Learning English - Part 2

Time for only a short post today...

We went back to the zoo area again today, only we walked in the botanical area. So pretty.

I have heard lots of "I don't like you, Mama" in Polish, but it's slowly being replaced with "I lub you." I much prefer the sweet sound of the latter.

Also, a couple of mornings ago, shortly after 5 am, David began calling out from the next room, "Hungry! Hungry! Hun-GREE!" over and over and over again until everyone in the apartment was awake. 

Your job is to guess correctly how I first responded. If you leave the correct answer in the comments, I will teach you how to say, "I don't like you, Mama" in Polish, but only if you promise never to say it to your Mom.

Back to the scenario above...Did I?:

A. Rejoice that my son learned an English word and used it in the appropriate context.

B. Pretend to stay sleeping and hoped that he would fall back asleep, too.

C. Leap out of bed and whip up breakfast.

D. Say "Nie Rozumiem" (I don't understand in Polish)

Okay, one final story that really cracks me up. Sometimes, as the kids are going to sleep, we finger-draw letters on the kids' backs and they have to guess which letter it is. Anyway, David was in our room for the third time and he wanted me to draw letters. Again. So I drew an O. Then a U. Then a T. OUT. He didn't catch it, but I thought it was really funny. Lame? Probably...

Just two more weekends in Poland

With this weekend officially over, we're down to (we hope!) just two weekends in Poland.

It was a slow weekend. We spent a few hours at a festival to raise money. We don't really know what it was, but we went along with our fantastic translator who is always looking out for us. The kids love her. And we do, too. She is such a kind, generous woman.

I have had a good hair day almost every day since being in Poland - and this day is no exception! (Haha!)

The festival had food, of course. Horseback rides, vintage cars, a firetruck, a kid area with the ubiquitous inflatable slide and a crawling tunnel, and music. The music was so loud and obnoxious when we arrived that it felt like every nerve I had left was screaming for silence (although after the morning we had, I didn't have too many nerves left!). Eventually, the music calmed down to a more pleasant decibel level and style.

David post-firetruck hose

David enjoying the firetruck

Teenagers did some Polish folk dancing/singing. Then the little kids took over. They were so cute, especially this little boy who kept stopping in the middle to hitch up his pants.

Aren't they cute?

Today we went back to the indoor Chuck E. Cheese-like place. This time we remembered to take a book to read while the kids ran around.

On a personal note, my dad would have been 55 today. By observing his brothers interact with their grandchildren, I know he would have loved being a grandpa. While my kids will never know him, I can share many stories with them. And Grandpa Dan will be a good dziadzio. No question about that.

The Zoo and International Day

Yesterday, we went to the zoo. It wasn't especially amazing, but it was a good place to run around. Plus, we got to enjoy wide open, green spaces for the first time in a long time.

The zoo had lots of fowl, chickens, peacocks, farm animals, a few primates, wild boars, and stuff like that. 

Today, we spent a few hours on the NATO base for International Day. It's for families of NATO, but the American families we met invited us. And it was great. 

If you know me, you know I like to try different kinds of food (and even if you don't know me, the zillions of food pictures should have tipped you off!). Well, this was amazing, because each country represented at this NATO base had their own booth of free, ethnic food. It was hard to pick just one - and fortunately, I didn't have to! The only thing that stopped me from consuming more was the size of my stomach. What was my favorite? So hard to decide...Spain's tortillas de patatas? Albania's mystery filled puff pastry and a baklava-type dessert? Bigos from Poland? A mystery sausage from the Czech Republic? A breadstick thingie from Hungary? Sausage and sauerkraut and dumplings from Slovakia? Some kind of kuchen from Germany? I also snitched various pastries from multiple booths. I wish I knew the names of all the things, but it was fun eating my way through various countries without leaving home. 

This is the slovakian food

They also had a Family Corner with kid activities. 

David in mid-air

Having something like this in which to stuff David when he is feeling energetic would come in handy sometimes :). 

They both enjoyed a couple of motorcycle rides.

They made cards for me at the art station.

David found a new friend and they stuck together (thanks to some saran wrap) during a race.

Coming home

I purchased our tickets yesterday. Our adoption agency person felt that June 7 would be a safer date. Even though we would love to come home a day or two earlier, coming home on June 7 gives us the option of a direct flight from Warsaw to Chicago.

I had a progress list before we left; now I will post one to come home

Step 1 - get passport/visa pictures taken of kids.

Step 2 - pick up the official court decree on May 31. Kids will be entered into the passport system.

Step 3 - pick up passports on June 3. Travel to Warsaw.

Steps 4 and 5 - not sure of the order, but kids will have medical appointments and have an interview at the embassy

Step 6 - pick up Visas

Step 7 - Fly home!

Meet the kids

Meet 9-year-old David Bryan Aberle. (He still pronounces his name with the Polish pronunciation sometimes - Daaaavid.)

He is intelligent. He is the only person I know who can use a hula hoop. He has a lot of energy that has been challenging to contain in our small apartment. He likes to eat, especially yogurt, chips, and eggs. He also likes to help in the kitchen.

