Life on Marz - Month Two!

Has it been two months already?  That's what the calendar tells us! 

Overall, we're all doing great and things are getting easier, I think.  This is not to say that we haven't taken turns hitting walls this month.  At different times, for different ones of us, exhaustion has set in and we've had to just acknowledge that we are freakin' tired.  One day, for example, Vitalik went back to bed after breakfast and just slept until 3pm.  He was uncharacteristically down that day and just needed to rest a LOT.  I finally got him up with a milkshake bribe, which eventually brought him back to life.  As he started feeling like talking a little more, he acknowledged that he's tired of speaking English all the time (con etchno!  of course!)  From the time they wake up each day until the time they go to sleep, their brains have to work a LOT harder than we will ever know, just to function.  They are both doing an incredible job and we're so proud of them.  Of course, the fact that Vitalik has had only one such day during his first two months in the US is pretty amazing.  :o)

This month, Lera has become less moody, more carefree and comfortable, and just seems happier than she seemed during her first few weeks in the US.  She and Aunt Tracy have become very close, and she loves sleepovers with Tracy and little cousin Zendi.  One night, Tracy braided her hair into a million braids, which looked very cool (though daddy hated it of course!)  Lera and her Dad have a special bond, and he pretends to cry when she leaves for a sleepover, sometimes calling her and playfully begging her to come home.  Of course, the little brothers follow Vitalik's lead and all cheer with joy when she leaves for a sleepover! ;-)  She is a quirky girl with a strong sense of self, and we love her a lot! 

Our Ukrainian kids got to meet their Kentucky grandpa and their Korean grandma (Harmony) this month!  They learned that Grandpa has a very big belly, puts his teeth in a cup when he sleeps, and cooks a mean country breakfast.  They learned that Harmony gives fantastic presents and cooks incredible Korean food!  On their last night here, Harmony cooked an awesome meal for our entire extended family.  After sampling the foods, Vitalik declared, "Harmony no go home tomorrow.  Maybe stay two months."  Later after eating way too much, he patted his big belly and said, "What name my baby?  Maybe Jack."

Both kids are speaking English with more confidence.  They ride their new bikes (Spuh-see-buh, Harmony and Grandpa!) to the pool and around the neighborhood.  They are enjoying many kind new friends in the neighborhood, and they still have more than dvah messits (two months) until school starts in the fall, so we are all feeling optimistic that by the time they enter school, the new friends and the improved English will make things a lot easier than they may have been if our arrival in the US had been timed differently. 

Vitalik has joined our neighborhood swim team and we are incredibly proud of him!  Jumping in and swimming freestyle, backstroke, breast stroke and butterfly with kids who have received proper instruction in these strokes for the past 8-10 years takes courage and optimism, and our son has these qualities in abundance!  :o)  After one week of practice, he has all of the major strokes down, and completed our team's practice meet without embarrassing himself at all (which was my personal prayer for him!) -- the worst part was having to get used to the speedo shorts (thankfully the long kind!) that the kids wear during meets, and now that he's over that hurdle, I think he'll really enjoy the season.  He is excited to begin working to break his personal best records at each meet.  We are especially thankful for the kind friends who help to translate the coach's instructions for each practice drill into words/phrases/and motions that Vitalik understands! 

Lera elected not to join the swim team ("no good costume"), and we think she made the right choice.  She is loving her social time at the pool each day, visiting with kind friends, playing, diving, and collecting photos of Justin Bieber!  

The three original Cline boys are all doing great as well.  All 5 of our kids still totally accept one another as siblings, and we are so thankful!  We continue to add new Russian words and phrases to our family vocabulary each week.  As Spencer (8) signed up for a Spanish class at school, he declared, "I know I will be good at learning Spanish, because just think about how much Russian I have learned already!"  We adore hearing Lera and Vitalik speak their native language to one another and to Russian-speaking friends, and we pray that they will never lose the ability to fluently speak Russian, as people who fluently speak multiple languages are super-heros in our view!  Both kids have fun laughing at our attempts to speak their language.  The smiles I get when I playfully scold or tease Vitalik in broken Russian are particularly priceless! 

It is exciting to look back and see how much progress we have all made in the past month.  Our goal is not perfection, but incremental progress.  As we begin our third month together, we know we are tired, we are beginning to regenerate a little bit at a time, and we are looking forward to a great summer.

Here are a few photos from the past month!

Playing dress-up!  Good times!

Fun with the costume box.  They both already have plans for what they will be for Halloween!



Aunt Tracy is one of Lera's very best pals!





My mothers' day breakfast in bed!  Vitalik looks thrilled to be awake early doesn't he! ;-) 

Vitailk took this photo of his funny Dad seeking comfort foods after a week of too much (robata) work!

Now that she is retired, Harmony takes classes to learn better English too.  She has a lot in common with her new grandchildren. :o) 

Vitalik with good friend David (Yarik), also from Lezovoe Boarding School, now residing two miles down the road in Cary.

With Harmony and Grandpa

Lera and Daddy have a special affection for one another.  This whole father/daughter relationship thing is pretty cool!

10 NC cousins at the pool!