterday), so he got both of those for a morning snack. He inhaled the yogurt. I seriously couldn't eat it as fast as he did. It was all over his face and quite hilarious. I also brought him a juice box, which is something Zack always did on our first visit, so he was pretty excited about inhaling that as well. He also found the water bottle on the side of my backpack. Back in December, Zack had given him a drink from his water bottle, and he loved it, so he wanted to do that again. I'm not sure if more went in his mouth or down the front of his shirt!

The yellow punch balloon was a big hit today. He batted it around and giggled like crazy when he tackled it and rolled over the top of it. He also had a great time riding around on a little truck that made music when you pressed the buttons (he even danced a few times). He also pushed a stuffed bunny around in a stroller for a little while and carried around the lotion bottle I had brought.

I was able to stay for his lunchtime today. His caretakers brought his food out to the main room, so we had a private lunch date while the other kids ate at their normal tables in the adjacent room. Lunch today was bread, a cabbage salad sort of thing, and a rice and potato soup. He didn't eat much, probably because the yogurt and banana had filled him up, but he downed his compote (juice) right away. This kid gets thirsty! It's funny how grown-up he seems when he eats, even though he makes a mess of his face. They have him using a full-size soup spoon, and he knows how to dip his bread in his soup and eat it once it's soaked up the broth (just like his daddy likes to do!). He drinks from a normal plastic cup and plastic or tin plates and bowls.

I can't get over how easygoing this kid seems to be. He never really gets upset or cries, and he's always smiling or laughing. He's so much more talkative this time around, and it's amazing how much Russian he understands. For example, the pants he was wearing today were too big, and a caretaker told him to pull them up. I assume that's what she said, because he did just that in response to her comment and she said "da" (yes). I can't wait until he understands what I'm saying to him too!

This was my last visit before court, which is at 10am tomorrow morning. So tomorrow afternoon I'll visit him again, only then he'll officially be my son! T-minus 19 hours until my court appointment-wish me luck!