Day 3 – Tuesday, 8 August, 2006

Wow….this full-time-parenting thing is really catching up with us! It’s 11:51, and I’m finally getting to posting today’s update. I’ve been tidying and catching up on work since Masha went to bed around 9, and I now understand why all you parents are always exhausted…..but I wouldn’t change this experience for the world!

Today began with Masha up, dressed, and bed made before Mark and I heard her again! After oatmeal and an apple juice, Masha disappeared back upstairs to finish coloring. Mark and I took care of a few grown-up details, and then it was BIKE TIME! Mark and Masha filled tires and made adjustments while I made a mad-dash to borrow a bike helmet.

While the start was a little hesitant, Masha’s confidence on two wheels grew quickly and before we knew it, she was verbalizing “Right,” “Left,” and “Straight,” guiding us all over the neighborhood. She obeyed every stop sign, and was very good about staying to the right, and stopping whenever a car approached. Masha is an excellent rider!

She led us back home for a snack; she had an orange peeled for me before I could even find the silly citrus peeler tool I bought from Pampered Chef. Following the snack, it was back on the bikes for another jaunt through the neighborhood, gaining more confidence each moment.

When she finally tired of bikes, Masha collected the soccer ball and frisbee from the bin and led Mark and me out to the backyard to throw things. We started with the frisbee, moved to the soccer ball, and then graduated to a hybrid. Each of the three of played a specific role, with me serving as the Frisbee Thrower and Mark responsible for recording success, Masha was pursuing the challenge of throwing the soccer ball high in the air, catching the frisbee, and then catching the soccer ball. After a few attempts, she triumphed. Creativity AND determination!

We took a quick break to pick up some sticks and nuts in preparation for a long needed mowing on the backyard, which Mark plans to get to….”tomorrow.” Yard work goes much quicker with six hands, and the yard was swept within five minutes.

In honor of such a beautiful day, lunch of PB&J and green grapes was enjoyed on the screen porch. Masha made not only her own sandwich, but Mark’s as well. She divided up all remaining grape jelly between the three of us, and worked diligently at scraping the last bits out of the jar (this would have been great if we were actually running out of jelly!!!); she did the same with all the grapes in the bowl!

After lunch, we ran out to put gas in the car (not impressed by the car wash…) and to pick up some groceries (including more grape jelly). We got back home with just enough time to put the groceries away before heading down the street to dentist Dr. Roach’s office for a cleaning. Masha was a trooper, and with a little translating help from Elena, endured it with a smile.

Once home, we spent some time with phonics software, and then assembled a puzzle of the United States. We showed her where her plane from Kiev landed (New York), where her final flight landed (Indianapolis), and where she is now (Fort Wayne). We all agreed that Ukraine was far away, and that her trip was long!

After the puzzle, she helped me get a chicken ready for roasting, enthusiastically painting it with a rosemary mustard glaze. Then she helped chop and coat potatoes and onions to roast with the chicken. After dinner, I painted her nails (fingers AND toes) as we watched Beauty and the Beast. We put a very happy girl to bed at about 9:00.