David and Evas Russian adoption

4 years ago far far away......

2011-01-13T07:46:00.000+01:00

a mother gave birth to a tiny little boy, this boy had the hardest first 22 months of his life imaginable. Then he found us and we found him. Today I am sure his birth mother thinks about him. I thank her for our son, he is wonderful and today he is 4 years old. We celebrated his 2nd birthday when he had been with us only for one month and he did not understand much of it. Last year he knew a little more, but this year we have a VERY excited boy. He gets to decide everything today.......we asked him what he wanted for dinner tonight.........cream cake! So creamcake it is!

My dreams come true!

2010-11-18T08:48:00.000+01:00

6 Years ago my dreams came true. Happy Birthday Anna.

Birthday season is here

2010-11-10T07:59:00.000+01:00

I am wrecking my head trying to come up with ideas for Annas birthday 18 November, Christmas -everyone-Oscars birtday 13 January. It is a little dense in the end of the year. I guess i have had a long time to think about it.......but it is just suddenly there! Anna is having her birthday party at an indoor playground. Our house is not big enough for a party and we thought that since she is new in the class and most other children went to kindergarden together it would be a good thing. She is very bubbly and sociable but not that confident in findng "friends". It is getting a lot better though. We had a talk with her teacher and he is a little worried about that she is not learing her letters and sounds as she should. The are using the method of phonetics to learn to read and she is not really recognising the sounds and the letter. I am not too worried about it. The teacher has organised extra help in the classroom for her.
We have had her hearing tested and it is ok but I decided to speak to our pediatrician about it and she recommended a type of testing that is being done this Thursday. I can not get to worked up about it she is only (soon) 6 and speaks 3 languages! I just do not think she is ready for reading! We are moving in 2 yearsa time and it has alwys been an option for us to let her repeat a year in the new school when we move. As high school teachers my husband and I know that is a great disadvantage to be too young in highschool. It only brings problems, socially and accademically so we would rather she was a year older.
Oscar - our weapon of mass destruction - is doing really well at the moment. We had a week in England and he coped with the travelling and stying in a new place without ANY problems and this was a first! We also have found a solution to the musical beds problem, a friend said she had the same problem with her boy when he was 4 and she put a mattras next to her bed and told her boy that if he wanted a happy mummy that ahd the energy to play with him he had to sleap on the mattres in he wanted to leave his bed in the night. We tried this with Oscar and he got the idea straight away. He goes to sleap in his own bed and wonders over to his little mattres sometime in the night - I DO NOT NOTICE :-) I owe my friend for ever.

fairy wanted for tonight!

2010-10-19T18:21:00.001+02:00

Tooth-fairy

2010-10-17T13:03:00.000+02:00

We are having fairy visitors in the night, Anna polished her tooth thoroughly before putting it under her pillow. The next one to fall out has slided to the middle so she is looking like a pirate.

Clown

2010-10-13T07:55:00.000+02:00

My little clown is doing much better in Kiga. He is still sleeping in more than one bed every night (as my husband is) and we have recently been joined by Anna who taps you on your cheeks (HARD) with a finger to announce that she has brought her own pillow and duvet! I have now started to take the approach that in few years time they will not want to be anywhere near me so use the time and snuggle their lovely soft bodies. Sleep deprivation is the price but at least I am having a positive outlook.
We have had some lovely weeks weather wise but it is not getting colder and darker in the mornings. With this comes the extra time it takes to get ready in the morning ughhh.
Anna us very cute about her teacher in school Mr F, he word is law!. But I have a sneaky suspicion that she is using it on me. This morning she told me that Mr F had said that her hair clips had to be in a certain way....well knowing Mr F I think this is highly unlikely. She will also make comments like Mr F was being very bossy with us today :-) Makes me wander what she says about her family and what my students go home and tell their parents about me.....

The prize for success

2010-09-21T20:14:00.000+02:00

Well at least it worked one night. The last to nights have not been good. I am positive that it is all linked to Oscar starting a new kindergarten. It is going ok but not more. He is missing being together with his sister. It is early days yet.......I struggle every day to keep myself from going over to the kindergarten and see how he doing, but I know it would not be helpful.

it worked

2010-09-19T16:29:00.002+02:00

He slept the whole night in his own bed, I had a lovely nights sleep. This could get expensive........
Family day in the forest, great weather.
Anna just wrote: AN NA on Oscars naked botty with a filt tip pen.........

no present for Oscar

2010-09-18T08:03:00.000+02:00

Well it could have worked, perhaps I should have wrapped the car.
He loves me too much to stay away.............

Bribe

2010-09-17T19:25:00.000+02:00

I am tired. I have not sleapt a night since Juli since Oscar comes every night since we left him with my dad for one night. Today I have resorted to bribery.......I decided it was worth €10 bought a nice "Cars" car (he LOVES the filn) waved it in his face before he was put bed bed explaining what was required to have the toy in the morning. He understood very well and seemed very motivated. Quoting me I will sleap in my own bed ALL night! I know it is terrible parenting but I am desperate. I guess what will happen is that he stays in his bed and Anna has a bad dream instead.
Kindergarden is going ....better more to come later. Anna is LOVING school and Mr F is the best teacher in the world! If only my high school students would be as enthusiastic about me.......
Result to come in the morning....

My little girl has started school today.

2010-09-08T22:42:00.000+02:00

Getting ready in the morning wearing her Paddy pig badge Mr F sent her.

Coming out from the classroom after the first day with her "school cone" are very German affair that is a paper cone filled with surpriser..........
She had a wonderful day and loves her new teacher Mr F and we could not have asked for a better start for her. Tomorrow is Oscars ttome to start the new kindergarten. I am not sure he understands that he is going to a new kindergarten and that Anna is not going to be in his group. They are soo close that I think it is going to be a little hard for him in the beginning. It is wonderful to see how much they love eachother.

During the welcome cermony Anna sitting together with her little brother.

The best thing about being back home in Germany

2010-09-02T16:53:00.001+02:00

Anna - Smarties Ice-cream made by fam Pellegrino in the village
Oscar - Wooden railway
David - Internet
Me - My Nespresso machine

On the road again

2010-08-27T19:09:00.000+02:00

Today is my little sisters birthday and I have been thinking of her all day. Happy Birthday Lotta! We left Sweden on Wednesdy and had a horrible night on the ferry to Gdansk. It was a really grotty boat and the weather was more than rough! We met a nice couple with 2 children who we suffered the journey together with. They are traveling to Belgrad so safe journey to them. The weather is not good but we are managing and being brave. We stayed last night inTuran (beautiful place) in a hotel with pool - Oscar did a unmentionable in the jaccuzzy - and tonight we are in the Poznan. It has been hard on the children the last couple of days.The one week of total freedom in Greece has not been "good" for them in some ways, and then a lot of travelling and parents setting boundaries again. We are struggling with them. Oscar is contradicting everthing we say and asks why the whole time but he is at least getting better each day. Our big girl is the one who is really being not helpful and too loud and too wild. Well it can only get better and it will have to since she is starting school in a little over a weeks time, Poland is cheap and good value, good food and drink. Finishing of with a few pictures from our trip to Greece.

we are having a great time

2010-08-13T16:13:00.000+02:00

but no internet :-) Oscar is finally talking talking talking and Anna and Oscar are the best of friends. David and I are really enjoying being together as a family. This weekend we are going to Greece for a week and when we come back we will be packing the house up and leaving for Germany. I have so many lovely pictures to share when we get home. Anna has almost learned to swim and we hope this week in Greece will do the trick, oscar is convinved he can swim as well and needs to be kept under close supervision near water :-) He looks adorable with his tiny botty in swimtrunks, since he still is very skinny he gets cold after 20 seconds in the water and calls out "mummy I am really cold" He needs lot of mummy time and is getting it as well, unfortunatly he seems to need mummy in the night as well, so we are still playing muscal beds in the night. Anna is the only one who sleeps well at the moment but I can not help myself thinking that he really needs it. When you have had very little love the first 2 years in your life you needs to catch up. Soon enough he will stay in his own bed, and really he is soooooo cuddly. We had no problems with Oscar at night until David and I went one night alone to Stockholm and left Anna and Oscar with my dad. It is the first time in a year we left them (last year was a catastrophy when we tried it) this year it went much much better but still a long way from good. The price we payed this year was that he started to wander into our bed at night and that when we come to my dads house he gets nervous that I am leaving and he wets his pants. It is soo sad, but we can only keep on working on him feeling safe.
Another big change is how stong his attachment to Daddy has grown, they are a real team and likes doing boys things in the garden together. I love my family!

Sweden

2010-07-07T22:04:00.000+02:00

We have arrived in Sweden and the weather is great. We are in a hotel in Landskrona. Staying with my grandmother is not longer an option with 2 kids. She likes to sleep in late and the whole appartment is filled with little ornaments all of great importance to her. The children ARE good but there is a limit to how much one can ask of a 3 and a 5 year old. So for my nerves and grans we stay in a hotel when visiting. We have been swimming in the sea today (kids not me) and right now I am watching the semifinal germany-spain with no sound and sleeping (snoring) children around me in the hotel room. The Lobby is invaded with Germans watching the game. David is down there but I like it better up here. We all slept well on the ferry. YES I slept for the first time in my life on a ferry! Thanks to a sleeping pill :-)
Oscar is such a big snorer, I took him to have his ears and nose checked out but everthing was ok, he snores really loud. Anna complains about him and I sometimes have to turn him over to try and stop it. He also grinds his teath (doing it right now) juck!
Sweden is so pretty in the summer!

Midsummer celebrations in the Black Forest in Germany

2010-06-27T09:04:00.000+02:00

It takes Oscar a while to get into new situations.

Anna helping with the maypole

My lovely swedish girl

Beautiful summers day dancing around the pole

games....Oscar tried it all. Anna was winning though

Daddy in the potato race

Oscar did all the "moves" soo cute.....

