Milestones

What a week it has been. It started off with Alex’s birthday on Saturday. Thursday marked one year since we met Evan, and then Friday made it six months since we took the boys out of the Karachev Children’s home. It’s hard to keep track of all of this stuff!

The one year mark isn’t quite as dramatic for Evan as it was for Alex. Part of that is probably just because he’s a year older. He also has shown less developmental delays than Alex, so he then/now pictures just aren’t so obvious. Clearly though, it’s been a big year. I think back to the kid who was hesitant to even get down on the same floor with Lara and me when we were introduced, and am amazed out how far we’ve come. Of course, Evan didn’t take long to break down that barrier.

He has always shown an uncanny ability to draw people in. There is just something about his personality that you just can’t resist. It was obvious from the day we met him, and it has carried through to all of his (and our) friends today. What’s scary is that he seems to know it, and is a master at manipulation. We can only hope that he harnesses that power and chooses to use it for good rather than evil. Otherwise, we’re all in trouble.

One of the first questions everyone asks is “does he speak English?” At this point, it almost seems like a silly question, despite the fact that he’s only been exposed to the language for a few months. Evan picks up new words every day. Some of them, we wish he would drop, but overall, his ability to communicate is about all we could have hoped for.

What more can we say about the last six months? I think it speaks volumes that we’ve already forgotten many of the stories. There just isn’t time to look back. Every week brings a whole new set of stories and challenges. While “pre-boys” seems like another life, it also seems like it was just yesterday.

We had yet another birthday party this morning. It is becoming a Saturday routine. Somehow, 20 kids seem to have 52 birthdays. I’m not quite sure how that works, but it does. After the party, we went out for lunch at Red Robin (to listen to “Happy Birthday” no less than 8 times during our meal). Then it was back home to work in the yard and on the boys “new” swing set. Some neighbors up the street gave us their old set. Like all wood in Colorado, it needed a little TLC to get rid of the splinters. We spent the entire afternoon out in the sun, which definitely tired us all out.

We now have three whole weeks until the next milestone, which is Evan’s 4th birthday – the day before Easter. These firsts just keep coming fast and furious. We’re planning to take a break from posts until then, assuming no significant news. Let’s hope for a quiet couple of weeks!