Between our trips to Russia, we had several showers given by family and friends. We were blessed with almost everything we would need for Iliya -- clothing, baby supplies, toys, you name it...we received it. When we got home from each shower, we had such fun going through the clothes, washing them, putting them away (if only it were such fun, now!). Some of his clothes would fit right away; the others would not fit for quite some time (in fact, Iliya still has some clothes that he still has not worn, since we received items as large as 3/4T. The clothes sit patiently, waiting on the little one to grow).

As we slowly but surely got Iliya's room ready for him to come home forever, we found that there were just too many things to put into his room at once. We weren't sure how many toys he had access to in the baby home, and although we felt that he was pretty much "on time" with his development, we also knew that he would be overwhelmed when he came home with us. And the last thing we wanted to do was to overstimulate him with a roomful of toys.

So we carefully picked through all the gifts he received and decided which toys would be most age-appropriate...and which toys would be best to come later, when Iliya was a bit older & had become acclimated to his new environment. His room was left with about half the gifts he received -- we arranged the toys on his shelves that Nathan had painstakingly built (and I had painstakingly painted). And we placed the remaining half of the toys in a box in the attic.

After we got home, it only took a day or two for us to realize that we had actually left too many toys out. Iliya did remarkably well, but he just had too much too soon...and would simply go in his room and unload all the toys from his shelves, and then head off to mess with the cats, or create destruction somewhere else. I would clean up after him and try to engage him with one or two toys...but the draw of the other toys was just too much. I was usually left with a bigger mess than the one I had just cleaned up.

Almost immediately, we put another half of the toys up in the attic, which really seemed to help. I think Iliya was just really trying to figure everything out...getting used to us, his new pets, his new house, his new toys. It was just a lot to expect from him. I can't imagine being ripped from the only home I'd ever known and transplanted in another country with people I did not know and into a mansion filled with all the things I've ever wanted to do - and even things I never even knew existed. I'd probably be a bit manic, too! And it would take me a little while to settle in enough to focus on one activity at a time...for an extended amount of time.

Anyway, I say all that to say that I had felt guilty, putting away gifts that people had so lovingly picked out for Iliya. But in retrospect, it really was the best thing to do. And today marked the second time that we have gone into the attic to pull out another "batch" of toys...only this time, the attic is almost devoid of the toys we had placed there. There are only about 4 more things in the attic - some pre-reading activities that would be way over Iliya's head right now.


And a neat side benefit to our decision is that it's like having Christmas at several points during the year! Today was fun, despite the fact that Nathan & I both had to put riding toys together (assembling toys is one of the low points of parenting, in my opinion). I had a bit of trouble with mine...thought it was a goner for a little while, but the car eventually made it together. Whew!

It really has been neat, today, to watch Iliya play with toys that might have gotten lost in the mayhem 8 months ago. I am glad we decided to spread out the joy of receiving the gifts over a bit of time, and highly recommend it, if you are wondering if this is something you (primarily PAPs) should consider.

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In other news...

This afternoon, we went to the park to play...we had a wonderful time! Iliya got very brave and felt confident climbing ladders and sliding down the bigger slides. Of course, being the first-time parents that we are...we stayed very close to the little guy (which could have something to do with the fact that I clearly remember my youngest brother falling off of a slide and breaking his arm when he was small......and the fact that Iliya sometimes reminds me of Johnathan at that age...). We ended up seeing one of his friends from school and they played together for quite a while.

I know that wasn't a lot of detail about the park...but I'm getting very tired. So instead of more words, I'm going to leave you with some pictures for now. I think it's pretty evident that we had a fun time!