Our First Day and Night Together

Well - if anything, I can tell you that parenthood is not easy. We awoke to a scared but happy Sutton, had breakfast of eggs and hard sausage. Sutton is definitely a bread and meat eater - not so much on the eggs. Then it was off to see his brother. Sutton told the translator that he knew he had a brother and that he remembered him, but they were never together, so I don't believe this to be true. I had to go in and sign the register while Sutton and Bryan waited in the car. I was lectured about making sure that I don't let him near hot items, watch him so he does not fall off of tall things, don't take him to crowded areas where he can get sick, etc. Then they let me have him. We did well until nap time. I was able to see the first true signs of a child being in an orphanage his entire life. Sawyer did not want me to rock him - he rocked himself - and it was not a pretty sight. Bryan and I have decided that we are not going to allow this. If we catch him rocking himself, we grab him and rock him - even if he does not like it at first. Our first little boy bath went well. We expected them to be scared, but Bryan made it fun for them and they were happy - Sutton even allowed me to wash his hair. We did not wash Sawyer's because of the cuts on his head.

The boys love bananas and butter bread. Last night we had chicken soup over bread chunks - I know - you say, "Why would you do this?" Well, we have to ease them into other foods. We had spaghetti for lunch and even though it was eaten, it was not a favorite because it was different. We have found that they boys will eat any and everything put in front of them. We found Sutton one day drinking all the water in his cup like he was forcing it. I think they were taught that you eat and drink everything in front of you.

Night time was OK for Sutton. He sat on the couch with Bryan until he fell asleep. We also decided that we would have them fall asleep in our arms each night so that we can bond - and each night we would switch boys. I drew the short straw and got Sawyer. The little man fought and fought. I finally put him in his crib and stayed by him. He began that hard crazy rock again, so I put my hand in the crib and patted his back until I thought he had gone asleep. This was around 9:15 and he has an 8pm bedtime. Sutton was already asleep on the couch and Bryan just tucked him in. Around 2am, Sawyer was crying and I went and got him from the crib. He never really slept after that - just in small fits - so he is cranky this morning. Anytime he is told know, he gets the pitiful face and acts like he is crying.

Today we are going to an amusement park. I hope we manage, but Roman has got so much pent up energy that he is driving us nuts. He has done every trick and acrobat that can be done in a house. We are so busy, that I think we may only blog every 2 days -it just depends.

We did find out some tentative arrangements. The boys visas will take more time than expected - so we will stay in Khabarovsk until Oct. 11 - then we will fly to Moscow for paperwork with the embassy. It looks like we will be leaving on the 16th (arriving in Houston on the 16th). Once we get absolute confirmation, I will let everyone know.