Goodbye, First Tooth (and other firsts)!

As I mentioned in my last post, a lot of "firsts" for our kids happened without us. But we got to experience one first on Saturday.

By the way, now seems like a good time to say that I am really tired of writing Kid #1 and Kid #2 for everything. But we want to make sure we are more than following all the rules, so the judge will have no complaints. As long as everything goes as expected on Tuesday, I will be able to use their names. I am planning to do introduction posts of each child later this week. Fun!

Back to the story. So, Friday night, Kid #2 pointed out a loose tooth - the first one. It was very loose, so I knew it wouldn't hurt too much to pull it. I tried a couple of times, but my services were then declined. All day Saturday, I noticed that Kid #2 kept messing with it, but still my services were declined. Kid #2 didn't even want to eat popcorn.

We have been trying to stay busy, so we invited ourselves over to the home of one of the American couples we met. Their house is really unique. First, the lawn has different gardens that represent different countries. Some of the inside walls are curvy, and there are amoeba-like things on the ceilings. Since they are moving back to the States soon, another couple we met will be moving in to that house.

If you're wondering why this post jumped from a loose tooth to inviting ourselves over to someone's house, here is your answer. For dinner, the American couple served these fantastic bacon-on-a-stick things. It wasn't exactly like bacon. They dubbed it "Bacon's Big Brother," which cracked me up. Anyway, its bacon-like (only more scrumptious) deliciousness was wrapped around wooden skewers. I handed one to Kid #2. It was gone quickly as little teeth gnawed through the bacon. "More bacon," said Kid #2. I heard that again and again until there were five empty sticks on the plate. 

On the way home, Kid #2 smiled at me, and I noticed a gap. "Hey," I said, "Where's your tooth?"

Immediately Kid #2 probed the area and then Kid #2 got the funniest expression. "The bacon!" I think it fell out with the bacon and she then swallowed it.

We also had another first this weekend. I was asked to leave a public establishment. I think it's the first time that's happened!

Since we've been desperate for things to do, we decided to take the kids to the indoor pool near our apartment. It's a lot different than that States. Everyone must wear swimming caps and the kids must wear flipflops. Well, the kids didn't have flipflops and Kid #2 didn't have a swimming suit. Long story, but Bryan took Kid #1 (who insisted on swimming in underwear instead of trunks I brought him) to the pool, while I took Kid #2 to the store to buy a suit.

We successfully purchased the suit and went to pool. I was patting myself on the back for being able to communicate that I was only paying for one child, figuring out how to enter the locker room, asking for a swim cap, etc. So I entered the pool area in my regular clothes and was guiding Kid #2 to the kid pool area when I was suddenly stopped - by a lifeguard.

Through a long conversation (because he knew a few words of English and I know two words of Polish), I figured out that my clothes were "bad" (I was still wearing street clothes) and that I couldn't be in the pool area without being in swim attire. There was a roped off area where I could sit and watch the kids (Bryan was already sitting there). But since Kid #2 is under 8, a parent had to be in the pool. And neither Bryan nor I were swimming. All this meant that I (and Kid #2) had to leave the pool area. "Hey, Lisa, great job that you figured out how to get in the pool, because now you have to figure out how to get out!"

Kid #1 got to swim for an hour or so, but Kid #2 didn't get to swim at all. And why did Kid #1 insist on wearing underwear instead of the longer trunks I brought? Because Speedo-style suits are the standard around here. Yikes!

Today we take the kids to court, because they will be asked whether they want to be adopted or not. Tomorrow is our big day. We are trying to figure out what to do with the kids tomorrow, because they can't be in the courtroom. We were going to have them stay in the institution, but they begged to be allowed to wait outside the courtroom. We will see.

I probably won't post again until tomorrow after court. We are a little apprehensive about it, but we're praying for a ruling in our favor and a two week waiting period!

EDIT: Everything went well this morning. Both kids had a private meeting with the prosecutor, judge, and a different psychologist. And both kids talked! (Kid #2 can be very shy.) We have court tomorrow at 9 am.