It wasn't awkward meeting Vova of course- we had just spent 5 weeks together and had traveled with him out to region. However we had been warned that his younger brother Andriy was very shy/reserved when meeting new people. So we went to their groupa and they were definitely waiting for us. Vova was his normal self- not overly affectionate but not completely removed. Andriy was super super shy and didn't really seem to know what to think about us. If we tried to joke around with him he would get a very quizzical look on his face! However once we went outside to play and my husband was able to play and interact with him we did see him laugh and smile.
Giving Andriy a gift to break the ice!
Hanging out in our apt on the first day!
Over the next few days we just got more acquainted with each other. We arrived in region on a Friday in last August and started the paperwork moving on Monday and were basically done with anything other than waiting for court by Tuesday. Our facilitator wasn't sure if we would have any holdups in Kiev but were told to expect a court date of either Thursday or Friday of the following week.
We spent a lot of time at the orphanage and with the boys seeing the sites around town! Most of our time was just spent bonding with the boys.....over time we were able to see Andriy come out of his shell more and more. We would usually pick up the boys after lunch and would return them before dinner, although at times we would take them before lunch. Actually most times we would arrive in the morning, hang out at the orphanage, leave the kids there for lunch and go eat lunch at our apt, then return and take the kids back to apt. After Vova started school then our schedule changed a bit.
The weather was wonderful-it was a great time of year to be there.
We got to experience the amazing first day of school experience in Ukraine. In Ukraine it's a very big production with a bit tradition on September 1st. I think we embarrassed Vova. :-P
Here he is with his class! I might do a separate post with pics from the ceremony.
Afterwords with Papa.
We also spent a lot of time just loving on the other kids at the orphanage. They especially loved my hubby as he would tirelessly play with them for hours. They all soaked up every but of attention they could get.
Stickball with apples at the detsky dom.
Rainy day fun playing inside....
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