...Victory Day...

...Victory Park...

As we headed into the US Embassy to get a visa for Little Man so that he could come into the US, my mind swirled with amazement -- this was the last stop on our paperwork whirl (don't worry, folks at AO, we know we have all the post placement and registration work to do at home! LOL)... I was holding Little Man who was, in his infamous "finger in mouth, eyes wide open" pose, taking it all in, and I couldn't help but hold him a little tighter... And, I thought about his road to us... This little boy lived for almost 17 months with 9 other kids, 24/7 in army boot camp -- he learned how to soothe himself to sleep, to "negotiate" with others to get toys, to seek attention when there was little time for it to be given from his loving but overworked caregivers, he learned to use the potty years earlier than most little boys, he learned to feed himself (and to eat the same foods almost every day), and overall, become extremely competent at a young age to fend for himself... He learned that if he cried no one came, and that if he was hurt, there were simply not enough hands to always come and kiss to make it better... And so, he learned that while the hands were gentle and the people loving, they rotated shifts and he learned that he must figure out his own way in life, be his own consistency, and meet his own needs... And, in 5 days, he has come so far -- he seeks out eye contact, he babbles when he feels secure and connected, he smiles and seeks approval at times when he is proud of himself, he allows us to bathe him in a strange place, to feed him new foods, to change his diaper, to love him with kisses and hugs and he snuggles right back... He has learned to sign "more" during mealtime, and last night and this morning started using it during play exchanges more frequently.... and, just before I sat down to do this final post from Russia, as we finished packing, neither of us were paying close attention -- do you know he has learned to stare us down and yell out, and then smile like it's the best day ever when we turned and went over to him?? We know that he has a lot to learn and a long way to go, but to us, he is just amazing --- He is our little hero...
While Victory Day is May 9 in Russia, given all our Little Man has gone through in his life, and what we did to get to him, May 19 will forever live in my memory as our family "Victory Day"... and my two men my heros... Little Man for all it took for him to get to us, and my Jeff for his incredible support as we walked our own road to little man.

And so, what more fitting to celebrate?? You got it.... We went to Victory Park -- a large memorial park for heros of Russian military just outside the central ring in Moscow...To celebrate and rejoice with our little hero....Celebrating together in our Victory

Papa and Aslan Slay the Adoption Dragon

As we head off for a new set of adventures together as a family with Ashton holding gaurd over us all, we can't express our thanks and gratitude to everyone who supported us along the way -- we are blessed with incredible family, parents with whom this would not have been possible, phenomenal friends, and one terrific agency. We can't say enough about the support from Brent and Michelle in the US, and from the dream team here in Russia -- Andrei, Ilya, Lena, Olga, Sasha, and Tatiana -- they know what they are doing, they do it well, and we were completely at ease letting them take control while we got to know our boys... To all, we are so very very thankful -- I hope you enjoy the adventures posted from home!
And meanwhile, to my two men --- Victory, boys, Victory...