BOYS!!

So we finally got to meet the boys this afternoon and they are awesome! We drove from Novgorod to Borovichi and went directly to the orphanage. There we met with the director and the social worker and had an opportunity to get a little more information and ask questions. There were no real surprises in their history which is good. We learned that when they came to the orphanage in March, they were both underweight and had dermatological issues. But since then they have both gained weight and are very healthy. Developmentally, they were both a bit behind as well, but now they are ahead of their peers. The director told us that Ruslan, the 3 year old, is the "best" child they have at the orphanage right now and Fyodor is doing his best to keep up with his big brother. She also said that both boys are very much loved by the doctors and staff.

Then we were given masks (swine flu precautions) and taken to a play room where we waited for them to be brought to us. When they came into the room, they were a bit apprehensive probably because not only were we strangers, but we were wearing these silly masks that hid most of our faces and constantly steamed up my glasses. We brought 2 Teddy Bears with us which they came right over to get and then they settled in and we played! They are such typical little boys, wanting to ride the little tricycles in the play room and throw balls. They both talked a lot although we had no idea what they were saying because at that point we had been left alone with them. Neither of us saw anything of concern in either of them. After about 45 minutes, the social worker came to retrieve them and it was time for us to go. Ruslan was pretty cooperative, but Fyodor was not. He melted down and had a tantrum, crying and kicking the social worker as she tried to pick him up. They all thought that was pretty funny because he doesn't usually do that so their conclusion was that he must like us.

Needless to say, I have lots of pictures and some video, but our hotel has no internet so I am posting from my phone. If I can figure it out, I will try to upload some video since I took some on my phone, otherwise it will have to wait until we get back to Moscow.
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