Take a picture of my tongue! Mummys boy

pictures

2010-06-13T10:35:00.000+02:00

Cute England supporter

2010-06-12T07:47:00.000+02:00

Big decision in the Watson house

2010-06-09T21:34:00.001+02:00

Well, yes I am back and I will try to be better......it has been a tough time lately mainly for me..... the children are doing very well. As most people know we are a 2 languge family in a 3rd language country. Oscar had almost 2 years of Russian before being exposed to our crazy life. His transition into the family has gone over expectations, he is the most loving beautiful boy I could ever hope for. His attachment to me is very strong, it is still not as secure as I would like. It takes very little to disrupt him e.g. me not being around when he is put to bed, or working too much soo that he does not gets his does of mummy time. He then catches up by coming to me in the night. ouch tired mum.....It is very difficult for him when not the whole family is present and he loves us all being together. One of the most amazing and unexpected thisgs with Oscar is that he is so physical. He loves hugs and kisses and is a "lapdog". It made me attaching to him soo much easier. I feel very attached to him, it has been a process but in the last couple of months it has been getting more and more secure. Many people talk about the children attaching to them but it has at least for me (and still is) a process to attach to Oscar. He adores is sister and imitates everything she does (not always great) and when she is not around he gets very very worried.
This wating to be together with the fact that his language development is very slow has made us decide to move him into the English kindergarten at our school. Anna is starting 1st grade and our feeling is that he would suffer being left in the village kindergarten while Anna drives off with us. He had 2 days visiting last week and he loved it. The difference between the German kindergarten and the English is HUGE. German is total freedom and I think this has been difficult for Oscar to be allowed to run around and do what he likes, the positive part is the high teacher student ratio. The English kindergarten is MUCH more structured with larger classes. The 2 days he was there he was such a happy boy in the afternoon and so content with Miss Julie that we have decided to move him when Anna starts school in September. I was very reluctant to move him since he has had so many different experiences in his short life but at the moment it feels like the right decision to give him a better chance to learn a language and to have more structure in his life. Anyone who has met our little boy knows how much he loves order and is the best person to tidy in our family. ( not too difficult) Anna was very happy and so was Í today when we met a little girl startin in the first class at the European School living in the village. They where very excited and wanted to meet up and play. Great!
4 more weaks of work and then SWEDEN!

loosing it....

2010-04-02T19:45:00.000+02:00

Seem to have lost some momentum in my blogging. Perhaps it is coming to an end. well have not decided on that one yet. Oscar is doing really well at the moment. Last Thursday we dropped the pampers in the day and it is working OK. we have tried before witout success but this time he was ready for it. He is very cheeky.......we have had some complaints from kindergarten. He has really hit the silly age big time, he makes rude noices and the laughs forever and if another silly age child is nearby well, they have to be separated. We are going to Italy next week and working on better behaviour, listning and doing what mummy and daddy tells you etc. He is also having accident after accident, on Thursday he hit his brow and I had to take him to be glued together at the doctors. Today he fell down the staires after being silly (David luckily caught him) he them fell hit his mouth wth plenty of blood, at dinner he fell of his chair etc......... He will be nick named Scareface in school at this rate. he continues to be very helpful and sweet. He is my biggest admirer, he strokes my face and gives me lovely kisses. He is a real little cuddlebug. He has grown and is climbing the curves all the time and we are very pleased to see that he has a little tummy to rub.
We had an early easter egg hunt in the garden today........

Oscar and Anna

2010-01-31T16:06:00.000+01:00

Great Kisser!

2010-01-29T22:23:00.000+01:00

Oscar is a great kisser! He gives the most fantastic kisses, lots of passions and just the right push. Though I have been the sole reciever (very proud) of them until yesterday when David was given his fist bedtime kiss! Not the first kiss, Oscar and Anna gives us a kiss as we leave them in KIGA and as long as I am not there David gets the big SMACK! But when I am present he has been covering his mouth and when kissed on the cheek he wipes it off! BUT yesterday he wanted to kiss his daddy goodnight (not tonight though :-) ) Oscar also climbed on Davids lap today when I was sitting at around the table. BIG attachment progress with Daddy going on at the moment.

Oscar is also climbing out of his cot and comes to visit me in the night.........why can none of my children just snuggle down and lay still? They toss and turn and for me the effort is like running a marathon to get out of bed a carry them back so I end up with a night of halfsleep = waking up and being sure you did not sleep at all but you actually did but probly in 20 minutes snippets. Why not my husband one might ask, well the moment a child arrives in bed he escapes to the sofa............I married a wise man.

Best kisser in the family!

Orange carpet

2010-01-23T20:13:00.000+01:00

I had my dose of Sweden today with breakfast in IKEA in Strassbourg, it felt goooood :-) We are also preparing for Oscar to move out of his cot to a toddler bed. He has grown a lot (he is almost 92 cm, he was not even 80 one year ago) and is also climbing out of the cot now so it is time. Anna NEVER in her life climbed out, she just screemed...........We bought nice bed linen with cars on , new big pillow and a cuddly duvet for Oscar. Anna got a bedside table and a (pink) lamp so that she can "read" in bed.
David and I found a very Orange carpet for our living room and it looks great, it makes the room look cool and modern :-) IKEA cool and modern that is.
The weather today has been around zero but it feels like much colder since it is very damp. We have been inside all day in the shops or at home so must make an effort to get the children out tomorrow. We are all coughing at the moment so some fresh air will probably do us good. David wanted to ski in the Schwartzwald tomorrow but the snow has gone.
We bought fresh seafod in France for tonight, it is impossible to get the same quality here in Germany. I am having crab, jummy.

13 January 2007 a very small boy was born in Kungur 2010.....

2010-01-14T07:40:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday Oscar.

He was stunned when he saw his presents.....

But quickly got the idea to open them ALL

This is the smile you get when you tell him to "say SPAGETTI"

Birthday kiss from bigsister

Trying out the new digger

PARTY TIME (another spagetti grin cute though....)

hiding with best friend Leni

My Russian Lion

Snowman in Hallstahammar

2009-12-31T11:19:00.000+01:00

We managed to get Oscar out for 10 minutes to pose next to the snowman Anna, me and David built before he wanted to go inside again.

Minus 22 degrees

2009-12-30T08:26:00.000+01:00

We are in Sweden and it is cold! VERY cold and snowy. Anna loves the snow but Oscar is not so sure about it. He thinks it is cold and prefers to stay inside, just like me. Yesterady we celebrated cousin Lilys first birthday, Oscar and Anna adores her. She is the most smily cute baby one can imagine. Oscar has a song about her - la la la Oscar Lily lala la Oscar Lily :-) Anna thinks they are going to get married.......My sister had made a jummy birthday cake, I must get the instructions for it!
Oscar also decided yesterday that he was not going to have any nappy on.......well not a huge success, just more washing for me really, but at least there is some interest in getting rid of them, it is just the part of going on the potty when needed that needs to be added.
We are flying back to Germany on the 1st of January for a few days of skiing in a famila hotel. It is a chain of hotels in Germany specialy catering for families, they have child care, animals, pool ........we have never tried it before since we are more the individual travellers types..... but it will be interesting. I am sure the kids will love it.

Christmas pictures

2009-12-25T10:43:00.000+01:00

We had our Swedish Christmas yesterday with traditional Christmas buffet, friends and family around the table. I really enjoyed it. Santa came, Anna did not miss a trick and I had to tell her that I would make marmelade of her if she told her brother. I could not have wished for better behaviour during dinner from the children, but opening the gifts leaves a lot to wish for............
Today we have our English Christmas and we have just opened our presents and turkey is on its way in the oven.....

waiting children

Very excited....

He came......

Princess Aurora and Thomas the train conductor

White Christmas

2009-12-21T13:07:00.000+01:00

Oscar and me have been having a tough time lately. He just complaines to whole time and I do not have enough patience with him. I hope that a holiday together will make it easier for both of us. It is very frustrating for all of us that he does not speak clearly yet. He uses whining and winging as his means of communication and it is wearing me out. Sorry to be complaining!
Here are a few cute pictures from this weekend.

Christmas party and Lucia

2009-12-13T09:17:00.000+01:00

We had a busy day yesterday forst Christmasparty and the Anna and me went to the Lucia party in the evening. Anna was such a good girl, it was a pleasure to have her with me. Here are some pictures including a few from the gym performmance last week.

Nikolaus

2009-12-06T08:20:00.001+01:00

Living in a foreigh country sometimes means adopting (:-) ) new traditions one is Nikolaus, this is what Wikipedia tells me:

In Germany, Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot called Nikolaus-Stiefel outside the front door on the night of December 5 to December 6. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts and sweets, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch (rute) in their boots instead. Sometimes a disguised Nikolaus also visits the children at school or in their homes and asks them if they have been good (sometimes ostensibly checking his golden book for their record), handing out presents on a per-behaviour basis. This has become more lenient in recent decades.

Yesterday the kindergarten meet at an outdore playgrounds and Nikolaus came by, the children sang and read poems. Anna was inviolved in most of the singing and reading and also did a special performance signing in English, playing instruments and acting in a small group of children. We have Davids parents visiting and they went on Friday when am working with the children to Bad Wimpfen, one of the most famous Christmas markets in Germany. That together with Nikolaus was very much too much for Oscars, he slept for 3 hours yesterday afternoon.

David bought a great looking Christmas tree that we all dressed together, it brings back a lot of memories of my mother as she has given me most of my decorations and she really loved Christmas time, and so do I.

Some pics from this weekend.

2009-12-01T20:20:00.000+01:00

The

Today, the children had a friend over and we bakes ginger bisquits. I also made a moutain of meatballs for Christmas!

The land of Christmas markets

2009-11-27T19:30:00.000+01:00

Christmas markets are really getting going, we are going to one in Rotheburg tomorrow, staying the night in a hotel and on Sunday we have a little one in our village.
Been having a few computer problems recently, like play-doh in the plug for the charger....thanks Oscar. He really has a talent for messing things up. His last molar has come thorugh and he is eating better than he has done. I just wish he would get a little chunkier. We are practising wearing undies and going on the potty......it is very difficult to find a pair of undies small enough for his little botty. Hee keeps on having to pull then up! Thinking of teaching him to change his own nappy, probably would be easier than getting him dry......

Life is so much fun!

Birthday girl

2009-11-22T15:45:00.000+01:00

Anna enjoyed her Alladin party. She is a lovely hostess, could perhaps work on the speed at which she opens her presents but then what child does not rip them all open............she recieved wonderful gifts from her family and friends. David and I bought her a Jasmin dress....

Anna,Oscar and me baked a cake

The carpets (found in the cellar) made the whole room smell of old goat......

