Hi all,
One of Rin’s assignments at school this week was to come up with an “artifact” or a family heirloom to bring and show everyone and talk about why it was special. Rin chose to show everyone the Armstrong Desk that will one day be passed down to him. It was built in 1882 I think (could be wrong) on his great great grandfather’s farm and has been passed down through 4 generations now and Rin is so excited that it will one day be his. He loved the story behind it and the writing in it that was put there long ago. And he has informed me that Hannah (my doll) will one day be Bek’s because he has Howard in his name. Not sure it’s valuable to anyone but me but that’s alright. He does actually love to play with her. But Bek has never had a lovely that he depended on like I did with Hannah and Rin does with Bubby. I think maybe it’s because I am the lovey. Peter and me are the ones he seeks for comfort and consolation when he’s upset and that’s quite ok with me.
(I’m going to try and find Rin’s project sheet and scan it here)
And our little Bek has been learning a lot too. He told me he wants to play hockey so we signed him up for his first ice skating lessons and it was so cute. They gave him training wheels (aka a bucket) to help him get across the ice and it was literally the cutest thing I have even seen. But that sweet boy of mine is a teacher’s worst nightmare because he thinks he is HILARIOUS all the time. He falls down once and laughs and it’s cute but then the 50th time, it gets slightly annoying and the 500th time is just plain aggravating. He hasn’t figured that part out quite yet. But so far he seems to like it and he wants to know when he gets a helmet with a face mask. We will see where it leads.
Now, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday- what is there not to like about good food and spending time with good friends, and family? This year was no different. We took a trip to LBurg to visit with their new cousin for Tgiving and the boys were so good with her. Rinat took it very seriously as always, making sure she was safe and handing her toys and binkies if she was fussy. And our non-baby-loving Aibek actually warmed up to her too. Maybe it’s because his big bro is such a good role model. One night we were eating dinner after putting the kids down and he came out of his room to tell us, “Ann! Ann! Da baby cryin'!” and seemed very concerned. I love that he’s looking out for his sweet baby cousin already and I hope they both continue to do so for her lifetime.
And our little boys are just trucking along living their little boy lives. Bek says thing daily that I just want to bottle up and keep with me forever. He tells me all the time, “You my best mommy. Mine lub you.” And he constantly tells us that he missed us- whether it’s because Peter was out of town, or Bek was at school, or he was just sleeping. I love it. When we have pasta, the boys have dubbed parmesan to be either ‘rain’ or ‘snow’ cheese depending in the grater that I use. Just for the record- if given a choice Bek always wants snow cheese. Always. And he’s very enthusiastic about it. They make even the everyday things so much fun.
And then there’s my big grown-up boy Rinat. He wants to grow his hair out like the guy on his favorite show, Kickin’ It, and I sort of love the idea of him having it all shaggy. So I told him that as long as he takes good care of it- keeps it clean and brushed- that he can grow it. I don’t have a lot of faith that he will but we’ll see.
Rin has started making breakfast a lot. Complete with signs pointing us in the right direction and the name of the restaurant (Waffle House- guess what’s on the menu?) and menus and all of it. We come downstairs and he has an entire buffet set out with plates, utensils, cups, drinks, and different food options. Everything from fruit to waffles to cereal to milk and juice. I love the entrepreneurial spirit that he has in him. Have I mentioned he has also had stands selling the following- cookies (stolen from our pantry), paper airplanes, interesting rocks, golf balls (stolen from the garage), and a variety of other things.
My big boy has also finally lost his first tooth too. OK, so “lost” maybe isn’t the most accurate. He had it pulled is how it came out but it came out nonetheless. And I was informed by the dentist while it was being done that having it pulled means the Tooth Fairy brings twice as much money. I think TF (or the dentist should have given a little advance notice) should have planned ahead a little bit better but I’m sure she has a few extra bills in her Tooth Fairy purse. Or maybe Mister Tooth Fairy can stop by the ATM on the way home. In any case, our big boy was super excited to find a $10 bill under his pillow in the morning and a toothless baby was excited to get a tooth. Maybe it went to AG- who knows.
Fall is my favorite time of year. The leaves crunch underfoot and pool at the bottom of the slide and the world slows down and hunkers in for the winter. It’s when the air gets crisp and Rin tells me he’s a dragon as he blows steam out of his mouth in the morning. I just love the feeling of it. I love the cozy days to come when we all gather around the fire and spend more time together in the same room.
One of those cozy things I did this month was make some steaming hot lagman. It’s so weird to have such strong emotions about a place that I only spent a few months in but there really is something about Kaz that feels like home to me. Maybe it’s because it is where we actually turned our family into a family instead of just me and Peter. In any case, I have very fond memories to eating lagman in Astana a lot- both the stew and the fried kind- across town from our apartment at the place by the highway. And it is what we ate in Karaganda on the day we met Bek. I remember I didn’t eat very much that day because I was so nervous but within that bowl of noodles are some wonderful memories.
And this month we had the opportunity to show off our gorgeous kids. Not just here on this blog but on a real bonafide Kazakhstan news website. There were some people doing an article about outcomes of US adoption to show the people of Kaz that we are not awful people but rather that their little citizens have a good life and that they are thriving. They came to our house and interviewed us for four hours and took photos of our boys. I was nervous that we would come across wrong or that they would write unflattering things about us (don’t know why, there’s no reason they would, but I was still nervous) but when the article came out it was so wonderful. It was great to read about the other families and hear their stories. It was great to read in the comment section from people in Kaz that they (mostly) thought it was good that we had adopted their Kaz kids and were glad they are doing well. I hope that any parents who had to place their children in baby homes were able to read it and find a little peace knowing that perhaps their children were in a loving family now. And I especially hope my kids’ parents were among them. I hope it with all my heart because although we have never had the chance to meet them, they mean the world to us.
http://www.voxpopuli.kz/en/post/1601/kazakhs-adopted-by-americans
Love to all, -m
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