Alex Turns Three

Today was Alex’s third birthday, and the first children’s birthday since we have come home. We started this morning fairly early, pretty typical for a Saturday. Evan woke first at 5:30. Luckily, he went back to sleep for about 45 minutes, giving us some precious shut eye. Both boys were up by 6:30, and immediately started helping mommy bake the birthday cake. Then we went out for some birthday haircuts, followed by lunch at McDonalds for a little time a playland.

We snuck in a nap, and then headed off to yet another birthday party for one of Alex’s classmates at the tumble room in our local rec center. Basically, it was a mad house. There were probably two dozen kids. Evan was actually in the little girl’s class until January, so he was invited too. Both boys had a great time. Evan unveiled yet another set of talent, showing off his skills on the gymnastic rings. Maybe it’s just another latent Russian talent.

After the party, we came home to frost Alex’s cake, open presents, and have dinner. Alex thoroughly enjoyed it all, of course. It’s hard to say what his favorite present was, but the look on his face as we sang happy birthday was precious.  It definitely left us wondering if we shouldn’t have made more effort to throw a big party, but there was just too much happening to organize that. Next year, for sure.

It’s been almost a month since our last update. There haven’t been any major headlines since the adoption was finalized, but there’s been plenty going on. Alex has started both speech and physical therapy. He probably has yet another ear infection. At this point, we’re ready to get the tubes put in and get him past all of that.

Evan seems to have shaken most of his congestion, and is in reasonable health for the first time in a while. We’re definitely looking forward to spring! The main thing with Evan is dealing with some behavioral stuff. Nothing serious – he just seems to be on a path of misbehaving at school for the purpose of getting attention. We’re working with the school to deal with it. We started a system where we give him a Russian coin every day he stays out of trouble at school, and he can cash in the coins for little treats like toys, ice cream, etc.

Lara and I are continuing our on-the-fly parenting lessons. I think we’ve finally found a pretty good system for bedtime, but discipline is a whole other matter. We just can’t seem to find a system that works consistently. Lara will continue to check out parenting books from the library until we find a real rhythm. In the mean time, we’re just happy to see the days getting longer and the weather getting warmer. More fresh air and time in the sun will do us all some good.