First ever birthday party tomorrow

2009-11-17T13:24:00.001+01:00

Everyday I stand in front of my classes of teenagers with out thinking about it, I plan lessons, perform, show experiments, lead experimental work............I never worry
Tomorrow it is Annas birthday and for the first time we are having a childrens birthday party, and I am terrified. Terrified that i wont know what to do with them, that the 3 hours they are in our house is going to be a nightmare. I have bought massis amounts of sweets (they will go crazyy from sugar rushes) and crisps. We are baking cakes today with princess deko (I bought one of each they had in the shop so we have enough for a few years) We are making little fans decorating paper and folding it, but what if they do not want to? If I shout at them they will all start crying (apart from my own 2). We are also making edible necklesses, perhaps it wont work? I really do not like this , next time I am going for McD!
Anna has huge expectations (not from me) and is giving us intructions about that we have to get up before her in the morning (difficult) and sing for her. every year we have decorated the sitting room for her the night before as a surprise, this morning she was reminding me about it..........hughggghauggghghaaaaaouchh i find myelf wishing for a teenage party, cake, music, lights low NO ANIMATION but I guess they will come soon enough.
One year ago I was in hospital for my check, having hone 18 days over due I went in every day for a checkup. This day I met a new doctor Dr Deutsch (ggod name in Germany) who told me I would be pregnant until Christmas if they did not do something since I had a scar on my cervix and it could not open. Great! The same moment my lovely husband stepped into the room, having sensed something was going on he had left work andwalked in precisely at the right moment, we decided to try for a natural birth (they offered a cesarian as an option) so out came they big pliers to break the scartissue, OUCH! 18 hours and one more encounter with the big pliers our lovely Anna was finaly in my arms. Tomorrow it is 5 years ago.

Sant Martin celebrations

2009-11-11T19:33:00.000+01:00

Oscars first and Annas 4th Sant Martin lantern party. Anna new all the songs and sang really well, for Oscar the whole experience was a little overwhelming........
The children walk in the dark with their lanterns that they have made themselves, Anna had a princess lantern :-) and stop and sing a few songs. Then everyone meet in a garden and there is a buffet with mulled wine. Very nice, very German, but a little difficult to keep track of the children in the dark.

Got the injections and......

2009-11-08T17:10:00.002+01:00

feel really sick. Hm I guess it is callec side effects. Everyone else in the family is fine, it took 3 people to hold Anna for the injections. I have tried everything with her before a doctors visit and found that not saying anything until it is about happen is the best......Oscar was a star as always. talking about Oscar, he is so cuddly, loving it is just amazing. This morning (Anna woke up first as always) David took Anna down and Oscar and me cuddled in bed. He can really look you deep in the eyes with his dark brown eyes, I am so in love with him :-)
What is increasingly difficult with him is that his speech is not really coming on. He knows a lot of words and can string sentences together but one problem is that he speaks very nasal, it is difficult to hear what he is saying the other is that he seems to prefer moaning, whining etc and THAT drives me up the wall! It is a very strong argumnent to move him into an English speaking kindergarten. I am just not comfortable with uprooting him sence he is so happy where he is and he is getting so much more attention and individual care than he could get in the english one. We have spooken to the doctor about his nasal speech but her opinion (and mine) is that he uses the "wrong" muscels when he speeks. He pushes the air up from his tummy, having learnt to speak late, he just needs more time to learn......It is also such a pity for him that we have 3 languages going in the family. We do see progress all the time but it is slow.

Swineflu and pictures from Paris #2

2009-11-05T20:10:00.003+01:00

I am having a hard time with the german doctors trying to get the vaccination for swineflu, all german doctors seem to believe that wrapping yourself in cottage cheese will cure anything if that does not help take a paracetamol. They have never realized that when a memeber of my family goes to the doctor - we are really ill! Not that we are at the moment but anyway I want to vaccinate all of us! But how - the doctors will not do it - as if it was their choise! I have no found a norwegian doctor and hope to have it sorted out by end of next week. I guess more people have to get ill or even worse before the Germany change their mind, but then perhaps that is an oxymoron.............
Any way here are a few more pictures from our trip to Paris:

just got a telephone call from the NORWEGIAN doctor we are getting the vaccination on Saturday morning. Oscar did not want to have his picture taken in Paris. Anna did as always :-)

Paris pictures from the castle

2009-10-30T11:17:00.000+01:00

Disneyland effect......

2009-10-28T19:34:00.000+01:00

Well, what can I say, too many people in too little space. We spent the whole day at Eurodisney, it was agony for me. I have been twice before, when it had recently opened. Then they had plenty of disney characteres walking about, now you had to que to meet any of them. We did que for several attractions, but you stand in line for 30 minutes at the best for something that lasts a few moments. Anna was not bothered about queing to meet Snow White, but she really enjoyed the sing and dance shows put on. She said that was the best of everything, the Mickey Show. Oscar enjoyed the rides and having a play on the playground. But really, too many people in too small place. Perhaps it is being Swedish I am just not used to this many people in such a realatively small space. I lived in a town with 3000 people for almost 4 years! It also really annoyed me that the did not fill the rides, it was as they wanted there to be a que! They also opened the park at 8, but only with disney hotel pass, and all shops where closed so no browsing. We then had fast passes but there was too many people so they closed the fast pass machines. It was hard work keeping my spirits up for the kids, but when I looked around I could see a lot of faces with tense expressions.
I could not help comparing with Astrid Lindgrens world that we visited last year. High quality performances, the children really get to meet all the characters all the time, good nutritional food to purchase for good value, and it left a feeling of wanting to come back. Yesterdays experience was the opposite, I want it to be many years until I come back to Eurodisney.......

I was very pleased to see that Oscar coped well with the whole experience. He showed fewer signs of overstimulating than normal. Only the most common one for Oscar = not wanting to eat.
Today he has eaten soo much :-) David went mad in the shops in Val d'Europe today - my husband can really shop until we all drop!

another great day

2009-10-26T20:20:00.000+01:00

We have had a whole day in Paris. Anna has been a star walking and walking and being really interested and asking lots of questions. Thanks to the films she watches, Anastacia, Ratatoulli, Hunchback of Notredam she really got into touristing in Paris. Oscar likes his pram and happily sat and watched the buisy life around him. In the afternoon he layed back in the pram and fell asleap, unthinkable just a few months back when he would keep on going and going and going.........
We had an unpleasant start to the day on the train going in to Paris, a guy came on and stood really near us and started muttering, first in French, very rude things about David, then he changed to English and was F-ing and being really unpleasant. David asked what he was saying and he the threatend with something sticking out in his righ pocket!!!!! We ingnored him (Anna asking what is this man saying.......)he gave up after a while and moved away a few decimeters. After 3 of 4 stations he got off.....SCARY!
The rest of the day was MUCH better+++++
We went on a Seine river cruise, David and I enjoyed it more than the children :-) We have done it before but it was great to do it again, the weather has been glorious all day.
Tomorrow we are hittin Eurodisney, Anna still does not know! The signs are everywhere, in the hotel the have a sign with the opening hours of the park and Anna was asking David what it said, he told her it what the times for Breakfast! On the train back ´they announced that the train was going to Eurodisney in English and in German, Anna asking what are they saying about Disney-land. I told her it was advertising.......this morning several of the children was wearing Minni Mouse ears.....it is getting more difficult. We have told her that tomorrow we are having a day doing things for her, collecting leaves, trying to find a good playground etc..........
I know it is a little cruel, but knowing our daughter she could not handel the tension and would not sleep all night if we told her what is happening tomorrow. She is such a sweetie, David bought her an Eifel tower from a streeet vendor, the cheapest smallest (1€) and she has been holding it all day. Everytime we took a picture of her she held it up infront of her. Imagine tomorrow......no I can not :-)

Our fantastic children

2009-10-25T18:12:00.001+01:00

We have had a fantastic day. Oscar who normaly gets very nervous at breakfast was a star and Anna had 3 bowls of cornflakes. We then went to a lovely castle near by, Vaux le Vicomte, and the children got to dress up, Anna as a princess and Oscar was a musceter. I have pictures but I have forgotten to bring the cable to upload them....they loved the castle, interested, asked lots of questions and really keen on everything. We then drove back to our hotel and went a walk, weather cleared up and the sun came out, a little browsing in the shops and a playground and everyone is happy. Tomorrow we are going into Paris. We are taking the train and the kids are already excited about this. Me too!

Paris

2009-10-24T20:56:00.000+02:00

We are in Paris for the next week, our apartment hotel is in a great location near Eurodisney. We have not told Anna that this is where we going as she would get sooooo exited. We told her we are in the town where Ratatoullie is filmed and she fell down to the ground saying how amazin it was, how wonderful it was etc ..... so i think we will wait with the information about the rest of the week.
The are is amazing it is like being IN paris but everything is new.....it is like a "fake" Paris. Excellent since wider pavements and less traffic.

Oscar and Anna in the gym

2009-10-21T19:13:00.000+02:00

As you can see from the pictures, the dancing in the beginning is not Oscars thing but he loves the rest of it. Today he was such a good boyx, waiting for his turn and really being positive about all the exercises, following all the instructions. It is just the dancing........ :-)

One year without my mother, Annas grandmother.

2009-10-17T19:56:00.000+02:00

Today one year ago I lost my mother suddenly, Anna her beloved grandmother and Oscar never got to met the best grandmother in the world. It is just not fair. The pictures are taken having a drink in our garden to celebrate Davids birthday last year, the day before leaving for Russia to met Oscar.

Second day driving from Perm to Kungur

2009-10-15T08:32:00.000+02:00

Anyone who knows me know I am not a big fan of fast driving, the drive from Perm to Kungur easiliy qualify as one of the worst in my life. Muddy, fast, very fast, overtaking lorrys on both the left and the right hand side and all this for almost 2 hours. But at the end of the journey we met Oscar for the second time one year ago, our son who was even more terrified than the day before. We had been to courses with the adoption agency telling us to bring toys, trying to get him to draw, well interact in some way......not much happened here. He just wanted to be held, would not do anything or play at al. He did not even eat the bisquits we brought just held it tightly in his hand. The doctor and his carer told us that he was very different in his group, but it was difficult to get any idea about what he was like.I was very worried, nothing I had read had prepard me for this. (Watching film that we have, we look as terrified as he does.) I am so pleased my hsuband took the lead and being the most sensible man on earth said we have to trust the information we are given, Oscar had a fantastic medical background, he is a beautiful boy and of course it is terrfying for a little boy to meet us etc...... and we did.
Here is a picture of Oscar on our second visit 15 October 2008. we have very few pictures from this visit, he was so upset the whole time it just did not feel right to take his pictures. I remember that I had to measure his feet by drawing the outline on a piece of paper, he went hysterical as I took off his sandal obviously thinking that I was taking it from him. It was heart-breaking.

