We may or may not ever be able to make an announcement that "we're pregnant"...but we have come to understand that the blessing is the fact that however parenthood happens, it is a miracle! ....... Now we have been home with our precious blessing from Russia since August 2007. Join us on our fun and crazy ride that we call "life with this child of mine."
Friday, January 16, 2009
On this day in history...
Well, at least a year ago - today - I mailed in our first PPR (post placement report).  At the time, I couldn't believe that we had been home a WHOLE six months.  Time was starting to pass a bit too quickly.  

And I can't believe that we've now been home over a year & a half.  

A year ago, Iliya "talked" - but no one could understand a word he said.  We got asked a LOT if he was still speaking Russian.  And just this evening, I was watching him carry on a conversation with a person he didn't know very well - and I minimally had to help her understand him.  Granted, he can still stand to enunciate a little better...but he loves to talk to people, and it's so cool that people can "get" what he's saying now.

While we allow for  "comfortably quiet" times (we don't engage him 115% of the time, just because we feel it's a good thing to learn to be comfortable with the occasional silence)...we talk to him a LOT.  We share new words and new ways of saying things.  His teachers at school talk to him a lot - and they also use creative ways to say things as well as encourage him to use all of his words.  It's just a cool thing to think back on his language development.

A few fun/new things he has said lately:

While in the car:  Mama!  Go FAST!  Drive Berry (very) fast!
While trying to take off his shirt:  I having trouble
In the bath, talking about one of his bath cups:  It's floating!
While looking for someone:  I will find her.
When he noticed one of his toys was broken:  Uh oh!  My toy is broken.  What happened?  

I know these may not seem like a big deal...but they really are.  He is using past tense (ed) as well as present tense (ing) correctly.  He's working on all the ways to say "be," and doing really well with using it correctly.  And these are things that have only recently emerged in his speech. 

And the child is a backseat driver if I ever saw one.  Refer to the above example.  And it doesn't matter where he sees a green light, if he sees one, it means it is time to GO.  Nevermind that the light directly in front of us is red.  If I try to tell him that we have to wait, he will argue with me and he will stay on me until I start accelerating (once the light actually turns green).  If I'm driving downtown (slow) he will tell me to go fast.  If I am driving fast on the interstate, he tells me to slow down.

One day...when he has that driver's permit.  Payback will be sweet. :)

There was something else I was going to mention...oh, I remember...

The other night, I was giving him a bath, and he pointed to the hot water knob and said, "Iliya!  Mama, see?  Iliya!"  Figuring that he was looking at his reflection in the knob, I said something about how he could see himself, to which he looked at me like I was crazy.  He said, again, "Iliya!  See?  I for Iliya!"  And then I realized that when I had turned off the hot water, the "H" on the knob was laying on its side...and it looked like an "I."  Boy, was I waaaay off the first time!

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So I guess this has been a weird conglomeration of information, but I thought it was interesting to share.  Instead of trying to wrap up in a witty or meaningful way, I believe I will simply bid you adieu and say..."goodnight" and wish you a happy long weekend!
Written at Friday, January 16, 2009 by Melissa.
5 comments
5 Comments:
I love to hear about Iilya's latests. He is such a precious boy. It is obvious that his brain is always going 100 mph! I was watching You Tube's of Vladivostok street children today and thanking God for orchestrating families for Dima, Iilya, Owen, and all our other adoption friends. I just feel so compelled to do something more!
9:25 PM  
Blogger Jane said...
your posts always bring a smile to my face...between your writing and Iliya's since of humor and growing like crazy...you writings are GREAT! again, thank you for allowing me to live vicariously through your family.
9:36 PM  
Blogger Susan said...
Iliya is one smart little guy! I totally get what you are saying about being excited over his speach development. Artem still doesn't put words together to make sentences, it's still one word conversations. Somedays I worry and then other days I have to remind myself that it's only been 9 months and give it more time.
7:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
After seeing yall today, I have to say I was amused to see exactly what you have just described... the backseat driving, the non stop talking. I was impressed with the various ways he would try to explain something to you if you didn't get what he was saying the first time (he has a lot of patience!). But I have to say I thought he was hilarious at the restaurant waving and saying hello to everyone as they walked by, and telling the waiter to take his food too after they took my food. He is growing and developing faster than a mile a minute! Thanks for the visit! It was wonderful!
April
9:42 PM  
Blogger Nancy said...
His speech sounds like it's progressing fantastically!
11:32 PM  
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