Visiting Alex, Day 10

“There’s blood everywhere!”

Yes, there’s nothing quite like looking down at your child and seeing blood everywhere, is there? Especially when that child has been entrusted to you by orphanage staff who have left you alone with him for the past several days.

Fortunately, it was just a nosebleed, which we have lots of practice with (our oldest son used to get lots of them), but it did end our visit with Alex prematurely. We brought him inside, to be on the safe side, and he wound up in the nurse’s office, where a doctor came to see him. They took his temperature (just slightly elevated—probably from all the fun he was having) and decided to keep an eye on him. There was talk of maybe it was too cold “on the street,” which is their idiom for being outside. Somehow, things always seem to come back to keeping the kids warm!

Before that little incident, we had a very nice visit with Alex that started with another demonstration of his progress toward walking (see video). What is not shown in the video is the absolute fit he pitched when he got put on the walker instead of getting to go with us immediately. What was interesting was listening to Yanna reason with him: “First you do this, then you go out on the street.” She had to repeat that several times, but it clearly registered, because he ultimately complied, as the video shows.

The other interesting thing was that he actually initiated getting off his beloved swing, asking to go over to where some construction work was happening (converting stairs into a ramp). He directed us to the bench swing, which we sat in and rocked while singing to him and watching the maintenance staff, who knew him by name. It seems that everyone here knows “Sasha” by name.

We also fed him by ourselves again; he was very trusting and communicative. “Ti hochyesh yatsa?” “Da!” (“You want some egg?” “Yes!” Of course I want some egg!) He helps to clean his own face, too.

After we fed him, we helped him go down the slide (holding onto him the entire time)--something we suspect he hasn't done before, or only done rarely. We were getting him set for another trip down the slide when we noticed the nosebleed. (No, we don't think it was caused by the slide, per se -- we had a firm grasp on him every trip down.)

Overall, we have definitely felt our bond with this lovable little boy grow stronger and stronger every day, which is a real answer to prayer. We’re so excited to be bringing him home!