One year ago we met a little very scared boy in Russia

2009-10-14T06:39:00.000+02:00

One year ago today 14 October 2008 we sat in Doctor Olgas office in Kungur and had just started to hear the background story of the little boy we earlier was suggested at the ministry in Perm. After only a few minutes a carer came in with the cutest very small boy clinging to her being very scared to say the least.

He was the cutest boy I had ever seen.

14 October 2009 he is safe with his forever family that loves him very much.

Happy Birthday to Daddy

2009-10-11T18:16:00.000+02:00

Birthday cake traditional English style!

Surprise from the our lovely neighbours

Big birthday kiss from Anna

Presents are being opened........

Oscar is waiting for his piece of the cake.

One year ago the phone rang.....

2009-09-30T18:11:00.000+02:00

and a long awaited phone call told us that we had an invitation from the ministry in Perm and that we had to be there 1 1/2 week later. In Kungur was a little boy who had no idea that this was the beginnig of his new life.

Oscar in the gym

2009-09-23T19:21:00.000+02:00

Anna goes to "kinderturnen" a sort of gym once a week where the children in a controlled form get to do different exercises. She loves it so much that she usually has to have a cry when it is over! Totally Anna!
I like the teacher very much since she only does a few activites every week so it is not just running around from one thing to another and she also demands that all the children participate, no one is allowed to have a sit and a drink, she gives all of them a pause to have a drink and then it continues. Oscar has been with us in the spring but I felt it was too soon for him to start. Today he had his first go at it, Anna first did her course and then she stayed on for another one with Oscar (3 year olds). It all starts with that the children does a little dancing together with the teacher, all with movement. Of course Oscar had no idea what to do and was just standing there looking lost, he was soo cute I had to smile. Then he bust into tears and came running to me, very upset. I felt so sorry for him not knowing how to do the movements. But also very typical Oscar, instead of having a try, he freezes and does nothing, just like when we met him the first time in the orphanage. He refused to go back, did not want us to do it together and just sat on my lap for a while. Then they where doing balancing and this was much more Oscars thing, all the children lined up behind the teacher.....Oscar ran over and stood last, more than a head shorter than the other children.....he was soo good. He really followed what the instructor did (apart from when his little legs where to short to reach the ground). He had a little "meltdown" improvising new activities (and he was in the way of the others) and I gave him the choice of either sitting with me or follow instructions like the other children, he made a good choice (I was soo proud)
Anna was praised today both in kindergarten and at turnen. They went on an excursion to a playground in the forest and she walked a long way without complaining, and at turnen she was the one who went "first" the whole lesson on the activities. I had 2 very tired children this evening.

Boys.....

2009-09-13T19:05:00.001+02:00

Oscar is experimenting...

Oscar has this weekend among many other things:

- Poured one whole schampo bottle into the toilet bowl as seen above. Everytime we flush more and more bubbles are being formed......

- Smeared himself with a whole tube of bum cream face, arms, everywhere, he reached the tube by climbing onto his changing table......

- Sent his first MMS, a picture of me getting streaks in my hair, that I had taken for fun since I looked ridiculous it was sent a along time ago to my sister for her eyes only, but he did not send it to my sister again, it went to xxx. Hmm this person is really going to think I have lost it. Mobilephone must be looked in this house!

- Oscar found an empty soap bubble container, we have a lot of those since he he generally tip them out within the first minute, he then went to the bathroom and poured bubble bath into the little container (and the floor) he then needed water as he could not reach the wash basin he went into the shower, put it on filled his container and soaked himself. It all got a little too much for him to be able to turn it off again so he went out but a friend of order as he is - he closed the shower doors behind him.

Tomorrow is ~~holiday~~ work :-) = kindergarten

A few new things...

2009-09-11T19:19:00.006+02:00

1. Oscar likes to have his picture taken, again and again and again......

2. Oscar loves to watch DVD and Thomas the tank engine is the number one favourite but today he really got into Mary Poppins asn well!

3. He is comminucating, well 3 word together is now very common but I guess I an the only one understanding. He speaks very "nasal" kindergarten wants me to have his polypes checked. All in good time as everything else with me and doctors.

4. He said "I love you" well I am almost sure he did

5. He will himself without prompting give me kisses and hugs.

Something new about me, Oscar and I sat down and looked at the pictures we took in Russia. Among them was Oscars referal picture.... I can still remember how I felt when I saw it the first time, all my worries translated into a picture and just thought it looked strange, and was really stressed by how I felt and the fact that this was the boy we where going to visit. (my internal system screemed things I can not put into words) I downloaded the picture before it was removed from the Russian database and it is the only picture we have of Oscar before adopting him. When the picture came up on the screen Oscars said "Oscar - baby" it was so lovely and I looked at the picture and the only thing I could now see was my wonderful, beautiful and so cute son of my very own. Here it is:

Saturday Shopping

2009-09-06T07:33:00.003+02:00

Anna and Oscar in Hastings in August, they chose their vehicles themselves...........

The boat was a compromise to avoid swan lake, the head of one of the giant, hugely expensive swan boats is in the background. The canoe is on rails, luckily for us......

Saturday is the only possibility for family shopping since everything YES everything is closed in Germany on Sundays. In town there is a shopping centre that has a children's room with a trained person to take care of you children. Anna loves to go for an hour. Saturday morning is a nice time to go there since most of the Germany's are either in bed or cleaning their house so it is not as busy as it gets after 12 when ALL Germans do their shopping.........we have not allowed Oscar to go with Anna in the playroom because of the development in attachment, but yesterday we did, he loved it, and we had no issues afterwords! There is a lot of good attachment, its not strong but it is there and growing.

He also has (finally) discovered TV, but he is not like Anna who will watch anything, he ONLY wants Thomas the tank engine. Anna does not.......it is a source for......"discussion" (read screeming and arguing) in the morning and evening.

a summer to remember

2009-09-03T07:55:00.004+02:00

Cuddling in bed
watching telly with grandad with fingers in the mouth as Oscar was breaking his first molar.

Playing in the sandpit

walking around the house with the stroller

This a boy who loves travelling, this is looking out from the cabin window on the way to Finland

I do not really know where to start........we have had 8 weeks holiday together as a family, most of the time we spent in Sweden but we visited Muminworld in Finland, rented a house in England for a week and spent 3 days in the Champagne region on the way back to Germany. Oscar has made a lot of progress during the summer, we have very few issues with him. His control issues are (at the moment) very few and I have a feeling that his behaviour is like a 2 year old should be.........not PI behaviour. He is an extremely cuddly little boy and loves to hug and kiss, he enjoyed the large garden in Sweden walking around with "the pink stroller", watching telly with grandad. He is eating well and growing, his tiny little baby feet are now toddler feet, he broke his first molar (only 3 to go), he initiates games, seeks contact with other children to play with them,......

We really only had one big backlash, and a big one. Every summer David and I have gone to Stockholm alone, without Anna. We where hoping to do the same this year and it was going really well my dad taking care of Oscar. He out him down for nap and we stayed the whole family together at his house without problems. We then decided to go for one night only, all went well with the children and my dad, we had a great time but.......then we came back. Oscar would not look at me, he would not take my hand (this is mummy's boy only normally) he would not get into the car when they picked us up at the train station, he kept holding my dads hand. After this we had 2 days when Oscar was so ANGRY with me. I have never seen my child so ANGRY before. He must have thought that I abandoned him. It was heartbreaking. Oscar is not an angry child he is happy, easygoing and sweet. We decided to wait a long time before going away again. Our attachment is too brittle.

I was hoping for Oscar to start to talk a little more, well he talks but it is very unclear, nasal and without most consonants. I understand him well and he understands everything. One good sign is that he is getting frustrated when he can not make himself understood and tries a little harder lately to talk. But the situation with 3 languages in not good. We had thought about putting him into the English speaking KIGA but it is over 30 children and one teacher and one assistant. In the German KIGA he has his own carer, 15 children 3 teachers and one assistant. His teacher (and Annas) came to visit us in Sweden in August and the children was delighted. he went back to KIGA this week and I was worried that we would be starting over again with getting used to being there but he walked straight in and started playing. I am not sure this is a good or bad thing........The teacher told me that he was little more needy than normal, coming to check on her a little more often that he normally do. Today was his 3rd day and he could not wait to get there, Thomas the tank engine rucksack on his back, big kiss and hug and off he go.

I love him so much

Oscar and Lily

2009-07-16T11:37:00.003+02:00

Oscar and cousin Lily hanging out a little tired after their Christening.

school year coming to an end.....

2009-06-28T20:28:00.003+02:00

One week left and then we start the long journey to Sweden. I am very homesick, I miss everything about my country right now. I keep listening to Swedish music loud on the CD and I think my dad is going to start to complain about me calling to often very soon.....

I have tried to have Oscar with me as much as possible in the last week and will try this week as well. It means a lot of driving leaving and picking up kids at different times but we feel that he needs to me together with me a lot at the moment. He is also showing signs that it is time to cut his mid-day sleep short since he lies awake in the evening. I am a little worried about that he has stopped calling out in the morning and does not protest in the evening even though he is awake. Not good signs since he has been doing this before, sometimes I do not know how much he sleeps...........

Yesterday he did not have a nap and he was fine, very happy, and very much just being 2 1/2 year old Oscar. No glazing over, not over reacting (just reacting :-) ) But this morning he had a melt down at 10 and had to go to bed for a nap. The most difficult thing right now is the times of regression, after each regression comes progress and I know that by now, but it is still so painful to experience. The only tool we have is more physical contact, more time with us (me) and keeping the rules at home very clear. It is very easy to think everything is adoption related but I "know" and can "feel" the difference in him when he regresses. At the same time I need to remember that the little worries we have with him are very small! He is just such a lovely boy and as my husband said this weekend - he had never seen a cuter boy than our Oscar!

