Little Victories

It's amazing how a couple of days can change things.  On Friday I was at my wits end... Saturday wasn't any better.  Dima had been testing me at every turn and Derek was a whiny mess.  One was either trying to steal something from the other or telling me "no" in either English or Russian.  It was exhausting, stressful and I had had enough.  Usually on Fridays Willem and I go out with friends or on a date so staying home with non cooperative kids for the third Friday in a row was hard to swallow and I began to feel like this would never end.
Willem decided to take over and had to get stern with the boys and I guess it did a world of good.   Either that or my parents were praying overtime (we went over to their house for a bit and were horrible grumpy guests).
On Sunday Dima woke up happy.  He had slept without complaint and without waking up scared.  In fact we woke up and heard the boys. The both of them had gotten up on their own and we caught them heading downstairs by themselves.  We were shocked as Dima has not gotten out of his bed on his own since we got him.  It is a pretty typical trend for institutionalized kids to be conditioned to stay in their beds regardless of the circumstances.  Happy boy was ready to start playing with only the supervision of his brother.  Since that moment his days have been great.  When he gets grumpy after being told "no" for whatever reason he no longer tries to avoid eye contact but instead looks me in the eye and accepts it.  Naps are easy as are bedtimes.  When I hold him he hugs me back most times and has even started rubbing my back when I carry him around (something I've done to him since we met).  I know we will still have rough days but I feel like he has turned a corner.  It is almost like he has accepted us and realizes we are acting in his best interest even when he's not getting his way. Oh and the best yet...he's started saying "I love you" in Russian to me. :)

Derek has also calmed down.  He has started listening better and playing better with Dima.  In fact this morning he didn't want to go to school but instead wanted to stay and play more with his brother.  Again, not expecting this to always be the case but "Thank you LORD!"  I was beginning to get worried they would always hate each other.
With his new attitude we decided to push our luck and take him to the park and then out to dinner.  He did AMAZING!  Only started to break down once when we misunderstood him and said yes to him playing on something he pointed out only to find out he meant the nearby tractor/backhoe that nearby construction workers had been using!  Whoops!  He took it gracefully and was back on his way. 

It is crazy how just a slight change in attitude can make such a difference in our family.  Fingers crossed we all keep these happy outlooks!

new words: sorry, shoes, milk, cookie, moose, help, slide, brush teeth, one, two, three, four, five, hello, bye and my favorite russenglish phrase "Goodnight Luna"