Bonding Time

We have had an amazing time bonding as a family of 3 here in Kiev.  Sveta has continued to do so great considering all she has been through in less than two weeks.  We have been seeing more frequent toddler-like behavior (including a couple epic tantrums) but not only is that completely normal, it also means she feels comfortable enough with us to revert back to those stages.  Her institutional life did not allow her to be a typical baby and toddler so now that she can be, she is sometimes.  We are quickly learning to pick our battles and know that these stages won't last.  She has also had severe separation anxiety, particularly with mama. Usually mama can't even be in another room for more than 30 seconds before Sveta has to follow.  We have tried having mama leave for a few minutes to show her that mama always comes back, but we don't seem to be getting anywhere, so for now will let her take the lead on that and just continue to show her she is safe and with people who will always be there for her.  She did have a successful trip to the park with only papa today though!  Our bedtime routine has gone much better the last couple of nights so that is progress too.  Of course we will start all over once we get home though!

This week we took care of mandatory medical appointments and our first embassy appointment.  We also filed a petition/complaint to the immigration office requesting they process her passport immediately.  We were told the petition had been filed and the passport would be printed ASAP.  We will soon find out what that actually means by Ukraine standards!  We are desperately praying that we are home next weekend!!  We were also blessed this week to find a few other adoptive families who are in the same stage of the process as we are. It has been such a blessing to have other parents (more experienced than us!) to talk with while our kids play together at the park. We are all looking for ways to pass the time while we anxiously wait to go home, and keep our kids busy, so we look forward to our afternoons with them.

Please pray that Sveta's passport will be in our hands early next week and that we can be home by next weekend!!!