Floating

2009-06-16T18:47:00.003+02:00

Oscar finally discovered that he can rely on his armbands for floating - big step for him to trust anything but himself :-) I really enjoy taking them to the pool. Today we went for Oscars second FSME injection. His pinches his mouth together and then says a little "aj" and then after a little hug all is well. Last time he got a fever from the injection so I hope he will be better today. I also had him measured - 85 cm!!!

6th months ago in the small town of Kungur, Russia

2009-06-13T08:01:00.007+02:00

I arrived after a rather sleepless night at the babyhome to pick up Oscar. I was very nervous, very much on my own since David was meeting us in Moscow, and it was a very emotional experience. It all went extremely fast but I can remember each moment as in slow motion. He was being washed and this carer came out with him wet and naked and put him on a changing table. I dressed him, nervously, all the clothes far to big. He looked at me with his big eyes clinging to his teddy. We took him into his room quickly, his carer explained that he was going away with his mummy, all the other children looked with big eyes as we said paka paka. Oscar did not say anything.....we hurried into the car. The wait was over, he was with us. Soo much has changed in his life and ours, becoming part of our family could not have gone better. We have been so lucky, he is a wonderful boy, our son.

Pictures from the first visit:

Pictures from second visit:

First day together in the Hotel in Perm, alone with mummy:

2 days later in the hotel in Moscow:

6th months home - 2 kg heavier, 6 cm taller and a bundle of joy!

who likes walking around in flip flops....

Naughty brown eyed boy in the pool!

2009-06-04T20:21:00.005+02:00

Oscar loves to have a bath - in a bath tub. This a very good example of our biggest problem at the moment with him - control. A few weeks ago we stayed in a hotel with a pool and he was very excited getting his trunks on, even more excited when he got the armbands on, not to mention how exceited he was getting into his little robe........and then he saw the water......we took him in very gently but he just screemed, clinging on to me, terrified. The moment we put him on solid ground he smiled and laughed again. We tried 3 evenings but with very little success. This week we had some nice weather and I took both children to the local pool........we started with the same excitment as before and it was then ok since the water in the smallest pool went to his ankles. It has a tine slide dow into a little deeper end = Oscars chest! He loves going on the slide on the playground so i thought this waterslide must be his thing, i was trying to be pedagigocal and convinve him to try it but I got fed up with trying to get him on it and grabbed him and down he went! 3 times until he got the idea that this was great! He still can not walk in water :-) but he now goes down the slide over and over again. A little later we went to the deeper pool so Anna could have a "swim" and that was not a success, exactly like before - total panic. He has to be in control the whole time, those little signs of a poor attachment. Well we are working on it, it is early days yet.

But this issue about control is one thing that has become a bigger problem since he started kindergarten. He is now eating well, this is something that kindergarten has helped with. But the control issue we have has been getting worse lately. I am so looking forward to the 4th of Juli when our 2 month holiday start - Sweden here we come - all mice in our little red house - time to move out!

Oscar is also getting more active in playing with Anna and other children and this is great, apart form that today he played lion and tried to eat a piece of Anna's back, yes he bit her badly. First time - last time I hope. Anna screamed, Oscar was sent to his room.

Having a snack together with them is always very entertaining, Anna tells me whats been going on during the day. Today Anna had thought about things as she said that she know why Oscar is so naughty, it is because he can not see very well. I asked why he could not see? And she told me it was because his eyes where so dark. :-)

My very blue eyed girl about my very brown eyed boy.

Perhaps I should check his eyesight............

Lite bilder

2009-05-21T07:38:00.003+02:00

Oscar likes stacking, and he is getting pretty good at it.

Wlaking around in size 39 flip flops with his tiny size 21 feet.

Summer has arrived in Gemany!

I did it.......

2009-05-05T21:02:00.003+02:00

I dragged myself to a step-up class today. First time since before the adoption, and it was so much fun :-) Thank you Michaela for inspiring me, now it just need to happen again!
Last week (Oscars Second week) in kindergarten was hard work in the afternoon. Oscar was very tired but cant sleep because then he does not go to bed in the evening, and since he has to get up at 6 this is essential so we decided this week that he must sleep in KIGA. We brought his travel cot that he knows and he slept there today without any problem and was a much happier Oscar this afternoon and still went to bed at 6. He is a very good sleeper. I also think I discovered another reason (apart from loss of sleep) for him being more clingy, he is getting his last teeth at the back. he did not have all his teeth when we met him and our doctor told us this was because lack of nutrition, sad but true. His last front teeth came through last month and now its the last 4, all at once as far as I can see.
We had some lovely weather this weekend and Oscar was barefoot (he has the cutest feet size 21 (5) I just love to kiss them) in the sand for the first time. I guess first time ever, and he was so excited about this. He is also increasingly difficult to take pictures of, Anna likes to model but Oscar runs or start grunting when he sees the camera.

Our beautiful children.

2009-04-27T13:18:00.007+02:00

Annas second and Oscars first photo in Kindergarten.

Long time no blog

2009-04-22T19:34:00.003+02:00

We had 2 very successful weeks in England. Oscar was a little trooper and we think he charmed the grandparents. The only little issue we had was as always food! He lost weight during the holiday and is on an after Easter chocolate diet right now (kidding). He really has very little problems when travelling, he falls asleep, stays asleep and is a very happy chappy.
I started working on Monday and wow, this has been a chock, so much work - so little time. I have been working very hard these first 3 days, almost like being a beginner teacher again. PUh.
Oscar is doing very well and loves his kiga, he gets very excited in the morning when we are getting ready to head off. He gets a little mummyish as I leave him (= he is clinging to me like double sided tape), it is much easier when David does the run in the morning with the kids. Oscar is a little tail to Helga the teacher and has formed the most amazing relationship with her. Though I must say I am very proud when he comes running with a HUGE and hug smile as I come to pick him up. He is also eating well in KIGA, I guess it is what he was used to, eating together with other children.
We did realize that we still have a long way to go with Oscar when he had a temperature last week, he would not let himself be comforted, he wanted to be left on his own, I could not stand it and "made him" stay in my arms, he really fought for a long time and then suddenly (though it felt like a long time) he snuggled in and let himself be comforted. I kept putting him down, asking him if it was better, picking him up and cuddling him with him wriggling, putting him down .......
and then finally he just relaxed in my arms, it was difficult but I do feel we took another step on the road to secure attachment.
Anna is becoming aware of the attention that Oscar is getting in KIGA and we need to work hard to make sure she still feels like out little princess. When she went to bed this evening she asked me who I loved the most, Oscar or her. I told her she was the one but not to tell Oscar.....it must be very hard on her to see how Oscar clings to me, and how everyone in KIGA thinks he is so cute. I am going to try to have some mother and daughter time this weekend.

Kindergarten is going to work, puh!

2009-04-01T17:55:00.002+02:00

We have made a lot of progress in kindergarten with Oscar. I am amazed with how well he has been doing the last couple of days. Anyone seeing him last week would not have believed it possible. But as always, everything thanks to the magical Helga. What would I do without her? She is truly a child-whisperer.
Not so good is Oscars appetite, the ongoing problem.......I will admit he drives me nuts! I have not had any arguments with him for a very long time, just let him not eat and then give him a piece of bread (he likes it very dry!) but today I just got so mad with him. As he kissed and hugged me goodnight this evening I felt thoroughly guilty for being such a bad mummy..........

We are making progress, but very slowly

2009-03-27T14:20:00.003+01:00

Pictures if Anna at the same age as Oscar is know.

I have spent every morning this week in kindergarten and we are making some progress. He no longer comes looking for me every minute. I can sit in a next door room, he was playing on his own for 45 minutes today without looking for me. He is having a great time, but he needs to come for a hug and a cuddle every now and then. The staff is amazed with the attachment he is showing. I could not be happier with how the attachment is going. He is also showing little signs of regression so far. We still have a long way to go before I can leave him, and that he knows that I will come back for him.

He has the same teacher as Anna, Helga and is starting to form a relationship with her. He will go with her, she can change him, he gave her a big smile this morning. She means FUN to him! She spoils him rotten and bribes him with little sweets. Anna loves Helga, she is one of the most important people on Annas life.

Oscar can now say NO in three languages..........I remember waiting a very long time for YES from Anna.

This is difficult

2009-03-23T20:39:00.002+01:00

As we prepared this morning for Oscars first day in Kindergarten (with me there all the time) he new something was about to happen. He undressed himself as I tried to get him ready, struggled not get get his shoes on (he normally loves to go out), would not carry his bag (he is always wanting to help) would not get out the car seat, did not want to press the blue button to get into the kindergarten, I had to carry him inside (he normally runs inside when we bring Anna), did not want to put his slipper on puh puh only when I took my coat off he understood that this was not a new group.....mummy was staying with him. We have 4 more weeks to practise but I feel so bad, it is too soon for him. We stayed 2,5 hours together in the group, then we went home and he slept as normal, without any problems, we then went to pick Anna up and then as we came home it started.....chaos. He was so unhappy, could not eat only moaning and being unhappy. My lovely happy little boy..........I hope tomorrow is a better day.............