I think he's a handsome chap with a dimple in his chin, just like Bryan. And a cowlick, just like me.

He is on the shorter and stockier side. (He'll be eating celery with me in no time!) He is sometimes affectionate, but he is a 9-year-old. Sometimes hugs are gross.

He doesn't like school, but he enjoys learning how things work together.

It seems the thing he loves most is running around and playing with other boys his age. If you have a boy in the 8-10 year range, I'm sure they will be good friends. Although he loves electronics, too, we try to limit it.

We were having a chat about chores recently. I was telling him all the "fun" things he would get to do when we get home. "Wait," he said, "mowing the grass doesn't sound like fun."

So I pulled up a picture of our lawn mower and told him how cool it was and, sorry, but Mom was going to do it. Well, now we have an argument going on who is going to get to mow the grass. He actually begs me sometimes to get to use the lawn mower. Now, if only that would work for other chores ;).

I asked him what he liked most about having parents and he pointed to his new watch we gave him.

Meet 5-year-old Roksana Kate Aberle. We call her Roxy, but she seems to prefer Roksana. She just seems like a Roxy, though, so I can't help myself.

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She is also a smart girl. She has poor vision, so she wears very thick glasses which she is sensitive about. She says they make her eyes look big (and they do). We were eating at a restaurant one night that had an aquarium and she said, "Wow! That fish has even bigger eyes than I do!" So she is funny, too.

She likes the color pink and any kind of craft. She loves music and if you can talk her into singing the ABCs or Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes, it's really cute. She seems to prefer being alone.

She is tall and thin and has very definite opinions on clothes. I think she is beautiful. She also has a dimple - this one is in her cheek.

She is both persistent and determined. And stubborn. These are qualities that will help her as she deals with some challenges.

These are our perceptions of them during the short time we have known them. Obviously, some of their behavior is distorted because we are just getting to know each other and their behavior is influenced by many other factors.

David is more outgoing and Roxy is shy. That's why it surprised everyone when she was not shy around us - ever. And David surprised everyone by being more scared. We aren't sure how they will act when we get home.

Since I can post pictures of the kids now, I thought you might enjoy this video from the day we met David and Roksana.

The end is just the beginning

The kids wanted to come to court with us yesterday, but we made other arrangements. And I am glad we did since it went longer than expected! They were well cared for by one of their caregivers, a wonderful and kind woman. 

We dressed up in our best clothes, because everyone told us that the amount of dressing up indicates your perception of the importance of this event. Then we were taken to the courthouse.

The judge was late, so court started off on a late foot. Present in the small family courtroom were the psychologist who came during home visits, the psychologist who heard the children on Monday, the head of the adoption center, legal guardian of the children, our adoption agent, our translator, the public prosecutor, two jurors, the judge, and us, of course.

Each person gave a different testimony, depending on their interaction with us and/or the children. We had been well prepared with practice questions, so when it was time for us to talk (one at a time), it was a piece of cake. I went first and got most of the questions, which Bryan appreciated, I think ;0). Believe it or not, we got the most questions from the prosecutor on the subject of our church. Since the kids have attended a Catholic church, the prosecutor wanted to know if our denomination was legally recognized, how it was different than the Catholic church, etc. 

Somehow we missed something that was missing in our home study so there was a tense moment when Bryan answered a question truthfully, but it was unknown to everyone else since it was not present in the paperwork. Everything turned out fine, though.

We requested a two week waiting period instead of three weeks. Then it was recess time.

The judge read the Court Decree when we returned and we corrected all spelling errors and stuff like that. When that was done, she stated that the children have new names, they are now our children, and she wished us many years of happiness together. I haven't cried much since we've been here, but I teared up when she said that. All the people we've been working with congratulated us as well, including the jurors who said kind things to us. It was the end of a long road...months of paperwork gathering, stress, expense, exhaustion. The adoption is over. They are ours.

But really, it's just the beginning.

We took the kids home and tried to communicate to them about the significance of May 14. When I said that the judge ruled they could be adopted and they were now Aberles, they shrugged and went back to playing. I am not sure they really understand everything, but they did ask when we get to leave for America! (more on that in a minute.) We celebrated with nice dinner at home and a special, delicious cake. It was quite anticlimactic as both kids were exhausted and hungry, so I am sure you can imagine how pleasant our celebration meal was!

Coming home...we did get the two week waiting period. Unfortunately for us, there is a holiday right after our waiting period is over which will extend our wait by a couple of days. We should be able to travel to Warsaw on June 3. Assuming all our Visa, embassy, and medical appointments go as planned, we might be able to come home - HOME! - on June 6. It will be cutting it close; maybe it makes more sense to wait until June 7 so we don't have to pay any ticket changing fees. I don't know! I will probably purchase our tickets today or tomorrow, though, and hope I made the right decision.

The court decision (or 2 + 2 = 1)

Two people without children...

plus two children without parents...

MAKES ONE FAMILY!!!!

More details shortly.

 

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.