What a Wonderful Kid.....

Vitaly slept all night on his 2nd night here, and woke up happy and excited!

Things of interest for him today included:

-apple corer/slicer
-the kangaroo pocket on his sweatshirt
-garage door opener
-garbage disposal
-bread machine
-dishwasher
-my central vacuum cleaner
-keyboard
-trampoline
-umbrella

He is such an awesome little boy. This morning when he woke up, he made his bed, and then motioned for the other kids to do the same. So they all did - yeah! He was all about washing dishes and loading them into the dishwasher and serving the twins their breakfast. He folded towels, swept the kitchen floor, helped to make Christmas cookies and candy, loaded laundry into the washer, and set the table without being asked. What a great little helper! He is also very meticulous, making sure that the food items in the refrigerator are lined up just so when he puts them away.

 Yes, we wallpaper our kitchen each year with Christmas photos from friends and family!

Vitaly LOVES bananas. He ate 4 this morning, and wanted a fifth in the afternoon. I gave him an apple instead, not wanting the poor child to get sick! He is doing very well eating now, and trying what we offer him.

He also got to meet Chris's mom, brother, and sister today, along with some friends that stopped by. He loved using Andy's recording equipment to sing and listen to himself. He doesn't know it yet, but he will be receiving an official Vitaly debut album for Christmas!

This afternoon, V found an old umbrella and was fascinated with it. He had to take it outside to try it out in the snow, but it was so windy that there wasn't much left of the thing when he finally came in. He had the time of his life, though, and we laughed so hard watching him out the window!

He had a ball outside, playing on the swingset and trampoline and in the playhouse. When the kids got home from school, Shana, Malia and I went shopping while Chris stayed home with all the boys and decorated Christmas cookies. They also went to Chris's parents house again, where V helped grandma label all of her Christmas cards. She is now his "babushka," and he is totally smitten with her. She is a wonderful woman. He asked her about 5 different times for a banana, too, but Chris told him he better not have any more. (Do bananas have a laxative effect or does it go the other way?) Chris weighed him again when they got home, and he has gained 4 pounds in 2 days!!!

Today was great, and V is really getting comfortable with our family. We didn't see any tears today - just lots and lots of smiles!! :-)

One other note of interest: we have been pronouncing V's name Vi-TAH-lee (Americanized version). He told us this afternoon that it is actually pronounced Vi-TAH-lic in Ukraine. I'll have to reprogram my brain a bit, but I'm so glad he told us the right way to say it!