Oscar is eating

2009-03-19T11:03:00.002+01:00

"the stare"

2009-03-18T10:53:00.002+01:00

I was thinking about Oscars behavior this morning and about what feels good and what feels not so good.
Examples of progress we have made:
He has great eye contact.
He eats better.
He is very happy.
He is not overacting as often when told "no".
He is walking and running.
He is growing in all directions.
He is a fantastic kisser.
He is trying to talk.
He sleeps well.
He understands everything we say.
He cries ands wants mummy when he has a little accident.
When we are out and about and he gets insecure he comes running to me.
He wants to be near me, (VERY near)
He manages meeting other people better. (still room for improvement)

Progress to be made:
What I notice the most is "the stare" he disappears into "orphan world" . He looks completely different when this happens, mouth opens, eyes glaze over and he is completely passive.
Then we have the "shoulder hug" he hides using body contact hanging over the shoulder, it felt like cuddling in the beginning but it is not. He is getting better at this but still room for improvement. There is a difference in carrying him, hugging and this. Difficult to explain.
Then of course there is the rocking, it is getting less and less every week. Sometimes it is gone for a few days but then it comes back. He used to rock in his bed, but I am pretty sure he has stopped. he just screams now :-).
He is also very sensitive to loud voices, he freezes immediately.
He does not relax very easily the car or pram and sleeps. He needs to be at home for his mid day sleep.

no no no

2009-03-10T18:23:00.003+01:00

Oscar and me had a great but tiring day out to Bern, 10 hours for a photograph at the Swedish embassy feels a little excessive. Oscar was a star and charmed everyone he met, he is no trouble at all. I could not believe how well he behaved himself. (yes I did read my book )
Today I was thinking about how Oscars way of expressing himself has changed. When we first got him he showed hardly any emotions, then came happiness he was like a man out of prison
:-). After this honeymoon he started to show a lot of frustration when told off, he would sit down and scream like a very small baby for any "no" big no or small no. No difference, just big big frustrated screaming which then suddenly stopped. Last week he started to show real anger, he grunts and waves his arms, he hit his sister (she deserved it really for taking something from him, but still he was told that hands stroke they do not hit). This has been getting more and more this week, no no no (in English) together with a growling is his favourite answer to all questions.
But we also noticed today as the children was helping me in the kitchen and Oscar was told not to touch the stove, he then still reached out and I moved his chair away and told him that he has to listen to what mummy tells him. A week ago this would have meant a big screaming session, but today he put on a sulky face and looked guilty. We thought this showed great progress. Happiness was short as he went crazy being put to bed, wow I guess it was yesterdays overload. He normally sleeps straight away but today we had big tears for a long time. A lot of back stroking and singing before he settled.
We have started planning his start in kindegarten, it certainly feels too soon but as many of you now, if i don't go back I am at high risk of loosing my job. I only work part time and semester ends on 4th of July. Still we have 5 more weeks together at home.........

81,5 cm

2009-03-06T19:34:00.002+01:00

We have 81,5 cm of cuddles here! Oscar was a superstar today at the doctors. He is small, well we knew that but perfect weight and increasing all the time. He was showing off his most charming self, no traces of Italy. I think my otherwise pretty stone faced German pediatrician was charmed by our little one.
We woke up this morning to wet snow everywhere, most of it has rained away during the day but I certainly hope this was the last of winter. Anna is fascinated by numbers at the moment, being a math teacher I feel very proud and trying not to be pushy. She keeps forgetting the number 7 when she counts and wants to write from right to left mirror imaged but then there is really nothing wrong with that.
On Monday Oscar and me are going to Switzerland to apply for a Swedish passport for Oscar. 4 hours there are 4 hours back. To apply you have to visit an embassy and Bern is closer to us than Berlin so here we go. The question is, is there any point bringing a book? (for me I mean)

La vita é bella......

2009-03-04T19:01:00.002+01:00

but hard work! We had a fantastic time in Italy! Michaela, why are you living here in Germany you country great!
We went to Genoa for 5 nights, we arrived late in the evening and the kids woke up as we got to the hotel. Both of them VERY excited. Anna was jumping on the beds, Oscar was vibrating like a mobile phone but eventually they slept.......after that we had no problems, they went to sleep and slept all night. As always our little princess wakes everybody up at 6.......but both of them had a sleep in the day. Anna in the pram (a tight squeeze to get her in) and Oscar on my back in the ERGO.
The only thing we have noticed coming back is that Oscar has lost a little of the ground he covered. Eye contact, eating and "glazing over" all worse. This was much better today after a couple of days at home.
Today I went shopping alone for clothes for the kids, the main reason is that Oscar is growing out of his size 80 and into 86 :-). We have the 2-year control at the doctors on Friday, so then we will get the numbers......

Snow white

2009-02-23T11:25:00.004+01:00

Snow White (with make-up...) Oscar had a clown wig on, pictured on the run......

playground overload

2009-02-22T19:10:00.003+01:00

It is raining and raining and we decided this morning to take the kids to an indoor playground. Anna has been several times before and really enjoys this very large play area in an old hangar. We have talked about it for a while, but my feeling has been that it would be too much for Oscar. But since the last weeks has been a huge success, he is eating and he is interacting with us more and trying out new words every day we decided to go for it. He loved it, he is far too small to be able to get into the climbing maze but he is so supple that he makes up for it. Anna was being the big sister showing him and leading the way. it was also good to see that he is very sensible when things get a little scary and not careless at all. He was also able to eat his lunch, this has been a problem before in restaurants, that he is too interested in everything else what is going on around him to be able to eat.

This week I really have the feeling that we can start to expand Oscars world a little more. We have certainly not just stayed at home but we have been very aware for our new family member. Well as everything are going so good and being us we are going for it, holiday next week! The weather here is so bad we are driving to Italy for some spring sunshine. This will be Oscars first holiday with us and we are looking forward to a real family adventure. Wish us luck. I guess the big horror is that he does not sleep....I sometimes read about new adoptive parents who rock their children to sleep, lunchtime and evening.......it is just not an alternative for us. He gets put to bed, back stroked and good night sleep tight don't let the bedbugs bite. If he cries we go back in again and stroke his back and sing a song to him, that's it. He is asleep within 10 minutes most days/evenings.

Tomorrow it is fasching, Anna is going as Snow White, pictures will appear......

Annas spoon princess

2009-02-20T18:12:00.002+01:00

Anna made a lovely spoon princess this afternoon. It is carnival time in Germany and she comes home every day from KIGA with her face painted. Oscar is eating, finally, it has been a battle and a worry.

Tipp-Ex face

2009-02-16T18:37:00.002+01:00

Yesterday started with that Oscar got hold of a Tipp-Ex bottle and painted his face. It does not wash away so he has a white face (I even tried nail-polish remover, and all the knowledge I have about solubility) we then set off on the train together with my dad to visit the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart. My dad gave Oscar his mobile and then it was suddenly just gone, gone, gone. Not to be found and we left the train without the mobile! Museum was great, our children little angels. We then got on the train to go back, but as the conductor came we got thrown off the train for having the wrong tickets (German rail is complicated). We managed thanks to my super traveller husband to navigate home. As we had been in the house for 5 minutes Oscar got hold off a stamp inc pad and colored his face blue. This washed off , but stained the white Tipp-Ex already on his face light blue so now he has a light blue face. Today was a quiet day.................

Picking toe fluff...

2009-02-09T18:57:00.004+01:00

Anna is ill with fever and ear pain (hence the non hair doo) but she enjoys a good pick between her brothers toes to make sure no fluff is found.

To potty or not to potty?

2009-02-03T17:12:00.006+01:00

The different faces of Oscar on the big toilet in the morning, yes we have a half-timbered loo! Spreading paper around himself and picking fluff from between his toes and pulling his .........is his favourite past time on the toilet. He was very happy to do his business on a potty until he discovered the big toilet (with pink ring, we are getting another boy colour coordinated one for the downstairs loo) much more fun.

On the food front I am trying the happy shiny mum, have ketchup for breakfast if you like attitude. Experts say (my dad say a program on telly) one can never win a food war with a child, well I think I did win a few times but anyway we are now being much more relaxed and less annoyed about the " turning the face away" at anything that is sitting on a plate. ( I did not really tell the truth here about the less annoying bit grrrrr)

Oscar is really enjoying to be able to move, he started running this weekend, it is great to see. This is the same boy who could just walk and I was thinking needed some sort of operation on his leg - not needed. His language is standing more still, he acquired a set of words in the first month and he seems to be happy with those. He imitates everything that we say but does not use new words. He is more needy of me than he was a few weeks ago but will still let David do everything with him.

Anna continues to be the most wonderful daughter and sister and is as always enjoying dressing up and performing.

Same procedure as last bowl of porridge

2009-01-28T18:47:00.005+01:00

I have porridge on my trousers, on the floor, in my hair....everywhere. Oscar has a new little trick, refusing food (well actually only breakfast porridge and evening meal porridge). He starts with nam nam when he sees the bowl, then head to the side to show me he is not eating it, and after that comes a full blown scream. I will not be scared, I aim and in goes a full spoon of lovely porridge into the screaming mouth! half of it comes back out again and then.......mmmm nam nam and he eats a whole bowl, smiling and being super happy. Next porridge meal, same procedure as last one. He really loves his porridge but it has turned into a battle of the first spoon. Puh. perhaps I will just stop serving porridge.
He is getting porridge 2 times a day since he stopped drinking his bed-time bottle. He realized that he had to go to bed after, so then he stopped drinking it. He is cute, small and very stubborn.

Thank you for Chamomille

2009-01-21T12:01:00.004+01:00

Remote control has surfaced.....yes I did have to go through "a lot" to find it but cheeky monkey was not guilty of that one. We have had a "hard work" weekend, on Saturday we went shopping with Oscar and after that he was completely overstimulated. It continued on Sunday. He could not sleep evenings and was just running around being naughty. He kept overreacting when we had to tell him no, big screams and hysteria. It lasts for a very short while but we had a lot of them. Anna was pretty tired of him!

In the first weeks with Oscar we gave him little globules of Chamomile, homeopathic treatment is very big in Germany. It is used for teething problems (and he is teething) and generally supposed to calm down. I stopped giving them last week and noticed no big difference. Monday I started again and he was better in the day but still had problems settling in the evening. Yesterday was much better, he was his normal self and he settled and fell asleep directly. It really seems to work on him and I will continue with them.

Annas snowman above was short lived, first Oscar ate the raisin mouth and them we had 10 degrees and rain.

Gone with the bins.....

2009-01-14T18:14:00.003+01:00

Here is Oscar in his new sweater that he got from grandma and grandad. Oscar and me had the first visit from social services today. They have to write a number of reports on how he is doing for the Russians. The lady is very nice and thought he was making good progress attaching to us. Well we think so as well.
What is not attaching to our house are items in our sitting-room. It started with a few little things going missing and today the all important remote for the DVD is gone. We have a main suspect under arrest upstairs sleeping in his cot. Oscar is not like the rest of the family, he is tidy, he likes to pick things up after himself and also likes to trow things in the bins.......so. David has been through the recycle bin (the less disgusting one) and unless the remote has shown up by tomorrow we have to go through.....the other one.

2 years old

2009-01-13T19:38:00.003+01:00

Making a cake!

We have a birth day boy in the house, though he does not seem to understand it. The best present was a greeting card that plays "Old McDonald had a farm" as you open it....again and again and again..........

He has been a very good little boy today, we had an improvised little party for him and he enjoyed blowing the candles out. Anna made him a crown and said that he was her prince.......he will be delighted about this in a few years time. I am so impressed with how she is dealing with having a little brother. She is such a lovely little girl if I may say so myself :-).

He has learned to drink from a bottle and is really sucking and swallowing and enjoys being in my arms like a tiny baby. A week ago you could not tilt him a centimetre backwards without him panicking. When he was drinking his bottle tonight he was investigating my face and pointing first on my nose and then on his and so on mmmmmm(soppy mum)

My first kiss......mmmm

2009-01-08T12:58:00.003+01:00

Well I not talking about THAT first kiss it was to wet and horrible this was much more my kind of kiss, the one you have been waiting for a long time. YES - Oscar kissed ME (and Anna and David). He was on his potty yesterday and I asked Anna to give me a kiss when he was watching and that really got him going, with sound effects and all. mmmmmmmmoooooaaaaaa!!!
It was strange staying at home yesterday.....I thought I was going to enjoy it but I felt like I also should go to work......I think I just need some adjusting time. I really love my job and it is difficult leaving the students, I know that my colleague's are doing a great job and some students are probably happy to get rid of me but still......
It is also not that easy to get ready in the morning, we definitely need to change some logistics on that one. I wake up first and get ready last, Oscar wakes up last and is out the door first. hmm need to ask some friends for some handy hints and tips.
One thing is great right now, Anna has always been very good at going to bed, but also been an early riser (too early) now with Oscar she sleeps 1 hour longer in the morning! Oscar goes to bed 6.30-7.00 and sleeps until......I wake him up.....well he wakes up around 8.00. He is sleeping more peacefully in the night, he has been tossing and turning a lot in the first 2 weeks. He also sleeps 1.5-2 hours in the day, and today I am going to have to wake him us since I need to go and pick Anna up in the kindergarten. I try to put him down and 11, but since we had to go to town today we came home late and and and......

Today we have been to extend Oscars visa. He now has a 1 year visa until his Swedish and English citizenship is finished.

LOL

2009-01-06T12:12:00.002+01:00

Not: Laugh Out Loud but Lots of Love. I love my husband, I love Anna and I love Oscar. I laugh with them, I play with them, I miss them, I get angry with them and sometimes shout at them (very immature I know). I believe Oscar loves us as well, he laughs with us, he playes with us, he miss us when anyone is not around and get very happy to se the person coming back, he gets angry with us when he does not get what he wants and he shouts at us :-).
Today is our last day at home all of us together, David starts work, Anna kindergarten and I an going to enjoy the time alone with Oscar.

Food and posh potty

2009-01-04T21:26:00.007+01:00

When I spent time with Oscar in the orphanage he would not eat with me (well first visit he did but that was out of fear I guess) he would not let himself be fed and would not eat when I was around. He wanted to eat at his little table with his friends. This was a worry that I had that he would not eat. He has eaten well with us, but uses food as his little power tool with us. We have tried not to make big deal out of it but also realized that with prompting (=talking him on our lap and firmly telling him that he has to eat) he will start to eat. Anna is also very helpful wanting to be the good big sister. Oscar will now let me feed him his porridge in the morning and help him with yoghurt pots. He will eat like a robot unless you encourage eye contact with him. Any food that resembles the food he was served in the orphanage is refused, no doubt about that he had enough of it.
We have also figured out that he gets a rash from apple juice.
The second isuue we have is getting changed, he screems like mad most of the time when he needs a change until the nappy is off, then he is very happy to cuddle and play on the changing table. He does not like when an item of clothing is removed. We are guessing that it has to do with that they where washed naked under a tap after having eaten, slept or been on their potties.
Here is a picture of the potty cupboard in the orphanage. (they are the size of big tea cups) The children sits on them in a small room, skating around on the floor until evindence is provided. I was not allowed to take any pictures of the other children.

Here is our little angel on his posh potty :-)

wanna be hairdresser

2009-01-03T16:16:00.005+01:00

On several of the blogs I read the children very (very) soon after coming home is dragged to the hairdresser, why this stress I wondered. Now I know, Oscar has put on 700 g in 2 weeks, this is 7% increase of his mass! AND much of this I am sure is hair, I started with a trim in the neck.......and today bribed with biscuits he got the full treatment. First I tried with the scissors true wanna be hairdresser ( how difficult can it be?) This was not good, I then grabbed my husbands trimmer (Oscar happily eating his biscuits) - not the best idea. So I guess we will let it grow for a week or two and then head for the professionals. With a little hair wax this was the result: (you can not imagine how the neck looks like :-( ! )

Oscar is continuing to show progress in his attachment to us, he hugs us, he keeps track of where we are the whole time, he makes great eye contact and want us to notice what he is doing. He cries when he has a little fall and wants to be held and cuddled.
He has little temper tantrums when he gets told off, he is testing his (our) limits like any toddler. He still rocks when he gets insecure or sad. He does not call for us when he wakes up in the morning but is now standing up in the cot instead of just laying waiting for us to come and get him. He has learned very quickly the no no´s in our house (stereo, kitchen drawers, TV, video etc) and this is really not a problem. The first 2 days we thought we would have to redecorate he was really checking everything out.........Anna learned very fast and we never had to remove anything and so far he seems to be the same.

Christmas at home

2008-12-28T19:39:00.003+01:00

We have had our first Christmas at home in our house. It has been a peaceful and quiet one, the sadness of the first Christmas without my mum in one hand and the joy of Oscar and Anna in the other. My husband keeps saying he is like a prisoner out of prison. He is just so so happy, we looked at some video clips we have from our visits to the orphanage and it can almost not be true that it is the same boy. He also walked very poorly, this was also the case when we picked him up. I was thinking that he had a problem with one of his legs but it was just that he did not have enough practise walking. My father who has spent Christmas with us is amazed with the progress he is making every day.

Oscar is also crazy for dogs, he breaks out in an uncontrolled giggle whenever he sees a dog. It is so funny to watch. We went to the ZOO today :-) and all animals is a vow vow....

The advise we got from the adoption agency to stay at home and do very little the first year.......well we are not very good at that, we try and keep to strict routines regarding eating and sleeping but we have taken him out to playgrounds, shops and restaurants and Oscar is so far sleeping well, eating well, he has put on 400 g since we came back and showing new signs of attachment every day so we cant be doing that badly. . Perhaps it will hit back on us later.

Oscar also have a new cousin, my sister had a little girl, very little over a month to early 2400 g and 44 cm and her name will be Lily. I can not wait to see the first pictures.

The Christmas pictures are bad since our camera decided to give up on us on Christmas eve. We have a new one, but still the Christmas pictures are all in a blur...

mamma

2008-12-20T19:21:00.002+01:00

Yes he did, he wanted to be lifted up and said mamamama :-) I started crying.
We feel we are making huge progress with Oscar. Today he has been crying when he has a bang, up til now it has been horrible to see how he can fall and no reaction what so ever. I know this is very typical for orphanage children so we are pleased to have a few cries. He also happily had a bath with dad and big sister. He has started to respond to NO, (like No don't pull down the Christmas tree). He is also walking more heal to toe and is more stable and he eats well.
On the negative, he is still rocking instead of calling out when he wakes up in the morning and he is so small. Today we went to get him some clothes, 9-12 months fits him. He is 2 in January!

2008-12-19T22:08:00.001+01:00

Oscar is home

2008-12-19T21:50:00.006+01:00

Fire in the kitchen

2008-12-19T21:26:00.004+01:00

Can we please have a quiet day in our lives? Yesterday we went to pick up Anna in kindergarten, I can not explain how happy she was to meet her little brother. He just smiled and smiled. She kept telling him that she loves him and giving him hugs and kisses. We then went home and they (we) had so much fun playing. Helga (Annas kindergarten teacher and extra grandma) came over in the afternoon and after a while we needed to go downstairs to change a number 1. We had candles burning on the kitchen table and normally I never leave a room with candles burning(me being a chemistry teacher I guess) but I did check that nothing was near the flames. We changed Oscar and when we came out from the bath room I smelled smoke and rushed upstairs and there was flames from the kitchen table almost reaching the ceiling. I grabbed the advent group on fire and threw it under the tap, screamed for David who came up and saw flames from our ones nice kitchen table and managed to fold the table cloth and suffocate the fire puh........we are so grateful that our (wooden) house is still standing. Many things was lost in the fire, unopened bills (:-) ) , but also the cables to upload pictures to the computer.

Today has been a little calmer, though Oscar slept for 2,5 h today, and that was not a good idea because he did not want to sleap this evening and was singing and talking to himself, calling out with little screems. This is a boy who made NO SOUNDS 4 days ago!
Also he was outside today in a "wetsuit" it was amazing to see the joy he felt just being able to eat some sand. AND......he is eating well. (Anna is not, she is too distracted by Oscar. He imitates everything she does and says. He said night night in english tonight (before we had 1.5 hour of theater........)

We are home

2008-12-18T07:23:00.002+01:00

......only because David took matters in his own hand. We have been helped in administrative matters by a women/girl who has been constantly late (I had to wait 50 min on arrival in Moscow in Sunday morning) Yesterday she was supposed to pick us up at 15.30 for our flight at 19.30. she kept sending SMS that she is on the way. The at 17.10 she send us an SMS she wont make it = we wont get our flight. We can not believe that she does not just take the metro or tell us to meet her at the airport. She has no suggestions, she has been sitting in a queue for over 1 hour. David tells her what to do and where to go she is clueless, and we (all 3 of us) rushes to the metro to get the train to the airport (no taxis available). We needed to meet her to get some papers for Oscar from her, and manages to meet up at a railway station (5 minutes to spare) and we make her call Lufthansa to tell them we are on our way. The train gets in at the airport 18.47 and our flight is at 19.30.
We finally made it but what a stress and poor Oscar.
I had big hopes for a restful flight with a sleeping child on one arm and a book on the the other. This did not happen, overtired stressed Oscar came out .......into a full blown 2 year old on a plane, would not sit still, did not want to wear his seat belt, ripping the in flight magazines, kicking the chair in front, well everything Anna used to do (on much shorter flights) We arrived early in Frankfurt and I really believe the captain flew faster because of of us.

Right now I can not wait to go and pick Anna up and hold her in my arms, I have missed her so and never wants to be away from her again. She is going to have a difficult time getting used to being a big sister.

not without my socks part 2

2008-12-18T06:56:00.003+01:00

Saturday: Oscar makes no sounds apart from when you take his socks off, change him etc I think he believes he is going to be held under the tap to be washed. He just wants to be held like a baby. Eats well.Big

Sunday: I can put him down in his cot with some toys and he plays....and he plays .....and he plays...... but will not investigate the room only his cot is OK. Refuses food by turning his face to the side. still screams (loudly) when being changed. We have had a few small smiles

Monday: Starts to check the hotel room, will sit and play on the floor or in the bed, interested in David, happy being changed after a small initial panic, big smiles. Still not eating. Rides his pram in the afternoon after sleeping in the hotel room, we are even on the metro and that was a bit much even for me. Clearly shows me that he wants to wear his socks when he goes to bed :-)

Tuesday: David utters the famous last words that he has not slept as well since Anna was born.......We have a big day out and Oscar eventually falls a sleep in his pram. Very happy and lots of cheeky smiles. David is completely accepted by Oscar.
Red square in the dark is amazing. Oscar still not eating. (well biscuits and juice goes down) When he sees his pyjamas he has a full blown tantrum. He does not want to go to bed!!!!! Things are changing quickly. (am I ready for this? )

Wednesday: Going home day.....Oscar had a bath in the morning, not too popular. He who would not be without his clothes is playing naked, and does NOT want to put his clothes on after the bath. Wiggling and just laughing about ever thing in general. We went out for a short trip in Moscow centre and he falls a sleep at once in the pram.
Then.........the flight

not without my socks

2008-12-16T08:58:00.003+01:00

Sunday: We made it to Moscow without any problems, both Oscar and i was a sleep before take off and missed the breakfast tray. I got off the plane last and went into the airport, literally, I just took the wrong turn and there was a door and i went through it with Oscar in the ERGO carrier. It was a mess before I could find someone to explain to that I had arrived and needed to get out to where the luggage arrives puh but we made it. They seemed amazed that I made it. Oscar had a lunchtime nap, we then took a little stroll with him in the pram, he loves his pram.

Monday: After last nights dinner in the hotel he loves to sit in the high chair, and yes I was right he is not a good eater.....but he sleet well but it is scary to wake up, very scary. David went to the hotel and Oscar and he had a nice time. We have the visa :-)
Anyone knowing my husband knows that the idea of us having a quiet time In a hotel room is a no no. And we needed to get out and by some new clothes for Oscar as everything I brought is too big very much too big. He is so small. So we went on the metro to a shopping centre (HUGE) and it went well. Oscar was a star. Then we went for dinner at an old Russian Lady's house that David knows. Oscar was amazing. He is changing so fast it is just not possible to describe. From a monkey clinging to me saying nothing to a cheeky monkey being a little silly boy investigating his surroundings. It is so wonderful to experience, I could not believe that a change was possible so soon. Today he even has a little colour on his skinny cheeks. Got to go, internet is 10 euros for 20 minutes. More later.

wet,naked and screeming

2008-12-13T11:38:00.002+01:00

Wet, naked and screeming that was how I have recieved both my children in my arms. I dried and dressed him, he calmed down soon but it was obvious that this was to be a quick departure. He said ....well paka paka to his group and his nurse gave us a gift very nice. He cried as we came ouside but soon settled and fell asleep in my arms. He sleep not even an hour an now we are at the hotel. He is as glued to me and starts to cry easily he is ok as long as he is near near near, he has eaten a little (no need to worry about that) but I must say it is a little scary, wonderful but a little scary to be alone with him. I miss David.
Oscar has seen nothing in his life and now so many new thing. Elevators that play loud music, blinking christmas trees, computers and tomorrow morning flying.

I have passport but no Oscar.

2008-12-12T15:25:00.003+01:00

I made it,
I have the passport but still no Oscar. I will pick him up tomorrow morning. He looks georgeous in the picture (yes I know I am not objective) water combed hair to the side. :-) I have been trying to entertain myself today shopping russian music......
Now it is time for dinner then bed I am exhausted.
Last night without Oscar.mmmmm

00.15

2008-12-11T14:59:00.003+01:00

I had 6 hours to wait in Moscow, now I have 8.....my flight has been cancelled and I am on a later flight 00.15. This meens arrving at 4 in the morning! Checking in was interesting as everybody in high heels and long blond hair can crash the cue and the rest of us in comfortable shoes (I am the only woman) wait patiently. The Oscar is on my ticket but where is the child (can not find question mark on the keyboard) this conversation is taking place in Russian! Then I said that I have seen that the flight is delayed, she then tells me it is not. I fell happy but not reassured. I ask again, telefone comes out and after nothing is said for 10 minutes a nice girl who speaks english comes and talks to me, no the flight is not delayed. I then say that it says so on the screens, she checks the computer and tells me no it is not delayed, i then wonder again and she looks at me like I want the flight to be delayed, she then calls and calls and calls and I wait and wait. What happens next it that she tells me that the flight is NOT delayed it is cancelled.
Much better I feel.........so then I ask well what about my luggage who has disappeared on the moving belt, she then takes my luggage tag and tells me to wait. I insist on getting it back it feels like loosing by bag otherwise (with all Oscars things) After a while a get a new boording card and a new luggage tag and a decide not get upset if they loose my bag until it actually happens.
I have now spent the little rubels I have on internet, so I guess I need to get some from the magic machine, card in rubels out, feel the pain later. I also have a plan to try and get back into the international section on the airport, they have nice cafes and restaurants there, the most exciting thing here is a sign that Costas Coffee is opening soon.

My last day at work for a while

2008-12-10T19:35:00.003+01:00

Today was my last day at work, tomorrow morning I am leaving on the final trip. Our colleagues had organized "good luck adoption party" for us at work it was very moving. It has been a great support having people showing interest in our mission to enlarge our family. Oscar has a lovely snugly bear waiting for him as a present from them. They also thought of big sister to be, and she also got a gift. She has drawn a "follow the line" game with her new pens and we have been instructed to take it with us to work to see if they can manage......... I wonder if they new that the bear is the symbol for the Perm region and also the one word I know in Russian - Michka (excuse my spelling as always).
I have packed, and packed again since I needed bigger suitcase. We also made Oscars bed and stupid me did not remember that all out sheets are pink with angels on them! I can not stand it! David (he does not know this yet) is going to have to go and by some suitable sheets for Oscar. It just does not look right! I thought I had some with teddy bears but they where for the pram and too small. Yes I know he will not notice but it is for me :-)
So, I hope to be able to write again on Friday, tomorrow is a travelling day, I leave here 6.50 in the morning and arrive in Perm at 02.00 in the morning on Friday.

Getting closer

2008-12-09T21:17:00.002+01:00

Anna had her Christmas perfomance by her babygym group on Sunday and she was a snowflake.... but she did not want to be a snowflake....big problem, huge convincing, big sulks and tears before and then she pulled her socks up and did a fantastic performance, cutest girl ever and really knew her moves. Proudest parents ever (though a little tired) before the big tantrum hit as we had to leave. She is going to bed as good as ever but waking up far to early and being grumpy in the afternoon. My little girl can be sooooooooooooo difficult.
I have managed to sleep well in the last weeks and not worry about what is coming. Last night was the end of that, suddenly I woke up at 03.00 and started to think about Oscar and what it would be like to be on my own with him. I know that his fears will be greater than mine but I do not think he keeps thinking about them at night. At least I hope he sleeps well in his little cot in the middle of the room in orphanage #1 in Kungur. Should I take him into bed with me or will this be too much for him? Will I be able to comfort him? Will he eat?
Tomorrow is my last day at work and we started a little collection of money for the orphanage and I can not believe how generous our colleague's have been. Thank you thank you...
Anna and I have had a lovely 2 days, yesterday we baked Christmas cookies and today it went well, until we played memory and I she won first time around and I won second time (she is really good at it) and she then went crazy because I won, big tears and she did not love me since I won.........

I tried to fit my packing into our little suitcase but it is not possible with food, nappies, clothes for Oscar, hardly anything for me, presents so I have given up and will repack everything into the big (giant) suitcase tomorrow. Now it is time for early bed, I have been up since 03.00....

We have a Christmas tree and one more

2008-12-06T20:00:00.003+01:00

This morning David went for a run and when he came back he shouted from downstairs, pass me my wallet........why? he had bought ANOTHER Christmas tree! Much nicer than the first one he thought, so now we have two trees. This means one need two holders and two set of lights = expensive Saturday but it looks great. And NO we do not have both inside our minute house, the less pretty one is outside looking its best.
This years gingerbread house has been put together resulting as always in me having a number of burn-blisters on my fingers from the VERY hot melted sugar. Anna has decorated the house it looks fantastic. This week I have managed to ruin 2 pieces of wool clothing by trowing them in the washing machine on the wrong program, it is so sad when the clothes come out of the washer in a size that would fit a 2 year old and so hard that they stand up without support.......must be more observant.....or buy cotton.

last weekend as a one child family

2008-12-06T06:47:00.002+01:00

David and I had a babysitter last night and went Christmas shopping and then for dinner in a very nice Italian restaurant in Karlsruhe. It was our last weekend together as a one child family. I know it is going to be hard work in the coming months but I am really looking forward to it.
When we came home David surprised me and had bought our Christmas tree. I am a big fan of Christmas and I want my tree early to me able to enjoy it for as much as possible. At the same time it is hard since I think about my mother, this will our first Christmas without her - she did so much for us during Christmas and it makes me very sad. We are spending Christmas here in Germany for the first time, this was decided already last Christmas, we feel we want to create our own traditions over time. Though this year I am not as focused as I would have liked. I am a little worried about my time with Oscar alone in the hotel, we have to leave at 6.00 next Sunday morning for our early flight to Moscow I can imagine the stress..........

Let us be friends...

2008-12-02T19:40:00.002+01:00

Anna and me have had a tough day, she is being very difficult and unhappy about everything. I know it has to do with the fact that I have been away and Oscar is on his way into our lives but boy we have had some arguments today. She then cries ... let us be friends.... and sobs and sobs and sobs. She is completly irrational, she was watching television and wanted to do a puzzle, I said ok but then we turn the telly off. The she said she did not want to do the puzzle so I left it. She then started sobbing, crying that she wants to do the puzzle, I turn off the telly give her the puzzle and she breaks out in big tears that she wants to watch telly. Poor little soul, and I feel so guilty for loosing my patience with her (she did keep me awake for 2 hours in the night). I tried to spend quality time with her today, reading snuggling, playing but nothing was enough and she would not do anything on her own. Not a great day would be a mild way of putting it today.